Colour is a powerful tool that is used to great effect by manufacturers and retail companies when they try to sell us. In fact, many of the purchasing decisions we make are partly or largely influenced by colour. How true is this statement? How much does colour influence us when we buy something?

Colour

arguably plays a central role when it comes to buying something. In fact, our purchasing choices are so strongly influenced by

colour

that in many cases we will not buy

something

an indefinite thing

anything

if it does not come in the

colour

we like. Alternatively, we may pay extra to get something in favourite

colour

. We all make purchasing decisions based on

colour

, even if it is something simple and relatively cheap. When we buy apples,

for example

, we will often choose bright red ones over green ones. Retainers know

this

, of course, which is why most supermarket apples are a bright, vibrant red.

Colour

is

also

of the main things we consider when buying clothes, a new car or a sofa for our living room. To a lesser extent, it will be an important consideration when we buy household appliances or a small luxury goods like a smart phones and MP3 players. The

colour

of the environment where we are doing our shopping is

also

important, and retailers choose their colours very carefully. The general view is that certain colours convey certain messages or create certain moods. Green,

for example

, is popular in health-food shops because of its environment connotations. Red is often used in shops selling luxury electrical items because it is believed to create a feeling of excitement. Having said that,

colour

is not only determining factor. When we buy fruit, the size, shape and of course the price or perhaps equally important. In some cases,

colour

plays no role whatsoever when we buy a book,

for example

, we are interested in the content and not be

colour

. In other cases, we may not be given a choice. The car manufacturer Henry Ford once famously joked that you could buy his latest car in any

colour

you liked, as long as it was black. On the whole,

however

, we can see that

colour

dose play a central or major role in many situations where we are spending money. In fact, it is inevitable that when we see something we like, one of the

first

questions we ask ourselves is “Do I like the

colour

?”