I thought for a long time what kind of introduction to write to this huge article. I didn’t want banal introductory questions, I wanted something about the very essence. And I remembered. When I was a copywriter, I had a client who owned a motorcycle accessories store. It was necessary to write a selling text for a specific promotion. Since the audience (bike owners) was unfamiliar to me, I took some time to study and read their forums, blogs, and watched videos on YouTube. The general portrait of the client turned out to be as follows: young men aged 25-35, making good money, more often employees than business leaders. They communicate with each other on “you”, even if they are unfamiliar, they say few words, but everything is on point. The client agreed with my portrait, and I wrote the text in the same style: laconic, with an appeal to “you”, without emotions, solid facts.

This text angered the client. I want, he wrote, that visitors to the site see a polite treatment, and they get the impression of the solidity of the company! How is it, I answered, you yourself see that they turn to a friend with “you” ... Well, yes, they do, the client agreed. But that's their problem!

Focus on yourself

I see it very often. Companies write texts, referring not to a specific client, but to themselves. They write lyrics that they like themselves.

But the text that sells is the text that hooks your client, not you.

But how do you learn to sell to customers who are not at all like you?

Spiral dynamics theory

I will tell you about Claire Graves' typology of value systems. Claire Graves was an American psychologist and student of Abraham Maslow. Maslow came up with the pyramid of needs, and Graves, delving into the subject, developed this theory into something similar, but much more powerful.

For 15 years he studied the change of value systems in people and different cultures. The result was the theory of spiral dynamics. It is like a spiral of value systems, each of which is indicated by a certain color.

According to this theory, human society developed gradually and moved from system to system sequentially, step by step. And in the same way, consistently, each one develops individual person– starts with the first value system and travels further.

Some move fast, some move slowly, but the important thing is that in at a given moment in time, a person can only be in one color(the so-called "value meme").

This can be compared to building up a shell on a mollusk. The previous layers of the shell do not disappear, but the mollusk itself lives only in one, the last shell.

“Different societies, cultures and subcultures, as well as entire nations and peoples, are on different levels psychosocial development, which manifests itself in various evolutionary levels of complexity. They have different centers of gravity. Previously created levels do not disappear. Rather, they continue to be active within these layers of world views, influencing the nature and form of more complex systems. Like nesting dolls, systems exist within systems.” Don Beck, follower of Claire Graves, co-creator of the theory of spiral dynamics.

Thus, despite the fact that a person’s previous value systems do not disappear anywhere, he always exists in one, in the last “layer”, and shares the values ​​of the current color, which add up to the overall picture of the world.

The Graves system has 8 levels.

BEIGE. Survival	This is all about simple physiological needs. Food, water, warmth, a roof over your head, clothing, sleep, sex. This is the way of life of primitive people. Babies start at this stage when they come into the world, but don't linger. There are no BEIGE people in their pure form.
VIOLET. Family and tribe 11% of the population	This is where the concept of family comes in. Your clan. The power of the elders. Superstitions, rituals, blind adherence to traditions, worship of the spirits of ancestors are widespread. A clear division into “us” and “them”. Protection, survival, constant fear. Be like everyone else, the only way to survive! Previously, these were pagan tribes with thunder gods and shamans / priests. In the modern version, priests are replaced by fortune-tellers and psychics. A person enters this stage in early childhood.
RED. Empire 17% of the population	The power is there, the mind is not needed. Absolutely egocentric thinking. Faith in one's own exclusivity, impunity and permissiveness. Only the booty that you take right now is valuable. We must live today, and after us - even a flood. The best piece is only for me! End justifies the means. Man to man is a wolf. The strongest survives. Some animals are more equal than others. Active position, courage, determination. Denying the value of traditions only in the name of traditions. Exploration of new territories. Most adolescents go through the RED stage. Some of them stay that way.
BLUE. The power of truth 33% of the population	System, order. Morality. Rules. Striving for justice. There is a concept of “how to do it right”, and this is an unquestionable Truth. Traditions reappear in the BLUE coordinate system, but unlike PURPLE traditions, they are now justified and work for the good of society. A strict hierarchy of society, relations between different "castes" are strictly regulated. Everyone in society is assigned a certain role, and this is good and right, but it is wrong and harmful to rebel against the existing order of things. Strong state. Any state institutions and bureaucracy. Providing citizens with everything necessary for survival. Religion. The notion that there is something that is above all of us. For everything that you have done, you will have to pay, even if not now, but you will certainly have to. You can't even take a fish out of the pond without effort. Respect for honest work. To experts, to great experience. Discipline.
ORANGE. personal success 28% of the population (of which 50% are in power)	Individualistic approach to life. Personal achievements, personal success, personal contribution to the cause matter. The concept of leadership. Signs of distinction, in general, the external attributes of a prosperous life, become important. If an apartment, then a three-ruble note in Moscow. If the car, then in Monte Carlo. ORANGE will not be content with little. He has a wide scope - and this scope is on his shoulder! It doesn’t matter how much and how you work, what matters is what results you bring. My fate is in my hands and no one else's. A quick result, a quick success is not only desirable, but also possible!
10% of the population	For GREENS, relationships come to the fore. It is the union of people on a global scale. Understanding that we are all equal and interconnected. And what can I bring to this world, how can I help everyone else? There are no clear roles. We are all different and that's good. No one should be offended if they are different from others, on the contrary, being different is great. Ecology. Caring for the environment, natural resources. The value of everything natural and natural. Charity. Volunteer organizations. GREEN is the first "layer" of the spiral who truly cares about the future. They do things based on the concept of "how it will be better for posterity." This audience is interested, on the one hand, in challenging itself, and on the other hand, in achieving balance. Most of the countries of Europe exist in the GREEN 'MEME.
YELLOW. Flexible flow 1% of the population	Human society (even in individual countries or communities) has not yet grown to this level. But YELLOW are individuals. The main difference between YELLOW representatives is the complete acceptance and understanding of people of previous colors. YELLOW does not have conflicts, disputes, discussions. They are able to understand any point of view. They will find an approach to everyone and will speak their language with everyone. This is a win-win-win strategy. Amazing flexibility of thinking. YELLOW do not get stuck in any one picture of the world, do not look for the only true or universal solutions. They can combine different methods and invent their own. Therefore, their solutions for representatives of the previous layers of the spiral often look paradoxical, strange, unusual. YELLOW think globally, on a planetary scale. Their mission is to unite not even people, but entire communities. If a product, then for all countries. If a flash mob, then on a global scale! If YELLOW is a copywriter, then you are incredibly lucky. He will speak to the target audience in their language. (Sorry, but the vast majority of copywriters are BLUE.)
TURQUOISE. Big Picture 0.1% of the population	This color has just begun to develop, and people have just begun to come into this color. So far, little is known about him, except that the thinking of TURQUOISE is the connection of all people. Cosmic spirituality. Some radically new planetary "we".

