'Product colour associations are universal rather than cultural: everyone likes blue detergent.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have studied to support your answer.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2018). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Marks: use generic levels of response in table C.
2. Syllabus: packaging, positioning and placement: product colour and associative learning (Grossman & Wisenblit, 1999).
3. Most likely (any other appropriate responses should be credited): For: ∞ Some colour associations among consumers are consistent across countries. Most consumers (more than 50%) of China, Korea, Japan and the USA select green as the appropriate colour for a label on a can of vegetables and many associate yellow with a box of candy.
4. ∞ Worldwide brands are associated with specific colours: cans of cola are red, as is the label on bottles.
5. ∞ Blue is associated with boys and pink with girls in many cultures.
6. ∞ Colours such as red are associated with danger and green with safety (e.g. traffic lights)
7. Against: ∞ colours are associated with more than one thing; it is not one colour for one item;
8. ∞ colours are associated with different things in different cultures. For example in the West, green is associated with hopefulness, white with purity, black with mourning, red with love or revolution and yellow with hatred. In China, white is associated with righteousness and yellow with trustworthiness. Black is associated with dullness and stupidity in Indian culture, while red suggests ambition and desire (Kreiter and Kreitler, 1972).