Colors in Marketing: A Study of Color Associations and Context (in) Dependence
Martin Amsteus, Sarah Al-Shaaban, Emmy Wallin, Sarah Sjöqvist

Abstract
Mirroring an increasing awareness of the importance of colors, today marketing managers arepayingincreasingattention to the deployment of color in marketing as well as to the applicability of universal color associations. Two colors considered to carry several specific universal associations are blue and black. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to assess the contextual independence/dependence of consumers’ associations with the colors blue and black. Associative learning theory was deployed to specify the hypotheses. The hypotheses were tested through a paired sample t-test. The results show that the universal associations with the colors are different from the associations with the colors when they are displayed in a specific context. The implications for further research and limitations of the study are presented. Managers may want to consider the associations colors have in the specific context rather than relying on universal associations of colors.

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