Spiral dynamics for… selling texts!

I won't go into detail about the theory. For those who are interested, I recommend the book "Spiral Dynamics" by Donald Beck.

Another thing is important: this theory was invented for successful communication - between people, cultures, societies and even countries.

And in the same way, it can be used to successfully communicate with customers. Knowing what is the value for the client is already half the way to the sale!

Today I will tell you how to apply the knowledge of spiral dynamics specifically to selling texts.

Three colors of your customers

You don't need to know all the colors. The vast majority of your customers will be BLUE, ORANGE and GREEN "MEME. I will describe them and add RED to them: you most likely will not have clients of this color, but you need to know how communication with them differs from the rest so that you do not try to write a text for RED, selling on your own. case to other colors.

RED

Insolent. assertive. Self-confident. laudatory. It's best to use "you". The author of the text is “your boyfriend”, the same as you, but he succeeded.

• Purely colloquial style, with the use of a semi-criminal lexicon (“to hammer in babosy”, “loshara”, etc.) The text is based on statements, if there are questions, then rhetorical ones.
• The text has a lot of catchy bright headings, different font colors. You can use capslock, exclamation marks, a very catchy, even clumsy design.
• Secretly, every RED believes that it is he who should be unspeakably lucky, and he will not have to do anything for this.
• REDs are very greedy for secrets that only the best know. In their view, nothing can be achieved by labor, and if someone has achieved success, it means that they have mastered some secret or secret, which, of course, no one in their right mind will share for free. In other words, REDs believe in magic pills!
• Hard deadlines work great, the tighter the better. You either buy it right now or you'll be a loser your whole life.
• The emotion of envy works well: look, he has achieved, and what are you, a fool? Buy fast and you'll be making millions with one hand too.
• The general message of the sales text: here is a super opportunity that is usually not available to mere mortals, but you were lucky and became available for a very limited time. You'll be a fool if you don't use it.

An important point. Great amount copywriting trainings are taught to write texts specifically for REDs. (If we look at the selling texts from "Infobusiness2.ru" and "Business of Youth", we will see that they are like that.) Therefore, selling texts of this style are common on the Runet. However, they only work for RED audiences! And how to write texts for other colors of "shells", I will tell below.

RED Value Phrases

Don't be a fool, don't be a fool.

5 minutes - and a million dollars in your pocket!

You will be stronger than others.

Enough foolishness toil, nail babos.

This is not a master… this is a GURU!!!

Show your coolness.

All the smartest ones are already there, and what are you, a loser?

Vasya is already a millionaire, and what are you, a sucker?

But even a sucker like you can do it!

Stop being dumb!!!

The ideal offer for RED is to make a lot of money quickly and effortlessly by learning the secret secret of successful success.

BLUE

What should be the selling text?

Polite, respectful, even delicate style. Abundance of professional terms. The text should contain as much detail as possible about the product.

• The position of the author is an absolute expert in his field, who wants to teach his experience, and knows what is best for everyone. “Tell me the right way” is for BLUE. But expertise needs to be proven: with certificates, diplomas, thank you letters, GOSTs, etc. BLUE are extremely greedy for pieces of paper, and it is not so important what is written on them, more important is the very fact of their presence.
• BLUE are terrible conservatives. They are suspicious of everything new. They need to sell well-known solutions that have been proven over the years.
• In no case should you sell a quick result to BLUE: from their point of view, significant achievements can only be achieved through long work, discipline and overcoming oneself. Thus, if in the sales text it is honest to say that the result will not be fast, but it will take a long time and difficult to get there, this will be a plus for BLUE, and they will show more confidence in such an offer.
• It is also good to insert reviews, and BLUEs, by their inherent gullibility, believe any reviews (somewhere deep down they childishly believe that everything they are told is the truth).
• Despite the external severity, BLUE is actually an indecisive violet, eaten by a lot of fears. Offers of personal mentoring, personal counseling work great for them. They need an expert teacher who they can look up to and follow the plan he has prepared.
• BLUEs are willing to join all sorts of clubs and communities, it is important for them to feel part of a significant group. In addition to clubs, it is also good for them to offer loyalty programs, but it is important not to put it on stream, but to present it as a tribute to a solid loyal client.

