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1. Introduction
Ubiquitous in the consumer domain (Bagchi and Cheema, 2012; Choi et al., 2020), color is one of the most powerful visual cues (Krishna, 2012; Labrecque et al., 2013; Lelis, 2019). Being innate and instinctive to humans (Barchiesi et al., 2018), color triggers the fastest response and connection to products (Spence and Velasco, 2018; Yu et al., 2018), making it a powerful visual resource for marketers (Labrecque and Milne, 2012; Lelis, 2019). As one of the most easily manipulated visual components, color can be applied to numerous marketing contexts (Bruder et al., 2021; Sample et al., 2020).
Color has received increasing attention in the marketing literature (see Elliot, 2015; Labrecque et al., 2013). However, theoretical and actionable knowledge of the role of color in marketing is still limited (see Choi et al., 2020; Labrecque et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2018) and in the early stages of development (see Kareklas et al., 2019). Moreover, the current research on the marketing implications of color is fragmented and inconclusive (Krishna et al., 2017; Roschk et al., 2017), and the evidence to support the color-driven effect is mixed (see Hu, 2019). In their meta-analysis of sensory research, Roschk et al. (2017) find that despite their posited opposing effects, the empirical evidence of the impact of the dichotomized warm/cool classification of color shows little consistency. These irregularities might result from the extant color literature’s onus on finding solutions to practical problems and the limited research on the theoretical foundations of color effects (Elliot, 2015). In line with these shortcomings in the color literature, Elliot (2015) and Labrecque et al. (2013) call for more theoretically grounded research on color, focusing on understanding the underlying psychological processes that could help predict the effects of color in marketing.
In the presence of the anecdotal evidence on the behavioral implications of color (Labrecque and Milne, 2012) and limited guidance on how marketers could use color in their marketing strategies (Lee et al., 2018), we develop theory-driven studies on the effect of color on the behavioral phenomenon of indulgent consumption. We focus on consumers’ indulgent consumption as the outcome because indulgence can both enhance well-being (Petersen et al.,...