Blue versus red

Derek Powazak directs out attention to a study by Ravi Mehta

published in the journal Science in 2009. In the experiment, participants were given the same tasks to complete on a computer. The only difference was that one group had a red background and the other had a blue background.

The study showed that the red group did better at tasks that required attention to detail, while the blue group did better at tasks that required creativity and emotion. The reverse was also true – the red group did worse at creative tasks and the blue group did worse at attention to detail.

I love this study because it shows that there’s no one right way (or one right color) for every task. If your community task requires attention to detail, using red is a good choice. Indeed, many error messages are red for this reason. If your task requires creativity and emotion, blue is the better choice. Interestingly, blue was the default link color on the web and often still is

I wonder how this affects the shopping experience at Target, which uses red, and Wal-Mart, which uses blue. Are the Wal-Mart workers more creative? Do the Target workers pay better attention to detail? Are the Target shoppers better able to pay attention to details? Do the Wal-Mart shoppers have a more pleasant emotional experience?