The overall message of the sales copy for BLUE is: I am an expert and have come a long way. You just need to do as I say.

Value Phrases BLUE

Step-by-step system / instruction / plan.

A recognized expert (but not a “guru”! “Guru” is a RED term).

Years of experience.

You will be respected.

Long tradition.

In the name of a common goal for the benefit of society.

Patriotism.

Family values.

High quality.

There is safety in numbers.

Professionalism.

Proven methodology.

Solid company, solid business.

A solution that has stood the test of time.

Bright future for our children.

Get what you deserve.

The existing order of things.

Many people have already done this.

Detailed reporting on the work performed.

ORANGE

What should be the selling text?

Brief, information only on the merits. (ORANGE value their time very much!)

• Compressed business style. Let's also assume a simple colloquial. They normally perceive both the appeal to “you” and to “you”. They take humor well.
• The text should be well structured, including visually. Use of headings, subheadings, bulleted and numbered lists. Minimalism is preferred in the design.
• ORANGE knows perfectly well that there is no secret knowledge, all information is available to anyone who wishes. The whole question is how to submit this information and who exactly submits it.
• ORANGE is very fond of numbers: percentages, indicators, criteria, statistics, etc. Instead of thousands of beautiful words, they need to be shown immediate results.
• Testimonials work well, but distrustful ORANGEs only trust real testimonials from real people (and be sure they know how to distinguish them from fake ones).
• They are hooked by the idea of ​​wealth, personal success, being ahead of competitors, and any savings (of time, money, resources).
• Like to try new technologies (iPhone buyers are all ORANGE), or at least interested in new approaches/solutions.
• Deadlines also work well, but it's important not to overdo it here! If RED has a hard deadline, ORANGE should have a soft and unobtrusive deadline. For example, floating price works well (increasing the price after a certain period of time) or special conditions for the first buyers.
• Appreciate bonuses, but only useful, applicable right here and now. For example, practical exercises or a series of video tutorials.
• General recommendation: the shortest possible text with clear performance indicators, and the results, so to speak, are “obvious”.

The ideal text for ORANGE is an infographic.

ORANGE Value Phrases

Personal success.

Better results with less cost.

Saving money / time / effort, etc.

Be a personality! Be the first! Be a star!

Get ahead of the competition.

Prestige. Personal brand. Image. Reputation.

Innovation. The latest technology. Latest techniques.

Most effective solution. Personal efficiency, productivity.

Make an impression.

Achieve results.

Everyone is the smith of his own happiness!

Time management, time management. Resource management. Delegation of duties. Redistribution of priorities.

strategic advantage.

Smartest/Cunning/Fastest wins!

The best investment is an investment in yourself!

In general, their motto can be described as follows: there are no magic pills, but there are solutions that are more effective than others. You need to prove that your solution is effective. They will make their own choice.

GREEN

What should be the selling text?

It must evoke emotions, but not strong ones. Best of all - a feeling of calm and harmony.

• Style is the usual living spoken language, even informal (but without going too far and maintaining personal boundaries). Referring only to “you” (“sticking out” GREEN scares away), in some special cases, even “we” can be used. GREENs are good at humor.
• The text design is neat, as for ORANGE, but you can get creative with the design. GREENs love everything bright, funny, colorful. It is good to use illustrations of nature, seashore, mountains, as well as smiling people. In general, illustrations in the sales text for GREEN are necessary, and they should also evoke positive emotions.
• Any charitable action or call for volunteering works well for the GREEN. It is especially good if the process itself brings joy and pleasure.
• The topics of health (both physical and mental), ecology and ways to achieve harmony are relevant. Also, GREENs are always interested in ways or solutions that push the boundaries of perception, make a person more flexible and open up new possibilities.

If you want GREEN to buy a product from you, you need to position it as something that will make the world a better, freer, brighter, healthier place.

GREEN Value Phrases

Spiritual growth, spiritual path.

Self-knowledge.

Live your life by your own rules.

Live in harmony with nature / with emotions / your goals.

Be happy, be free, be free.

Authenticity of feelings.

Own path.

Naturalness.

Balance. Harmony. appeasement.

Make the world a better place.

Co-development. Unity. Sympathy. Empathy. Compassion.

Trust in yourself.

Benefit for others. Help the weak.

Improvement of self/others/society/planet.

Expanding the scope of perception.

Positive thinking.

Emotional intellect.

There are no competitors, there are only future partners. The principle of exchange.

Social connections. The main thing is the relationship between people. Like attracts like.

Know the general laws of the universe. Invisible threads by which we are all connected.

To find a compromise.

What if your clients are multi-colored?

First of all, we remember: the previous colors do not disappear anywhere, but a person still belongs to ONE specific color. The mollusk lives in the last shell!

It is impossible to write sales copy for both BLUE and ORANGE at the same time: they have too different values ​​and different reasons for buying.

For example, ORANGE no longer has the value of established authority, and BLUE does not yet have the value of wealth and personal success. For ORANGE, a comfortable, secure life with a certain status means a lot, and for GREEN, both money and social status have already lost all importance, yoga and meditation are more important than some kind of time management.

