Though there is a strong argument for the colour preferences of humans being evolutionary, there is also evidence to suggest that culture and society also has an impact. Colour is such an enormous spectrum, and humans are capable of seeing millions of them, but instead of attempting to name all of them as distinct colours we tend to categorise them into groups like blue and green. If you show people two very close shades of green they can tell that they are not the same, though they will still call both green - so confirmed by a study on four month old infants (Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation Magazine, 2018).
As an example, the colour yellow, which is often seen as one of joy and happiness, has some surprisingly dark meanings in other cultures. In France and Germany yellow signifies ‘jealousy, betrayal, weakness and contradiction’. In the 10th century the French people even painted yellow the doors of traitors and criminals. In China it is associated with pornography, and the Chinese term ‘yellow picture’ or ‘yellow book’ is used to denote pornographic images and websites when mentioned in the media.
Contrastingly, in Africa the colour yellow is reserved for high ranking nations because of its close resemblance to gold, which itself carries global associations with money and success. Egyptians also closely associate yellow with gold, though the practise of painting mummies with yellow paint has meant that the colour is now also a symbol for mourning in Egyptian culture. In Japan, yellow has been found to represent ‘bravery, wealth and refinement’ since the War of Dynasties in 1357, due to the adornment of yellow chrysanthemums by the warriors who fought in it and their representation of the emperor and royal family. Thai culture considers yellow to be a lucky colour, particularly for Monday, and it’s further considered to be an important shade because it represents the King of Thailand (who was born on a Monday). Many Thais wear yellow on Monday to pay tribute, and some schools even require the teaching staff to wear yellow during the first week of December (HuffPost, 2016).
Though this may appear an arbitrary or whimsical group of observations, it is worth considering specific applications and the implication of them in order to contextualise their relevance to human-machine interaction and the psychological considerations of user experience design. Consider how the bank HSBC’s intrinsic use of the colour red has positive connotations in China, due to its association with luck and good finance. Then consider if their identity and online presence was instead overwhelmingly yellow, and what that could mean. Beyond any notwithstanding negatives of the colour yellow (such as a feeling of ‘cheapness’, a propensity to induce hunger, and a difficult contrast with other colours), the cultural link in China that yellow has to pornographic material could have a potentially adverse marketing impact.
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