Ready Men for Good Deals Using Red

Put promotional prices in red ink, advise researchers at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Babson College, Drexel University, and Oxford University. When a sale price appears in red rather than black, it increases the perception of savings by about 70% among male shoppers. Related to this, the men in the studies liked retail ads better when prices were presented in red.
     The effect was much smaller for women shoppers. The increase in perceptions of promotional savings with red instead of black ink was about 8%, a difference too small for the researchers to consider it significant, given the variation among people in price perceptions. However, there was no evidence women liked sales prices in black over red, so there’s no reason for you not to use the red prices.
     Why does red have this effect? Other research finds that the color facilitates purchasing and consumption in general. It’s physiological. Red on the walls of the shop or restaurant speed up the consumer. Reds create excitement associated with fast movement and enhanced appetite. In a McDonald's, red means you eat more quickly, leaving space sooner for the next customer. In a Target store, red means you pile your purchases into the cart more quickly.
     It does depend on context. When you see a stop sign or a red light on the traffic signal at a busy intersection, you stop. The red raises alertness. So if you don’t stop, you’ll probably drive through the intersection faster than otherwise.
     But with the red prices, why did it make much more of a difference with men than with women? Because women pay closer attention to analyzing prices than men do, the color on the sign or in the ad isn’t as much of an influence. In fact, the Fairleigh Dickinson/Babson/Drexel/Oxford researchers discovered that when they managed to get the men more involved in analyzing the purchase possibilities, the red/black savings perception difference pretty much faded away.
     You can increase the effect of red on female shoppers in merchandise appraisal, even if not in savings perception, by giving red some personality. Research findings from Boston College and University of Pennsylvania indicate that Shakespeare’s Juliet had her accuracy clouded by love when she uttered “What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” Retailers sold more items when packages carried the label “cherry red” instead of just “red.”

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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