Do not try to make a selling text for all colors at once, you will get nonsense. Think for yourself how you can combine “first place” and “balance is most important” in one text?

Therefore, segment and make different promotions. If you know that customers of different colors are buying from you, then divide them into groups and write a text for each color separately.

And finally

It sounds trite, but everyone is different.

I often see how my fellow copywriters criticize other people's sales texts just because these texts do not sell to a specific copywriter. But text that makes ORANGE laugh will sell RED just fine.

Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to write a working text - for social networks, for a blog, for a newsletter, for a one-pager - for different audience segments. You can make working promotions for different audience segments. And even individual products.

However, the application of spiral dynamics is, of course, much wider. Its main purpose is to find a way to speak with a person in his language. Therefore, it is used by politicians, diplomats, coaches, as well as especially advanced HR, psychologists and marketers.

I understand that within the framework of one article you will not set out the whole theory. Therefore, if you are interested in delving into a particular aspect of Spiral Dynamics, please write about it in the comments. For example:

I don't know the colors of my clients, how can I identify them?

How to overcome the eternal indecision of BLUE?

What is the ideal deadline for ORANGE?

Which free product will be of interest to GREEN, etc.

Ask your questions and I will try to answer them.

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Analysis of customer preferences

After a conversation with the owner of the apartment, the following preferences and assumptions for the redevelopment of the apartment and stylistic directions were revealed: the entrance-living area should be freed from the bathroom and the corresponding partitions, which will make it possible to increase the entrance and kitchen areas, which, moreover, will allow transforming the kitchen area in the kitchen-studio, such a decision was made due to the rather large number of residents who no longer have to huddle in a small kitchenette. The living area will include not only a recreation area, but also a work area. In the recreation area there will be a TV or a home cinema, where, as it turned out, the head of the family will spend time with great pleasure after a hard day, surrounded by a loving family. Further, from the living room, the hostess assumes getting into the corridor through which you can get:

1) Parents' room. Kindred harmony of colors, calm pastel colors are preferred. The room will be equipped with a bed, bedside tables, as well as the owners expressed a desire to allocate space for wardrobe space instead of cabinet furniture.

2) Children's room. Two children of seven and seventeen years old will live in the room. Since the age difference is quite large, it is necessary to assume the conditional division of the room into 2 zones, but the room is small, therefore, the room assumes maximum functionality.

3) Bathroom and bathroom. The obligatory remark of customers is the presence of a warm floor, and the rejection of cold shades. (Appendix B)

Features and benefits of redevelopment

When successfully implemented, redevelopment can have quite a lot of advantages. Firstly, there are practically unlimited possibilities for erecting and demolishing partitions, creating arches, etc. Secondly, choose a layout suitable for individual ideas about a comfortable apartment. Thirdly, it is an increase in the desired functioning space.

Although it must be remembered that the regulations apply, that for the usual redevelopment of a typical apartment, when combining apartments, it is impossible to change the functional purpose of the premises, such as moving the kitchen to the living room.

When planning to combine apartments, it should be borne in mind in advance that building codes prohibit the dismantling of a load-bearing wall, as this will lead to an emergency. Therefore, the maximum that is possible when combining two apartments is an opening in it. The location of this opening will be determined by the specialists of the organization that develops a technical report on the state of the structures and the possibility of redevelopment.

Modern trends in the interior

Interior design project is a flight of thoughts and ideas, embodied and designed skillful hand specialist into a real document.

The term "interior design" originated around the middle of the twentieth century, but the first concepts of interior design were developed in ancient times and were used to create the interior decoration of palaces, temples and houses of the local nobility, and with the growth of the well-being of the population they became widespread. Since its inception, interior design has meant working not only on the decoration of the room, but also on its ergonomics. With the advent of assembly line assembly and industrial production, interior design has become widespread. First of all, the room should not overload the room unnecessary things, everything should look moderate. No need to pile a thousand details into one room - it will look tasteless. Of course, you can’t do without various decorative details, but you need to know when to stop.

Interior design styles began to emerge a long time ago, they are considered historical styles, there are also new ones, modern styles, which were invented, invented not so long ago. Almost every country has its own interior style. For example, English style, Scandinavian, Egyptian, Italian or Mediterranean, Indian, African style, Japanese and Chinese styles. There are others that originated in specific countries, only they did not receive the same name as the country. This is the baroque style, modernism, country, Provence, classicism, minimalism, techno. Each of the styles has its own requirements, characteristics that must be observed, otherwise you will not get the result you would like. In some styles, a large number of accessories, decorative items are acceptable, while in others they are taken to a minimum or not used at all.

When creating the design of your living room, you need to add your own special flavor so that you feel comfortable while in this room. You don't need to cover the walls with all the paintings and photographs that you have in your house, choose a couple of things that you like the most, and then everything will look harmonious. For many centuries, the subject-spatial environment of man was man-made, all the objects that surrounded him were the result of painstaking and long-term work of craftsmen.

Everything changed by the beginning of the 19th century. - consumer goods began to appear, made industrial way. The object-spatial environment has ceased to be man-made, the manufacture of many household items has become possible by machine. In terms of productivity, machine labor is many times greater than the work of an artisan, but at the same time, a new problem has arisen - the individuality and exclusivity of manufactured items have disappeared.

