Are colors emotional triggers in digital branding?

Abstract

This investigation exhibits a real study of the influence of color in a digital promotional product—social coupon. The paper’s goal is to analyze the perception of color in graphic design, through the analysis of consumers’ responses. Following the design-science research (DSR) approach through the development of the artifacts—social coupons—the emotional influence of color was studied during the literature review. Then, according to the DSR, the main problem was divided into iterative cycles, in order to build and evaluate the artifacts designed to meet the identified business need. After the development of innovative artifacts, a digital promotional product was tested and redesigned, according to the user's perceptions. Consumers prefer colors that are associated with positive emotions and find tranquility and safety the most related to blue color, sophistication to black color, comfort to white color, brown as the most boring color, and red as the color which captures more of their attention. This study brings new insights to brands, with the development of a new framework and with its exploration about the emotional triggers of colors in the design, determining how to best capture consumers’ attention and how to bring more pleasant experiences to them.