This study assessed whether the color would be a significant determinant of memory recall using two tests. Various previous research, most of which employed text-based research design, helped in shedding more light on the correlation between color and memory. Participants viewed two video clips – one with a colored background, another with a white background – and commented on the number of words they could recall after viewing them. The videos were accessible online by opening links sent to them via email and social media platforms, as well as physically contacting them. ANOVAs revealed a t-value of -1.78343 and an insignificant result of p<.05. Participants who viewed the viewed with a colored background recalled more words than those who viewed the video with a white background. These findings suggest that color plays a significant role in one’s ability to recall events and things, and the choice of color will determine the amount of information retained by the audience.
Keywords: color, memory, recall, colored background, white background.
Effects of Color on Memory
Introduction
Color detection is one of the essential aspects of human sight. One’s capacity to have a clear vision determines the effectiveness with which one deciphers the variances in colors. Subsequently, color is a critical concern in various visualization techniques; the very designing process of any given visual must incorporate color selection. Principal amid the conventional visualization techniques insofar as goes is using high contrast colors since they are easily recognizable. Dark backgrounds, in instances like presentations, should be accompanied by light texts as well as bright accent colors. The choice of colors is a vital decision at the stage of any given effective presentation. While the substantial reason for this behavior is usually enhancing the appeal of a presentation to the audience (Kim et al., 2015), there is a memory factor in this. The human memory relies significantly on the color according to various research (Martinez, Oberle & Thompson Jr, 2010).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Additionally, colors in visuals have amassed tremendous recognition in the corporate world. Most brands and trademarks are fundamentally color-based due to several reasons. First, planners in brand identity systems recognize color as an essential consideration due to their impact on the emotional state of people (Sundar & Kellaris, 2015). Second, colors enable people to concentrate and learn due to their wide variety of mental associations. In essence, colors appeal to the psychological, sociological, and physiological state of an individual. Some branders acknowledge the presupposition that people tend to find more calmness in non-primary colors than in primary colors. Also, designers link blue to reading retention increases. Scholars establish that colors affect the functionality in readability, attention attraction capability, and eye-strain [(Martinez, Oberle & Thompson Jr, 2010); Vlahos & Berman, 2016)]. It follows, therefore, that decision-makers should be concerned about the choice of color in signings, print ads, website pages, and marketing media as a whole. Other observable color selections include the traffic signs and the use of red at Christmas, while orange is mostly used on Halloween and Thanksgiving. The recognition cue assigned to colors has enabled brands to own specific colors in their corporate image and proceeds from the ownership of intellectual properties therein,
Color plays several roles in the typical human memory, and various scholars have proposed several theories to expound on the hypothesis. Most schools of thought are situational-based, and principal among them include the encoding specificity principle. The theory holds that human memories much depend on the similarity between external conditions at the time of retrieval and cues existing at the time of the memory’s creation. The principle appreciates the essence of emotional cues on the previously encountered experiences by an individual. Some scholars have associated this phenomenon with colors to help determine the correlation between such cues and one’s ability to remember (Martinez, Oberle & Thompson Jr, 2010).
In summary, there exists a tremendous attempt to correlate the color choice with certain human behaviors such as emotional appeal. Colors have gained worldwide recognition in various fields, including the corporate world. Branding of items or services also accompanies crucial color contemplations due to the apparent association of colors with certain targetable human aspects. Colors dictate how people interact with the world around them. While some colors are generally appreciated in specific contexts, they may imply something different altogether in other instances. Psychological color connotations entail human memory. This research will help elucidate the effects of color on a person’s memory.
Methodology
Method
Participants. Sixty-six participants, including friends and family members, were asked to open a link sent to them via social media platforms. Further, students were approached in the library. The age ranges were 18 to 56 years, with a notable mean of 20 years. The link contained a 27-second video clip to which they responded to the number of words that they remembered after viewing it. The respondents noted down the words they could recall after watching two versions of the video.
Materials. Instead of providing a list of words in different colors, the research employed two video two similar video clips that had nine words each. One video had a white background while the other had a colored background. Respondents accessed the two videos via email and social media platforms. Consequently, they responded to one of the clips by writing down the words they could remember after viewing.
Procedure. The survey was carried out online using a Google forms tool, which was shared among target respondents via email and social media platforms. The form contained a link that redirected one to a webpage displaying the video. Upon viewing the two videos successfully, the participants were asked to write down the names they recalled words. The completed form was automatically submitted to the researchers.
