Link Color & Click-through Rate - Image Links

Purpose:

Color has been linked to emotions and behavior. Psychological research has shown that blue has a soothing effect, while red can actually increase blood pressure. This experiment tests the effects of blue and red buttons on the web. Do blue buttons make shoppers more likely to buy, while red buttons scare off potential sales?

The Experiment:

Click data was collected from a business software website. Two sets of buttons were programmed to alternate between red and blue. The buttons are shown below:

Results:

Conclusions:

It appears that there is no significant difference in clickthrough rates. Although red outperformed blue in the first test, blue outperformed red in the second test. The results were so similar that they cancel each other out.

Color psychology has a greater impact when applied to interior design. When a room is painted blue, it completely surrounds its occupants, thus making it easier to have an emotional effect. Similarly, red and blue may have a more noticeable effect on the web when used as a background color or wallpaper image. However, in this experiment the color was used on a much smaller scale, which seems to have greatly reduced its effect.