My previous posts have focused on the impact of colour on the decision-making process and what this can mean for businesses.  But the impact of colour can be even more striking beyond the workplace . . . .

Take the sports field, for instance, or in this case the sports arena.  A study published last year in the journal Psychological Science involves 42 experienced taekwondo referees who were asked to judge a series of pre-recorded taekwondo contests.  In each video, one competitor wore red protective gear while the other wore blue.  The referees awarded competitors wearing red an average of 13 percent more points.  Next, the researchers digitally reversed the colors of the protective gear and showed the clips again. The number of points awarded increased for the competitor whose equipment was now changed to red and decreased for the one altered to appear blue - even though the referees were watching the same matches!

This 'laboratory' experiment corresponds to a small but measurable advantage enjoyed by red competitors during actual competition.  Take the 2005 Athens Olympics where red contestants won in 57 percent of all taekwondo matchups, 55 percent of all boxing matches, 53 percent of freestyle wrestling contests and 52 percent of Greco-Roman match-ups**! 

 And the world's most popular sport it not exempt from this 'colour bias' either!  In an article published in the Journal of Sports Sciences in early 2008***, researchers analysed the teams of England's Premier League from 1947 to 2003.  Their statistical analysis determined that football teams wearing red had a disproportionately higher rate of both winning home games and securing the title than teams wearing either yellow or orange. 

From a personal (Spanish) perspective, the red shirts of the national football team never seemed to have the desired effect on either the opposition or the referees in major tournaments; most notably in the 2002 World Cup with two 'perfectly good' goals disallowed we were eliminated in the quarter finals by joint hosts South Korea****!  This trend was finally broken in the European Championships last year when the red shirts of Spain were - for the first time in 44 years - victorious. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the World Cup of 2010 for the continued dominance of the colour red!

Back to science, one explanation, according to the researchers, is that red most likely helps a football team because of its psychological effect on both teams.  Extensive research confirms that red increases the pulse and heart rate and can help raise a person's blood pressure.  Even looking at the colour red reduces a human's potential to perform, for instance, limiting the capacity of the opposing team to respond.  Over the years, red might also attract more fans to a particular team, which in turn can make them even stronger.

Sports teams are certainly not averse to using the power of colour to their advantage.  At the University of Iowa, the visiting team's locker rooms are painted a soft, feminine pink.  The lockers themselves are a dusty rose, the showers have pink shower curtains, and even the urinals are of pink porcelain.  The colour scheme was chosen by former Iowa football coach, Hayden Fry, who had read that pink has a calming effect on people. And according to Fry, it works - if not necessarily as intended.  In his autobiography, A High Porch Picnic, he writes, "When I talk to an opposing coach before a game and he mentions the pink walls, I know I've got him. I can't recall a coach who has stirred up a fuss about the colour and then beat us!"

So beyond the workplace, colour can exert a measureable impact, particularly in a competitive situation.  In subsequent posts, I will explain how organizations are learning from these types of findings and amending their choice and use of colour to help provoke a desired response or behaviour.

In the meantime - and to maintain the sporting theme - I would like to take the opportunity to dispel one of the most compelling (but completely untrue) myths associated with sport and colour from my own country, Spain.  Bulls are supposed to be infuriated by red cape of the matador, but cold scientific fact and experiments demonstrate otherwise.  Since bulls cannot see actually see redness what they see is motion and the contrast of light and dark between the object and the background.  It is the movement of the cape which transfixes and infuriates the bull not the colour red.  It would have made a fitting conclusion to the power of colour, but - in reality - there isn't too much most businesses could learn from this particular spectacle (apart from the benefits of speed and agility, I suppose;)).

I look forward to sharing with you good practices and tips on the use of colour which can be applied to a business context in my next post . . . .

 *Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/sports/17iht-OLYTAE.1.15359242.html

**Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v435/n7040/abs/435293a.html

***Source: Journal of Sports Sciences, Volume 26, Issue 6 April 2008 , pages 577 - 582

**** Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zkm097ibnw&feature=PlayList&p=78C834A87FEB2DCC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1