Measures. We conducted two surveys – one with a colored background and one without – that contained nine words that were shown to the respondents. The responses were summarized by identifying the number of correct words and those that were incorrect; this data facilitated the progress in the study and further analysis.
Results
The study exhibited a noteworthy outcome when the number of participants surpassed the target. The study had aimed at least 40 participants, with 20 take-ups for each survey. However, 66 individuals took part in the survey, with at least 33 respondents in each survey. The results revealed that no substantial evidence of the encoding specificity principle as well as no significant effect of the exact color on which the letters were typed. The distinction in the study was based, primarily, on the background color. Participants were able to decipher the difference between the two videos, and there was no particular comment on the non-effectiveness of the choice of background color.
Initially, it was arguably implausible to project the results since any distractions that may have arisen due to the colored background was unknown. Figure 1 illustrates the mean of the two backgrounds as recorded. The standard deviations for the white and colored background were 1.67 and 2.24, respectively.
Figure 1 . Bar graph showing the means for the two backgrounds.
We calculated the participants' scores for the white background and the colored background survey and employed a t -test calculator to summarize the findings. The two-tailed results were highly likely to exhibit a significant difference, and a two-tailed hypothesis test was conducted. The test concluded the following:
The t-value -1.78343; P-value 0.039705; and
the result was significant at p<0.05.
Given that the test fell into one side of the critical area, we ignored the null hypothesis. The outcomes unequivocally suggested that participants who took the colored background survey did significantly better than those who took the white background survey.
Discussion
This study evaluated the effect of color as a contextual cue on the retrieval of one’s memory. Previous research that employed a text approach instead indicates that color affects recognition significantly (Martinez, Oberle & Thompson Jr, 2010). However, the research affirms the encoding specificity theory, which presupposes that the relationship between initial cues and the result influence one’s ability to recall events or things. Participants were subjected to the background color at the beginning of the survey, and they could recount the texts based on the background that dominated throughout the 27 seconds.
The clips were long enough to allow sufficient time for memorizing the names, yet short enough not to cause distractions or boredom. Short videos have a tremendous appeal to the audience as compared to longer clips. Marketers employ this technique when attempting to capture the maximum attention of the target audience. A survey by Marketingland.com shows that the video ad length for advertisers run from an average of 11 to 20 seconds. Similarly, 60 percent of gaming ads run within a 10-second range and 31 to 35 seconds for 10 percent of gaming video creative ads ( Waber, 2017 ). The 27-second duration was, therefore, appropriate to best capture the attention of the respondents.
Interestingly, the survey recorded a higher number of participants than observed, which improved the accuracy of the data and the conclusions made thereof. Respondents who viewed the video with the colored background could recall almost all the nine names. However, the study had several limitations. First, the research failed to account for the possibility of respondents who were color blind, and who could not possibility decipher any notable difference between the two videos. Secondly, the video was repayable, which may flaw the accuracy of the hypothesis. Johnson, Shaw & Miles (2016) find a correlation between repetition and memory, and participants who possibly repeated the video could portray a better remembrance of the names. Lastly, the study did not factor in age and the number of words considerations, which are also crucial in determining the memory recall. Future research is required on the correlation between these factors and memory, with a design that accounts for all of them for better results.
References
Johnson, A. J., Shaw, J., & Miles, C. (2016). Tactile order memory: evidence for sequence learning phenomena found with other stimulus types. Journal of Cognitive Psychology , 28 (6), 718-725.
Kim, J. M., Park, K. H., Yi, J. Y., Min, B. S., Jang, D. H., Cho, S. D., ... & Kim, J. H. (2015). U.S. Patent No. 8,947,468 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Martinez, J. V., Oberle, C. D., & Thompson Jr, J. G. (2010). Effects of color on memory encoding and retrieval in the classroom. American Journal of Psychological Research , 6 (1), 24-31.
Sundar, A., & Kellaris, J. J. (2015). Blue-washing the green halo: how colors color ethical judgments. In The Psychology of Design (pp. 85-96). Routledge.
Vlahos, P. E., & Berman, A. (2016). U.S. Patent No. 9,288,462 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Waber, A. (2017). Video ads for direct response: What's the best length? - Marketing Land . Marketing Land . Retrieved 11 December 2019, from https://marketingland.com/video-ads-direct-response-whats-best-length-209996
