Citation

Gnambs T, Appel M, Oeberst A. PLoS One 2015; 10(7): e0134033.

Affiliation

Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Public Library of Science)

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0134033

PMID

26207983

Abstract

In many situations red is associated with hazard and danger. As a consequence, it was expected that task-irrelevant color cues in online environments would affect risk-taking behaviors. This assumption was tested in two web-based experiments. The first study (N = 383) demonstrated that in risky choice dilemmas respondents preferred the less risky option when the displayed university logo was in red (versus gray); but only when both choice alternatives were at least moderately risky. The second study (N = 144) replicated these results with a behavioral outcome: Respondents showed more cautious behavior in a web-based game when the focal stimuli were colored red (versus blue). Together, these findings demonstrate that variations in the color design of a computerized environment affect risk taking: Red color leads to more conservative choices and behaviors.

Language: en