Theories Cognitive Psychology The Color Psychology of Brown By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial process Kendra Cherry Fact checked by Fact checked by Adah Chung on June 26, 2020 linkedin Adah Chung is a fact checker, writer, researcher, and occupational therapist. Learn about our editorial process Adah Chung on June 26, 2020 Print More in Theories Cognitive Psychology Behavioral Psychology Developmental Psychology Personality Psychology Social Psychology Biological Psychology Psychosocial Psychology Notice how brown is used in the image below. How does brown make you feel? Do you associate brown with certain qualities or situations? According to color psychology, colors can evoke psychological reactions and influence how people feel and behave. Brown tends to feel like a solid, earthy color, but it can sometimes seem drab and boring. Light browns such as beige are often used as neutrals in design and fashion. While they can provide a conservative and traditional backdrop, these shades are often perceived as dull. Illustration by Cindy Chung, Verywell Color Psychology Characteristics of BrownBrown is a natural color that evokes a sense of strength and reliability. It's often seen as solid, much like the earth, and it's a color often associated with resilience, dependability, security, and safety.Brown can also create feelings of loneliness, sadness, and isolation. In large quantities, it can seem vast, stark, and empty, like an enormous desert devoid of life.Brown brings to mind feelings of warmth, comfort, and security. It's often described as natural, down-to-earth, and conventional, but brown can also be sophisticated.Darker colors like brown tend to be associated with more negative emotions. Brown in Feng Shui In feng shui, a system of harmonizing your environment, each color correlates to a specific feng shui element. Brown represents either wood if it's dark and rich or earth if it's light. Though it has an energetic, nurturing quality, brown should be used sparingly in your decorating and be well balanced with other colors to avoid a lack of ambition and drive. Blue is a good color to combine with brown because of the earth-water harmony. Brown in Marketing Color plays an important part in the psychology of marketing and branding and can influence people's perception of a brand's personality. It's more important to pick a color that supports the personality of your brand than it is to try to instill certain feelings in potential customers since everyone has different experiences and opinions. In branding and marketing, brown is associated with reliability, dependability, and nurturing. Popular brands that use brown in their logos and marketing include UPS, Hershey's, Cotton, Edy's, J.P. Morgan, and M&Ms. A Preference for Brown While there are generalities we can make about colors and what people associate with them, colors and our affinity toward them have a lot to do with our personalities, upbringing, environment, and experiences. One recent study on how adults perceive color according to the topic showed that more females than males chose brown as their overall favorite color, but it was still one of the three least favorite colors for both genders. However, when it comes to clothing, brown was chosen as the fifth favorite color out of 18 total colors, including no preference. Brown was the second color choice for both men and women for their living rooms and the fourth choice for their bedrooms. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Costa M, Frumento S, Nese M, Predieri I. Interior Color and Psychological Functioning in a University Residence Hall. Front Psychol. 2018;9:1580. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01580 Lupone L. Feng Shui: Therapy for the New Millenium. Altern Health Prac. 1999;5(2):115-120. Singh N, Srivastava SK. Impact of Colors on the Psychology of Marketing — A Comprehensive Overview. Manag Labour Stud. 2011;36(2):199-209. doi:10.1177/0258042X1103600206 Bakker I, van der Voordt T, Vink P, de Boon J, Bazley C. Color preferences for different topics in connection to personal characteristics. Color Res Appl. 2015;40(1):62-71. doi:10.1002/col.21845 Additional Reading Entrepreneur. What does the color of your logo say about your business? Updated March 2014.