White Out If Product Color Matches Better

Some years ago, I presented my “Retail Profitability Tactics” workshop in Lakeport, California under Small Business Development Center sponsorship. As an integral component of these projects, I visit in advance the stores whose managers will be participating in the session.
     When I walked into a fashion shop along the main street, I was impressed by the fresh look of the walls, floors, and fixtures. Also by how few fixtures and clothing hanging on them there were on the floor. My first question to the sole salesperson was when the business began. “Three months ago.” Now my impression was of an enterprise that had spent all available funds on interior design, leaving little for ordering inventory.
     “There’s not much merchandise,” I said. The salesperson looked down and replied, in a tone indicating she was reciting well-rehearsed words, “Our store owner knows that leaving plenty of space instead of crowding the dresses in shows exclusivity.”
     Beyond the condescension in the explanation and the fact that only four standing racks in a store footprint of that size looked odd, the owner did have a point. In general, empty space when marketing does signal exclusivity, along with, as Prof. Nazuk Sharma at Fairfield University might add, sophistication and even extravagance. Desirable images for a fashion shop.
     A number of studies, principally one at University of Wisconsin and University of Alberta, documented that white space in an ad or signage gives those impressions, too. Prof. Sharma wondered if there was something superior about the white. Would it not be better to reinforce the product image by populating the empty space using a color associated with the product?
     The answer was a conditional yes. Use the product color instead of white if the product or experience is of the type subject to impulse purchasing. The product color in that circumstance increases impulse buys.
     One argument for white has been that it yields visual contrast, highlighting both the ad copy and the spaciousness. This makes an ad or banner easier to read. Ease of comprehension produces positive impressions of the item.
     Because the product color helps when impulse is at hand, you might choose to use white for the empty in ads, since a consumer probably can’t buy the item right at the time of viewing, and the product color to fill the empty space on in-store signage, where the urge to splurge can be promptly satisfied.

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