While walking down the street, you notice this gigantic red billboard that screams about a clearance sale in your favorite store a few blocks from where you are. The billboard lists down the duration of the sale, and today is when it ends.

Do you feel your heart racing? Do you suddenly get the urge to jump into a cab and rush to that store? If you say yes to both questions, then you’re just reacting in the most normal way. The billboard, after all, is effectively creating a sense of urgency in anyone who chances upon it. The words were clear enough, but in all likelihood, it’s the red-hot backdrop that sent the message into overdrive.

Admittedly, there is still much debate as to whether color has any effect on the attitudes and emotions of people as far as marketing is concerned. After all, our reactions to individual colors are mostly colored by our personal experiences, preferences, cultural differences, upbringing, etc.

However, there is a sub-field of behavioral psychology called color psychology that focuses on studying colors and the human behaviors associated with them. As far as color psychology is concerned, colors appear to have an impact on our emotions and our reactions.

The use of red in marketing is a perfect example. Since it’s the color most closely-associated with passion, red is often used by marketers to make customers’ hearts skip a beat, and they tend to succeed at it.

Blue, on the other hand, is typically associated with reliability and stability, both of which are qualities that most businesses would like to project. Facebook and Twitter are two of the most successful companies that use blue as their signature color.

Do you want to learn more about color psychology and the behaviors associated with individual colors? Check out the infographic below about the psychology of color and how it’s used in web design, and see if you agree with it.

Anthony Tisara is the Outreach Manager at My Biz Niche, the go-to Phoenix-based digital marketing agency specializing in effective SEO and stunning web design solutions built to capture your target audience and generate more leads. He enjoys traveling with his family and organizing weekly trivia events with his friends.