Color marketing theory has a famous "seven-second law": the consumer decides whether or not to buy the product in the first seven seconds, and color affects more than 70% of the decisions people make during these seven seconds – and cars are no exception. In addition to the performance and power, configuration space, comfort and texture of a good car, the reasonable design of the vehicle shape and color can have a direct impact on the target user, which is a powerful "killer" to attract users.
In the past, due to the limitations of the level of economic development and the concept of crowd consumption, the appearance of automobiles has long been dominated by black, white and silver. However, with the rise of the Z generation crowd, the post-8090s have gradually grown into the backbone of society, and more and more car companies have begun to pay attention to the "preferences of young people". The automotive circle has risen a wave of "youthful" design, which has sought breakthroughs in fashion and personalization, and body color, as the most eye-catching design element, can not only intuitively establish emotional resonance with users, but also convey brand connotation.
Today, based on the basic theory of color psychology, combined with the recent popular colors, looking at the new trend of "color personality", what inspiration can we bring to the car companies to grasp mainstream users, create psychological resonance, generate emotional connections, and ultimately renew brand vitality?
The old saying has clouds: "Twenty weak crowns, thirty and standing, forty and not confused, fifty and knowing the destiny, sixty and obedient, seventy and from the heart." "According to people's physiological age and psychological state, corresponding to the social class of mainstream users, their car purchase needs in the corresponding period are divided into 3 stages." Through the summary and combing of the recent fashion colors of new cars, 6 typical external color fashion trends are summarized, which can express the change of the core population in different ages and the identity value identity mentality brought by the car for themselves.
First, bid farewell to mediocrity, young hipsters pursue willful self-expression, like high brightness and high saturation colors
Young people who are new to the workplace are energetic, have little concern, and pursue differentiation. Compared with other age groups, they prefer fresh, tense, passionate body colors to express their dare to think and do, fearless attitude to life. In terms of car purchase demand, they pay more attention to the appearance of the car, are very picky about the color and shape, and want to be cool and not the same; they like to try new things and are more willing to try personalized customization. Young people who buy cars during this period have a higher acceptance of large blocks of color with high brightness and high saturation, which is manifested in the new trend of exterior color, which can be divided into two categories:
Maserati Ghibli MC Special Edition
The first category: bold, flamboyant high-brightness high-saturated colors
The vehicle's extremely high brightness and saturation of the body exterior color, can give people a strong sensory stimulation, with the fierce front face shape, low lying forward body posture, more prominent vehicle performance and appearance and other core highlights, while giving the owner a bold personality features. For example, Maserati Ghibli MC special edition track yellow, MG5 Scorpio passion lemon, BMW 2 Series Coast blue/lightning purple, Xiaopeng P7 super flash green, Honda Civic rally red are all high-brightness and high saturation colors.
MG5 Scorpio
BMW 2 Series Coastal Blue
BMW 2 Series Lightning Purple
Xiaopeng P7
Honda Civic
The second category: personalized, unique large-area color block or contrast
The visual impact of color blocks is stronger than the traditional all-over bright color effect. Although it seems counterintuitive, the less colors there are, the more eye-catching they are, and the use of lively, enthusiastic, high-brightness, high-saturated color spelling can give a more positive and optimistic impression, and it is more suitable for posting on social media, thus making a greater impact on the Internet. Color blocks can be used to draw attention to key elements, especially when applied innovatively to a certain part of the car. The most representative is the black cat, good cat, ballet cat, and punk cat of the Euler family, all of which use large-area color blocks.
Black cat
Good cat
Ballet cats
Punk cats
Twenty or thirty standing, positive self-affirmation, like high brightness and low saturation exterior colors
After several years of workplace experience, most of the young people have faded their youth and grown into the backbone of the company or the backbone of modern society. They no longer need to present themselves in a high-profile manner, and at this time, both they and society expect them to be stable and trustworthy. Low-saturation colors have a lower stimulation of the senses than high-saturation colors, and are more like a base color, submissive, uninterrupted, and polite. Low-saturation colors, giving people a psychological feeling is stable, there is no great emotional ups and downs, is rational, more in line with the social status of the middle class, at the same time, can meet their psychological needs within the safe range to find individualization. The performance of the new trend of exterior color can be divided into two categories:
NIO ES6 morning fog green
The third category: mild high brightness low saturated colors
Naturally, high-purity neutral colors bring a more free, low-key sense of uncertainty to the new middle class, and can represent a positive and flexible attitude to life. The vehicle adopts a high brightness and low saturation body exterior color, which can give the owner a personality trait that is both outstanding and not frivolous. For example, deep Gree of the ideal ONE, morning fog green and stratospheric blue of NIO ES6, alum green of Haval H6, cloud first yellow of NIO ET5, etc.
