Can using colour theory psychology encourage better hygiene?

This blog investigates the link between colour and hygiene and whether using colour theory psychology can encourage better hygiene practices – such as handwashing and drying – in the workplace.

Artists and interior designers alike agree that colour can dramatically affect your moods, feelings, and emotions. In Yellow Banana Good, Green Banana Bad we investigated the link between colour and emotion, and light and mood. Both mood and emotion are linked to productivity and happiness – which in turn create organisational performance and success. 

Colour theory psychology

Colour theory psychology is the study of  “how colours affect human behaviour, mood, or physiological processes.”  Advocates of colour psychology (amongst them most modern marketers) firmly believe that specific colours can “influence our buying choices, our feelings, and even our memories.” 

Colour perception

But measuring the effects of colour can be tricky though because colour perception is subjective: different people have different ideas about – and responses to – colour. 

There are various factors which influence colour perception – such as age, gender and culture – which make it difficult to determine if colour alone is impacting our behaviour.  So while it may be hard to establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between colour and behaviour, some generalisations about colours and their associations can be made. 

Warm colours (red, yellow, orange and pink) are thought to stimulate exciting emotions, and cool colours (blue, violet, and green) are associated with calmness and tranquillity. This is backed up by research which clearly showed that colour does “indeed have an effect on whether people feel warm, cool, calm, invited, relaxed, or uninvited.”

Evolutionary associations with colour

Colour specialist Leatrice Eiseman asked thousands of people what they thought of specific colours and found many patterns. For example, blue is almost always associated with blue skies, and from an evolutionary perspective, blue skies meant no storms coming and good sun for crops.

She maintains that this is why blue reminds us of stability and calm. Blue is also almost always associated with water, which is why we created our handwashing posters with a blue background.

How to change hygiene behaviour?

We’ve established that colour is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions – so it stands to reason that used correctly, it may well be able to encourage better hygiene practices by signalling to users the actions we want users to take in the bathroom.

Signature COLOUR

Initial have applied colour theory thinking to our Signature COLOUR range of bathroom products, working with a colour psychologist to determine the best colour choices to offer our customers. 

The Signature COLOUR range offers Initial’s hygiene products in nine striking colours, and 2 different finishes (either gloss or matt).  Here are the behaviours and emotions that our colour psychologist believes each colour can inspire in bathroom users: 

1. Red: Red is a bright, warm colour that evokes strong emotions. It is stimulating and energetic and provokes a lively reaction. It has the potential to drive enthusiasm from both employees and customers.
   
2. Blue:  Blue is most often described as calm and serene. Blue affects bathroom users mentally, engendering feelings of trust, whilst stimulating clear thought and efficiency – a key attribute of employee productivity.
   
3. Yellow: The strongest colour psychologically, yellow lifts the spirits and inspires confidence. This, in turn, raises self-awareness that has a positive impact on personal hygiene standards.
    
4. Green: Reassuring green is the colour of abundance, refreshment and harmony. Increased awareness and feeling of refreshment have the real potential to encourage good hygiene practices.
    
5. Black: In marketing and branding psychology, black is associated with boldness, formality, mystery, strength, luxuriousness, and seriousness. Besides being sleek, black is versatile and can be combined with any other colour. It embodies sophistication, substance and elegance.
   
6. Champagne: The ultimate expression of refinement. Need we say more?
   
7. Turquoise: Possibly the most inspiring of all, turquoise sparks an instinctual reaction that runs deep. Often reminiscent of the ocean, turquoise is fresh, clean and motivational.
   
8. Pink: The colour pink is thought to be a calming colour associated with love, kindness, and femininity. Soft and warm, the pink Signature range displays a caring approach to hygiene best practices. Pink expresses a nurturing instinct and heightens feelings of well-being.
   
9. Purple: The embodiment of luxury, purple Signature units express authenticity, quality and vision. Purple has been chosen to heighten awareness of employee value and brand perception. 

What have we learned from the pandemic? 

We would argue that the pandemic has left most people with a need to feel safe again. Colour choices such as blue can help create that feeling of calm, serenity, and safety, and turquoise is clean, fresh, and motivational, making both of these colours excellent choices for bathrooms in which we want to drive adherence to hand washing and drying. 

A study published in PLOS One found that people linked the smell of soap to light pastel colours – so it also stands to reason that having pastel colours in your bathroom could create the impression that it’s clean and inviting.

And what about smell?

When trying to encourage better hygiene practices in the workplace, it’s important to remember that our sense of smell is even more closely connected to our emotions than our sense of sight. And, as we can’t turn it off, our olfactory system is constantly feeding signals to the brain. 

Research has shown that when we encounter a fresh and clean smell, the limbic system sparks into action, sending signals to our brain and evoking a feeling of safety and reassurance. 

Smell also has a strong link to perceptions of hygiene. In Initial’s 2017 Air Care report it was noted that malodour immediately impacts how people behave. Respondents admitted that when they encounter an unpleasant smell they try to get out of the bathroom as quickly as possible (88%), which unfortunately results in unhygienic behaviour.  Nearly a third of respondents (28%) say they would ‘miss something out’ to make their bathroom trip faster, including not drying hands (17%). Others admitted to not washing their hands at all, or not using soap.

So if we really want to drive adherence to handwash and drying protocols, a combination of colour theory (in which we use colour in the bathroom to evoke feelings of calm and serenity or a reminder of water) combined with an odour remediation solution (such as air freshener to ensure that malodour isn’t driving people out of the bathroom) is a good place to start, by creating a bathroom experience that users enjoy and feel safe in. 

For more information on the Signature COLOUR range, contact us today for a free survey of your bathrooms.