The colour red can unconsciously lead consumers to spend more money than planned. Avoid red in certain shopping situations to stop unnecessary spending and save money.

Colours play an important role in our perception and influence our decisions as well as our interaction with other people or objects. Advertising uses colours to influence the purchasing behaviour of consumers.

The colour red triggers aggression and therefore a willingness to spend money in certain situations. This tendency is particularly evident on eBay or similar online auctions, for example, when people are competing with each other for a product. If the product is shown on a picture with a red background, interested parties tend to bid more aggressively than for products with a neutral or blue background.

Similar behaviour can be observed in shops with red wall paint or red brick design. Here too, the colour red evokes a certain aggression, as there is only a limited number of products available. The consumer subconsciously sees every buyer as a rival and often grabs more items than they originally wanted to buy.

However, red does not always mean that more money is spent.

The aggressive behaviour triggered by red manifests itself in two different ways. It can increase the desire to own a product and thus increase the willingness to pay more for it, or it can prompt the consumer to get the best possible price. In an auction, a buyer reacts more aggressively by being more willing to buy. In a negotiation situation, the aggressiveness can be directed against the seller, so that the buyer tries more aggressively to negotiate down the best price. In other words: in auctions, the colour red increases the willingness to pay, in negotiations it reduces it.