Ideal ONE Deep Gree
NIO ES6 stratosphere blue
Haval H6 Alum Green
NIO ET5 cloud first yellow
The fourth category: low saturated gray with low sense of mobilization + primary color brightening
The whole vehicle is commonly used low-saturation gray as the base, and then uses high saturation color as the contour color, brightening and highlighting the body feature line, so that the car color looks calm and at the same time has a fashion dynamic, which is very suitable for the new middle class for both to highlight the personality and low-key and unobtrusive demand. For example, the titanium gray of the ideal HiPhi X, the changan UNI-V shadow gray, the cold light silver of the Model 3, and the laser gray of the extreme krypton 001.
HiPhi X titanium gray
Changan UNI-V Dazzling Shadow Gray
Model 3 Cool Silver
Extreme Krypton 001 Laser Ash
Thirty, forty is not confused, the pursuit of constant and introspective, emphasizing the unique texture of the exterior color
When a person's thinking becomes more and more complex, the simpler what he needs. Middle- and high-income groups have been under a lot of pressure in the past few years, and there are many problems to be faced. And when they cross this hurdle, their aesthetics will also change, the economic basis determines their psychological changes, and aesthetics will be more inclined to concise design. When they are no longer so impetuous and their hearts are quiet, they are more balanced and orderly, giving people a sense of inward low brightness, matte or color that presents a unique texture, which is more in line with their psychological demands. The performance of the new trend of exterior color can be divided into two categories:
The fifth category: a unique metallic texture that is sharp and luxurious
Combined with the sharp or flowing lines of the vehicle's appearance, the body color achieved by a special metallic coating process is relatively soft. This clash of shape and color creates a luxurious and unobtrusive texture, while presenting a delicate balance between modern and traditional. For example, Bentley Bentayga's Cumbrian green, Nissan Ariya's matte copper, Lexus LF-30's Voltaic Sky, BMW i4's matte gold, etc.
Bentley Bentayak Cumbrian Green
Nissan Aria matte copper
Lexus LF-30 Voltaic Sky
BMW i4 Matte Gold
Category Six: Pure and elegant extreme concentration
Not only through pure monochrome or luxurious color blocking, but also through the innovation of car paint materials to add a new dimension to the extreme concentration of color, or through a more high standard of technology to reduce the gap between the components, in order to obtain the natural texture of the whole vehicle and the aura of shocking four seats. For example, the meteorite black of the Land Rover Defender, the pearl white of the Model X, the silver of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, the exclusive color block of the Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-class and so on
Land Rover Defender Meteorite Black
Model X pearl white
Rolls-Royce Phantom Silver
Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class Exclusive color block
Future trends
The color trend of the automobile will evolve with the passage of time, the mood of the times, consumer behavior and other factors, and develop step by step. Chinese consumers have become more sophisticated, preferring products that set them apart. The use of diversified colors can be superimposed with fashionable design language, exquisite material texture and other means, reflecting consumers' pursuit of personality and yearning for a higher quality of life. Based on this, for the innovation of the exterior color of the whole vehicle, we have summarized the following trends:
1, from nature: from the consumer's harmonious symbiosis of nature, the re-examination of local culture and other factors, extreme black, pure white, earth color system, blue-green system and red, gold and other colors with the unique charm of the country will continue to remain popular.
2, live in the moment: reflects the needs of people gradually from "following the current" to expressing themselves and attaching importance to uniqueness. On the one hand, bright and intense colors that bring strong stimulation to the senses, such as: high purity of red, bright green, orange yellow, ice blue, etc., will always occupy a place; on the other hand, luxurious and magnificent gem colors, such as: emerald, crystal purple, cardinal red, etc., add more expressions to the noble and extraordinary.
3. Moving forward: It means that all aspects of society have reached a new balance – including a more humane lifestyle, pluralistic standards and social harmony. As a result, neutral colors such as olive green, gray blue, milk tea, and silver dyeing began to become popular.
It is suggested that in the future product design, car companies can focus on the study of color, and output differentiated body color strategies for different groups of people and combined with brand tonality:
1. Models that focus on the new middle class can be further subdivided from the aspects of pure white without hue, natural blue-green system, neutral gray-blue and other colors.
2. Because of its low price, flexible and convenient advantages, entry-level cars are more suitable for lively and bright solid colors to attract the attention of young people;
3. A~B class models with their moderate volume and more configuration and more high-tech sense, more suitable for smooth, intellectual low saturation and high brightness color;
4. For models of grade B or above, due to their large volume and higher price, the exterior color with unique texture and gem luster can better reflect its luxury and elegance.