The industrial rise led to the disruption of the unhurried centuries-old rhythm in the development of the subject-spatial environment of man. New items emerged that had not yet taken root in the culture, which gave rise to the problem of their adaptation to the tastes of consumers, and interest in the psychology of the buyer arose. In addition, rapid changes in the subject-spatial environment have led to the fact that it becomes necessary not only to adapt to the tastes of the consumer, but also to predict tastes. The realization of these problems, caused by the transition from craft to industrial production, led to the emergence of an unknown design profession. Each design specialist has their own individual approach to artistic design - the method by which the designer receives necessary information to create a design object.

Modern tendencies styles of interiors meet all the desires and requirements of modern people, ranging from simple and concise interiors to luxurious and ceremonial ones.

Trend 1: Scandinavian Style

United by the common name "Scandinavian style", the interior features of the houses of Norway, Sweden and Finland take root quite firmly in our East Slavic latitudes. Somewhat harsh, but more often cozy and utilitarian, the Scandinavian style is the perfect embodiment of the concepts of simplicity, individuality and environmental friendliness. It implies plain walls of slightly visible pastel shades, minimal window decor, an abundance of light wood and other natural materials, a lot of storage space - closed cabinets and niches, as well as open shelves, a small number of bright accessories. This 2015 interior trend is also characterized by the presence of upholstered furniture - only the most comfortable and anatomical, ideally frameless. For all its restraint, it is a living style that can be supplemented and developed endlessly. (Appendix B Fig. B-1)

Trend 2: Industrial style loft

This style came to us from America in the 90s of the twentieth century, and since then its popularity has only increased. The industrial spirit gravitates towards spacious rooms, high ceilings and large windows. In an apartment and in a residential building, you can recreate its artificial version, the general style. In your arsenal: decorative brick, aged or rough-finished wood, dull metal with a touch of rust, photo wallpaper or other coatings that mimic concrete. Communications and other "insides" of the house can not be hidden. But with the decor, it is important not to go overboard, since the industrial style is largely associated with minimalism. A few monochrome photographs, an old advertising sign, graffiti on the wall, a couple of "utilitarian" pieces of iron - this will be enough in a small room. And most importantly - this is a free style that does not require large financial investments. (Appendix B Figure B-2)

Trend 3: Ecodesign

Ecodesign is more popular than ever. More and more people are getting tired of the noise big city and, trying to somehow reunite their habitat with natural natural conditions prefer natural materials. Phytodesign, vertical gardening and home mini-gardens are becoming a trending trend. (Appendix B Figure B-3)

Trend 4: Minimalism

If you remove unnecessary decor from the room, then you will focus on the functional and the most necessary. The style is perfect for a person who values ​​his time. A calm atmosphere will help create free space. Sunlight will penetrate through the overall windows, the absence of partitions contributes to the feeling of complete freedom. The color palette is usually filled with white and black, their shades look chic with the color of wood, glass and stone. The use of white color allows you to visually enlarge the space. For decoration, natural materials are taken, because the style is considered environmentally friendly. The basis of minimalism is simplicity. The style is distinguished by the presence of rectangular shapes. There are no smooth outlines and curves. Minimalism does not allow the use of different accessories. Here one picture on the wall in a thin frame looks gorgeous. A component of style is a sense of proportion. (Appendix B Figure B-4)

Trend 5: Hi-tech

Metal and glass, a bit of plastic, straight lines, simplicity and rigor of design, no floral wallpaper, complex finishes and wood. Here are the basic principles of the right high-tech interior. Tables should be with round or strictly rectangular glass tops. Chairs should have metal backs and legs, coffee tables should be on wheels, shelving should be simple shapes with glass shelves.

High-tech style will look good in large rooms, divided by safety glass doors and partitions into functional areas. Such transparent doors in an aluminum frame can significantly save space. (Appendix B Figure B-5)

The psychological effect of color to a certain extent depends on the physiological effect of different colors, which has a well-defined character. So, studies by physiologists have shown that color affects blood circulation and muscle contraction. The reaction to blue will be minimal, to green - a little more, to yellow - even more, and to orange and red it is maximum. Therefore, it is still impossible to say for sure what caused the division of colors according to the psychological and associative effects into warm and cold. Was the most important factor here practical life experience, linking blue with cold ice, water and sky, and red and yellow with the sun, or the physiological effect of these colors on the human body, which causes a certain emotional reaction. The relationship of the emotional state of a person with a change in color sensitivity (color discrimination threshold) has been revealed. Positive emotions are associated with increased sensitivity to red and yellow and decreased sensitivity to blue and green. When experiencing negative emotions, the opposite picture is observed: an increase in sensitivity to blue and green and a decrease in red and yellow, and these changes in color sensitivity were observed not only during the direct experience of emotions, but also when they were remembered. The color code for a number of emotions is quite simple: for example, fear is black; sadness - gray or blue; fatigue - gray, black, brown; joy - red, orange. Other emotions that have a wider range of causes, such as surprise, interest, shame, have a wider range of color associations, i.e., are associated with different groups people with different colors.

The relationship between color and emotions is multi-level:

firstly, certain colors and color combinations are symbols of emotions,

their outer incarnation;

secondly, certain emotional states of a person affect the situational attitude to color (changes in color sensitivity, color preferences, etc.);

thirdly, the stable emotional properties of the subject (the propensity for certain emotional experiences) are reflected in various color preferences.

There are several types of color preferences:

- subjective;

- age;

- zonal-climatic;

- ethnic;

- preferences of different social groups.

