Color associations for Hong Kong Chinese

Warning Design: A Research Prospective

“…Similar results were shown in a recent study of the reviewer (Chan, Courtney, and Fung 1998) that when asked to associate colors with some signal words like Danger, Caution, Potential Hazard, and Radiation Hazard, Hong Kong Chinese usually used red color for the associations. This showed that the Hong Kong Chinese also have no clear differentiation between caution and danger, and different types of hazards.…”

A study of the relationship between color-concept association and occupational background for Chinese

“…Previous studies have shown that some color-concept associations are common among university students [7][8][9], but these findings cannot be applied to specific occupations. Although Courtney [10] examined individuals with various occupations concerning their color-concept associations, he did not indicate the differences in associations made by different occupational groups.…”

Interface Design and Display-Control Compatibility

“…Symbol comprehension is a measure to assess the readiness of an observer in understanding the message intended to be conveyed by the symbol. 50 Given the importance of conceptual compatibility in facilitating comprehension of symbols/ signs/icons, there has been a wide variety of research in the areas of industrial safety sign comprehension, 51,52 color associations, 53,54 hazard perceptions, 55 and so on.…”

“…54,56,57 For example, purple connotes anger and passion for Americans, but it usually connotes royalty for Chinese and Japanese. 58 Chan and Courtney 53 examined color associations for Hong Kong Chinese using 10 colors and 16 concepts. The results showed that the primary colors red, green, and blue had associations with 10 of the 16 concepts, suggesting that it is beneficial to use these three colors in the design of control panels or warning labels to facilitate correct interpretation of the information presented.…”

“…Thus, in order to reduce the risk of error and improve safety performance, equipment and systems should be so designed that they can, as far as possible, be in agreement with the stereotypes for the relevant population. Chan et al 59 investigated cross-cultural …”