A Colorful Mind

Abstract

Color is ubiquitous. Our study appears to be the first to investigate the impact of color on decision making in a laboratory setting using a randomized control design. We find differences in the influence of red, yellow, green, and blue along with white primarily in social decision making rather than individual decision making. In the Andreoni-Miller dictator game, red and yellow subjects give less than green subjects when giving reduces the social pie. Red responders are more demanding than blue responders in the ultimatum game and red trustees reciprocate less than blue trustees in the trust game. Red and yellow subjects also cooperate less than green subjects in both the public goods game and the sequential prisoner’s dilemma game. This study points to additional avenues to explore the use of colors in real-world environmental and business settings such as charitable donations, political campaigns, and business management.

Keywords: color, decision making, economic preference, experiment

JEL Classification: C91, C92, D91