In this case, the color preferences of an individual subject may be due to

complex combination of these factors. It is believed that simple, pure, bright colors act on a person as strong active stimuli. They satisfy people with a healthy, restless nervous system- it's people physical labor, open, simple and direct natures. Complex, low-saturated, neutral colors that have a calming effect, causing more complex sensations, are preferred by people of a fairly high cultural level, intelligent work, people with a tired and finely organized nervous system. The preferred attitude towards colors is noticeably manifested in different age groups. AT general view for children, warm colors of high saturation are preferred, for adults - cold colors of medium saturation and more mixed, for the elderly - pastel (whitened) and achromatic tones.

Living conditions in a particular geographic region with a stable climate and a certain relief of the territory that affect the color of the natural environment form regional stereotypes of color preferences. Incentives for the formation of color preferences under the influence environment may be different, even opposite. For example, saturated colors in the art of the southern peoples reflect the usual bright colors of the tropics and subtropics, while in the art of the northern peoples, bright, pure colors express the desire for colors that they lack in their natural environment. "Favorite colors" can be warm or cold colors, opposed to the cold or heat of the local climate, as well as colors that complement the dominant color tone of the environment. So, in the architecture of Central Asia, where the landscape is dominated by the pale colors of the withered steppe, the turquoise color of the lining of palaces and domes of mosques dominates, and in Russia red has become a favorite, complementary to the greenery of dense forests and fields. No wonder "red" in Russian is a synonym for the definition of "beautiful".

Ethnic color preferences, in addition to natural and climatic conditions, are formed under the influence of color traditions associated with the entire spiritual and material culture of a people, nation, social group. The level and nature of regional and ethnic color culture in a certain historical period depend on the general level and nature of culture, since it is these factors that determine the level of associative color thinking and form trends in color preferences.

The evolution of color preferences is like an ebb and flow. For example, slightly saturated natural colors building materials ancient peoples, then bright colors in the architecture of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Greece, and during the period of the Roman Empire - the rejection of active color in architecture. The polychromy of medieval art (Byzantine mosaics, Gothic stained glass) was replaced by the restrained colors of the Renaissance, then - a return to the rich colors of the Baroque and pastel colors in classicism, later - the colorlessness of eclecticism and the "broken" colors of Art Nouveau, and then - again a turn to saturated color in architectural polychromes of German, Russian, Dutch, French architects of the first quarter of the 20th century. Similar periods of ebb and flow of interest in color can be found in the history of architecture in other regions of the world.

Color is one of the most powerful tools in the designer's toolkit. With it, you can attract attention, create a certain mood, influence emotions, perception and behavior.

Did you know that among the reasons that motivate buyers to purchase a certain product, 90% falls on the share of color? Or that magazine ads in color get 26% more attention than black-and-white ads?

The conclusion is obvious: using the right color will help to achieve success. But then a natural question arises: how to choose the right color? To answer it, you will have to analyze several important aspects:

• color associations
• differences in color perception between men and women
• color vision problems.

Not only does color help provide more objective information about a product, it can also have a powerful psychological impact. The same colors can act differently - in particular, it depends on the nationality and place of residence of the person. Let us dwell on the color associations of people in the Western world.

Red color in psychology: danger, importance, passion

Red is the color of fire and blood. One of the most powerful colors in terms of impact, which is associated with love and war at the same time. The well-known expression to see red (literally translated from English “look at red”) means to get angry, lose your temper.

This color has a strong emotional impact. It can increase blood pressure or increase breathing rate.

Red is energetic and impulsive. It is associated with speed and strength. That is why Netflix and YouTube use it as their dominant color.

It is well known about the power of red to attract attention. In design, it is often used as a powerful color accent. Similar to red carpets at an awards show, red can be used to highlight critical details on a website page.

Orange color in psychology: confidence, energy, optimism

Orange is a very energetic color - like red, it excites, but to a lesser extent. It has an energetic aura, but without the aggressiveness inherent in red. Can create a happy atmosphere.


On the homepage of Hipmunk, a flight search engine, the orange search button immediately grabs attention.

Like red, orange can grab attention, so it can be used to highlight important details like a call-to-action (CTA) button. Some people think it's too much simple solution, however, many applications and sites often use this “cheap” technique in a good way.

Yellow color in psychology: sun, happiness, attention

Oddly enough, yellow is associated with both joy and anxiety at the same time. It is often used to focus attention. Warning signs are an example. Yellow may be associated with danger, but to a lesser extent than red.


Yellow color immediately attracts attention when contrasted with black. The watch brand Breitling used this property when developing its official website.

The combination of yellow and black works especially well. A striking example of this is a New York taxi.

Green color in psychology: nature, development, success

Green is naturally associated with nature. It is associated with vitality and growth, since most of the plants on earth are green.


Green call to action button.

In design, this color is often used to create balance and harmony. However, to achieve balance, designers should consider color saturation.

Saturated green shades attract attention due to their energetic stimulating effect. That is why they are often used for the call to action button.

Blue color in psychology: comfort, relaxation, trust

Blue is the color of the sea and sky. One of the most significant and frequently used colors in user interface design. At the same time, the visual perception of design developments will largely depend on the correct choice of shade:

• Light blue is associated with coolness, freedom and tranquility. Calmness can develop into trust, which is why this shade is often used in banks.
• Dark blue shades are great for projects where stability and reliability are very important.

Blue is often associated with stability.

