title: Red Color and Risk-Taking Behavior in Online Environments.
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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gnambs
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Appel
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Aileen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oeberst
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D055815:Young Adult