Better Off Red – Red’s Effect On Men In Dating Ads
Jenny Galvao
FIG. 1. Example set of images from one confederate with the six differently colored t-shirts (the face was blurred to preserve
the individual anonymity).
According to research by Nicolas Guéguen and Céline Jacob, University of Bretagne-Sud, the colour red has the ability to enhance the attractiveness of a woman’s online profile in the eyes of men.
For as long as history, the colour red has been strongly associated with – if not, defined by, sym-bols of love, passion, and sex. All colours certainly have their own connotations, but they often differ depending on who you consult. Certainly, society has used the colour red to define the most definitive and prominent of symbols.
As Guéguen states, “studies of colour association have shown that red is connected to lust and romantic love and the pairing of red and sex in society would seem to have a long history.”
The colour red as a sexual cue has been tied to history as well as our human conditioning.
In the current experiment women having a personal dating advertisement were contacted by the researchers. The women selected were interested in seeking a man, aged 20-30. The actual study only involved digital colour manipulation of their attire in their online photographs. The women were asked to – over a span of about 8 months – note the date and hour of each of the emails they received from men who had found their personal ad online.
Results showed that the women wearing a red shirt had the highest response rating. It was shown that men were more often drawn to the women seen in red as opposed to green, blue, black, white, or yellow.
In total, red accounted for 432 responses followed by, yellow 348, white 338, blue 331, black 306. Overall, red, the best performing colour accounted for 20.9% of total responses, whereas black, the less effective colour only produced 14.8%.
Guéguen points out that “if red seems to be associated with sex and romantic love, this effect is perhaps explained by societal conditioning. However, biological evolution could also explain the importance of redness.”
Applying the Results
With these results, it is worth noting that the colour red does have an effect on men when they see a young woman wearing it. Men often find the colour red to be the most attractive colour, as it has the ability to increase the overall attraction of a woman as opposed to other colours.
A woman who simply chooses to wear a red shirt in the image displayed on her personal ad could be unknowingly setting herself apart from the others. The deep connotations of love and sex that the colour red possesses (the human conditioning aspect based on our culture) as well as the biological links being female fertility (red as an indication of peak reproduction), causes red to have a different effect on men than any other colour.
So next time you’re putting together an online profile in hopes of seeking men, choose a red shirt – it could make all the difference in attracting Mr. Right.
About the Author: Jenny Galvao is an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph study-ing psychology.
Resources
Guéguen, Nicolas and Céline Jacob. Color and Cyber-Attractiveness: Red Enhances Men’s At-traction to Women’s Internet Personal Ads. 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 38(4): 309 – 312.
DOI 10.1002/col.21718