Purple color in psychology: luxury, spirituality, creativity

Natural purple is rarely found in nature, so it has a special role to play in design.

Historically associated with royalty, purple is still associated with luxury today. He subtly alludes to high quality product or site (even if it's not).


Purple is considered the color of happiness by most young people.

Interestingly, 75% of children prefer purple to all other shades.

Black color in psychology: strength, grace, sophistication

Black is the strongest of all colors. It immediately attracts attention, which is why it is most often used for texts and accents.


The black “Get started” button is one of the first things you notice when you visit the Squarespace website.

When used as a dominant color - for example, to create a background - black can evoke original associations. With it, it is easier to achieve a sense of sophistication and mystery in the design.

White color in psychology: health, purity, chastity

White is often associated with purity, purity and virtue. Using the association of white color with health or innovation, you can emphasize the safety of a promoted product from the field of medicine or high technology.


White areas create space around design elements, helping to emphasize or separate them from each other.

In design, white excels at shading its surrounding colors, making it popular as a secondary color. Proper use of the white box is a powerful design tool. Consider, for example, the Google search page. White color gives more expressiveness to other shades.

Grey: formality, neutrality, professionalism

Gray is a symbol of neutrality. It is easy to combine with other colors. As the main background, gray creates a sense of formality, which is not always a bad thing. Like white, a gray background sets off other colors well.


Gray is usually paired with brighter color accents. On the Dropbox site, gray is used to highlight call-to-action buttons.

gender and color

While there are no certain norms, which colors are considered purely feminine and which are masculine. There are only the results of studies conducted over the past eight decades that allow some generalizations to be made. And although the data is mixed, one conclusion is undeniable: men and women have different color preferences.


Most Favorite Colors
Least favorite colors
• Blue is the most popular color for both men and women. At the same time, men are much more likely than women to use variations on the theme of blue.
• The most unpopular colors for men and women are brown, orange and yellow. Gray is the least favorite color for women and purple for men.
• When it comes to shades and tones, men tend to prefer bold colors while women are more likely to opt for softer shades.
• Most people think that pink is the color adored by all women, but this is not true. The number of his fans is a small percentage. Thus, although pink is associated with femininity in color psychology, it is not at all attractive to all women.

Color in marketing and business

The role of color in branding

When developing a brand philosophy, color takes center stage among other factors. Every color that we see directly or indirectly implies something, and this helps to influence the perception of one or another trademark. Some colors go beyond individual brands to symbolize entire industries, such as blue for tourism business, green for healthy eating, red for fast food.

There are no clear rules for choosing colors when developing a corporate identity. Some use color shades that are familiar to their industry, while others, on the contrary, prefer to go against tradition, believing that this helps to attract attention more effectively. For example, Virgin America decided to change the traditional concept when developing their website and application. And although it may not be quite what users expect from the airline's website, it nevertheless attracts attention.


There isn't even a hint of blue in the Virgin America iOS app.

Thus, an unexpected color choice can be an effective technique that will help attract users to your company.

Color and Conversion Rate Optimization

How can you use your knowledge of color theory and psychology to encourage people to click a button? The choice of color for the call to action (CTA) button is one of the oldest aspects of the Conversion vs. Optimization controversy. For every one who claims that red is the best color for a button because it attracts the most attention, there is an opponent who is sure that the best choice- green, because it is associated with safety and encourages action.

HubSpot presented the results of a market research (A / B test) that shows how the choice of color for the call to action button affects the number of registered users.


A/B testing is the most effective and commonly used marketing research method.

Although the green button was originally supposed to perform better, test results showed that the red button received 21% more clicks. That being said, HubSpot warned its users that the results of the test are somewhat subjective - perhaps the audience preferred red because it was the only saturated color on the site's page.

By itself, the color of a button does not affect its absolute effectiveness - what works well on one site may be ineffective on another. The claim that one color converts better than another is false, because there is no universal best color. However, there are still some rules based on practical experience that help you effectively use color to your advantage. One of them is the use of a psychological principle known as the “isolation effect”. According to this principle, people better remember an object that stands out from the rest “like an eyesore”.

For example, if there is a lot of green in the design of your site or application, users will most likely not pay attention to the green button, despite the fact that A / B test data confirmed its effectiveness in another company.


Evernote Web Service. Their “It’s Free” call to action button is buried because it blends in with the background. It gets lost on the page and users don't notice it.

Sometimes you need to change the visual hierarchy of colors on a page to make your call to action button stand out. Highly important role contrast plays - if the color of the button does not attract attention potential client, so there will be no registrations/sales.


A call to action (CTA) button really grabs the attention of users when it contrasts in color with the rest of the page elements.

Color and Usability

Design implies not only beautiful design, but also functionality and usability - perhaps the two most important principles for the work of any UX designer.

Color is a tool that helps guide the eye to the right objects. Right choice color in interface design not only attracts users, but also improves the efficiency of the user interface.

Color limit

When using different colors in the design, you should strive for balance. The more colors you use, the harder it is to balance. Using too many colors is a common developer mistake. Perhaps they are trying in this way to have the maximum impact on users and convey to them as much information as possible, but this can greatly confuse people visiting the site.


Whatever color shades you use, too many colors create an unfortunate visual effect.

Interior designers follow a simple 60-30-10 rule that works well when designing websites. This timeless technique will help you choose a balanced color scheme: 60% should be the dominant color, 30% the secondary color and 10% the accent color. This ratio guarantees color balance and a comfortable transition of the gaze from one object to another.


