Effects of pill colors on human perception and expectation of drugs' efficacy

Abstract

The physical appearance of pills, especially their color, affect expectations of their efficacy in addition to their intended medicinal effect. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects pill colors have on a wide variety of people, testing the hypotheses that the color of the pill affects participants' expectation of the drug's efficacy, and that demographics play a role in the participant's judgement. The 339 participants were recruited from the Rochester Institute of Technology global campuses in Rochester, USA, and Dubai, UAE. The study did not involve individuals taking drugs. Instead, it measured how people perceived the expected effects of pills on six efficacies, by asking the participants to rate the expected efficacy of five colors of pills. While there were some clear patterns and similarities in the results, differences were also apparent across the various demographics considered in this study. It is evident that three out of the six efficacies tested had a strong association with a particular color: stimulant efficacy with red, pain relief with white, and antacid with yellow.Remaining efficacies had weaker associations or varied associations based on different demographics. The patterns that emerged will help pharmaceutical companies, as well as medical practitioners, to better manufacture and prescribe drugs, thus maximizing the effects of the pills on patients overall, and increasing their compliance rates.