Up or Down? How Culture and Color Affect Judgments

Abstract

In the Mainland China stock market, an upmarket is represented by the color red, whereas a downmarket is represented by the color green. Elsewhere, including the Chinese Hong Kong stock market, the color representations are the opposite. Three studies were conducted to examine the red-up-green-down effect for Mainland Chinese as well as the green-up-red-down effect for Hong Kong people. Study 1 showed that Mainland Chinese tended to predict greater economic growth (study 1a) and higher growth in consumption trends (study 1b) when the experimental materials were presented in red than in green, whereas Hong Kong participants exhibited the opposite tendencies. Study 2 found that Mainland Chinese implicitly associated red and green with up and down, respectively; Hong Kong people, however, implicitly associated green and red with up and down, respectively. Study 3 further indicated that Mainland Chinese were more likely to predict good outcomes when scenarios were presented in red, whereas Hong Kong participants were more likely to predict good outcomes when scenarios were presented in green. These findings suggest that culturally specific environment cues could influence human prediction and judgment. Implications for judgment generally are discussed.

“Red wins”, “black wins” and “blue loses” effects are in the eye of beholder, but they are culturally universal: A cross-cultural analysis of the influence of outfit colours on sports performance.

“…In contrast, in China, the color red has largely positive connotations that are associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer (Cullen, 2000). In China, red even represents increases in market shares, whereas green represents losses (which is exactly opposite to Western culture) (Jiang et al 2013). Similarly, in Chinese cultural traditions, red is associated with weddings (brides traditionally wear red dresses), and red paper is frequently used to wrap gifts of money or other things.…”

“…Similarly, in Chinese cultural traditions, red is associated with weddings (brides traditionally wear red dresses), and red paper is frequently used to wrap gifts of money or other things. Mainland Chinese people describe business prosperity as "red and fire" and rich and noble people as "coming from the red door" (Jiang et al, 2013;Xu, 2007;Zhao, 2010). Because of such cultural associations with the color red, Hulbert and Ling (2007) used a Chinese sample in their study investigating the universality of preferences for certain colors (however, the Chinese in the sample represented those of Chinese origin residing in the United States).…”

“…Therefore, although the perception of colors seems different in various cultures (e.g., Jiang et al, 2013), in a fight, or while watching a fight, an evolutionary schema might be activated and as with many other animals, including fish (Bakker & Milinski, 1993), birds (Pryke & Griffith, 2006), and primates (Setchell & Wickings, 2005), dark and red colors are associated with aggression and dominance. In this context, we might presume (although further evidence is necessary) that even if "black wins" and "red wins" effects are only in the eyes of the beholders, their bases might be biological.…”

“…During his work on this study, Piotr Sorokowski and Agnieszka Sorokowska were supported by scholarship programs (PS: 2011-2014, AS: 2012/2013, 2013-2016 funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and Agnieszka Sorokowska received START scholarship from Foundation for Polish Science and ETIUDA scholarship (2013/08/T/HS6/00408) from National Science Centre…”

An Experimental Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cool Colors as Environmental Stimulus on the Elderlies in High-rise Condominiums of Kuala Lumpur

“…Red and yellow can, treat Alzheimer disease on elderlies Deanne (2000) Shariful et al (2012) Increasing physical health of elderly residents by relaxation and spiritual healing Wong (2001) More beneficial effect on the physical health by viewing the garden Jiang and Lu (2014) Colour vs. culture and historical background Personal history and cultural background strongly affect colour impact Tofle et al (2004) Cultural and historical background influence the impact of colour Each cool colour impact elderlies differently and any intensities of each colour has different impact as well. While, Visual impact of colour as environmental stimulus on any intensity can significantly measure through blood pressure, heart beat rate and skin temperature (Ross et al, 2013).…”