The formula 60% + 30% + 10% is the key to the balance of the colors used.

Availability of color perception

People perceive colors in different ways. Approximately 8% of all men and 0.5% of all women are colorblind to some degree. The combination of red with green suffers most from the violation of color perception. The only way avoid problems - try not to use this color combination.

Many colorblind people find it difficult to distinguish between red and green.

Let's take a common situation as an example. Have you ever received a message about incorrectly filling out a form - something like "Fields marked in red are required"? Although this is not a big problem for users with normal vision, for people who are colorblind, such a message can be frustrating.


Website developers use only two colors for the form filling operation: red and green. But colorblind people do not distinguish between the fields highlighted by these colors.

As stated in the W3C recommendations, colors should not be used as the sole visual tool for the following purposes: conveying information, inciting action and response, highlighting a visual element. Following these recommendations, website developers should pay attention to some points: the error response message should be more informative, for example, this: “Address Email you entered is not available"; or maybe add an icon next to the field to fill in to grab the user's attention.


Additional visual cues and built-in error checking help highlight an incorrectly filled field.

Are there several ways to help test your user interface for accessibility?

• The WebAIM service will help with checking color combinations.
• Using the graphic editor Adobe Photoshop will help you to correct images using Color Universal Design. This will ensure the availability of graphic information for people with impaired color perception, including color blindness.

Conclusion

We've looked at several color-related factors that can affect how your site or app's user interface works. But we never managed to answer the question: “How to find the right color?”. But you may have already guessed that there is no “best” color for conversion at all. One color does not do much. The most important thing is what colors you choose and how you combine them with each other.

If your goal is to increase your conversion rate, then you need to seriously analyze the information: what users really need, what language or style of speech is most accessible to them, what way they prefer to buy products. A well-designed website is a website that satisfies users.

If you have something to add on the topic, feel free. Leave comments!

The psychology of the buyer is one of the most controversial, controversial and interesting points in marketing. It only takes a minute and a half for consumers to make the final choice in favor of a particular product. And to your surprise, in 60-90% of cases, color becomes the decisive factor for it. Color is what controls the emotions of customers and shapes their attitude towards products. Just think about it, 85% of buyers are repelled when choosing a product precisely from its color, and 65% will not make a purchase until the position they are interested in appears in the right palette ...

The influence of the psychology of color on consumers is so strong that with a good combination of circumstances, almost any shade can become a selling color. You need to understand that there are no single algorithms, the effect of colors on purchasing activity depends on a lot of factors, including features target audience. Skilled.co will talk about the colors of sales.

Consumer differences

The whole essence of the psychology of color in marketing comes down to the formation of the correct emotional reaction in the head of the consumer. But it won't work for everyone. For example, those who are prone to impulsive purchases are perfectly influenced by the orange-black combination, which is why they are used in sales. Pale red and pink are considered massive, so they can often be found in clothing stores. Navy blue, in particular, is considered a color that inspires confidence, which is why it is used in places where there are buyers who are limited in their budget.

Gender differences deserve special attention. As it turned out, blue and light green are 2 colors that both women and men like. Similarly, both sexes dislike orange and brown the most. Purple is one of the most preferred colors for women, while men dislike it the most. The situation is similar with black. But this should be taken into account only in gender-oriented products, in terms of the emotions evoked, almost every color can be successful.

Emotions of flowers

Traditionally, red is considered the most emotional color, it causes courage and admiration among consumers, increasing the pulse. Therefore, it is preferred to be used for mass consumption brands, such as food manufacturers, fast food brands, sportswear and drinks. Blue, as we have already said, is the color of trust and calmness, which makes it the most popular on the Internet and the most popular among medical and financial companies. Green is a typically natural color that evokes harmony and allows relaxation, which is why it is commonly used in food and agricultural brands, energy and finance.

Oddly enough, orange is considered the best selling color - causing self-confidence, it calls for action better than others. Paired with black, it's great for selling luxury goods, as black continues to symbolize strength and power. Unlike silver / white, which speaks of the purity and perfection of the product. Yellow is usually considered the most cheerful - causing joy and symbolizing energy, it is often used by energy companies, although it is often associated with food. What can not be said about purple, associated with greatness, money and untold wealth.

It should be taken into account that this is only general characteristics colors - the emotional reactions evoked will depend both on the category of their use and on the individual characteristics of the product.

Conversion color

as show marketing research, 93% of consumers believe that the main factor influencing their purchase decision is the visual assessment. In fact, they look at the color. Similarly, visual perception affects the opinion about Internet resources. And if the aesthetic design seems unacceptable to users, more than half of them will simply never return to the site. Thus, the refusal to make purchases can be caused not only by the shortcomings of the product, but also by the poor design of the resource on which it is sold.

Even individual elements, in particular, the commit buttons, have a huge impact. targeted actions. It is believed that green, orange and red are the three most successful colors for these buttons, but only when they stand out against the general background of the site. The successful use of button colors alone can increase overall ratio conversions by 9%! Most importantly, there is a mass success stories such an application.

In particular, Beamax made comparative analysis clicks on CTA buttons. So, the number of clicks on the standard blue button was 53% lower than on the red one. A similar result was obtained by the company Dmix - their conversion increased by 34% by changing the color of the button to red. At the same time, Unbounce considers the big orange button to be the best option, so each use of color is purely individual.

More information in the infographic from Skilled.co.

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