The Color Red

Forums: Red, Science, Behavior, Attractiveness, Red Color
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THURSDAY, Aug. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Waitresses who wear red receive bigger tips from their male customers, researchers have found, noting that the color red has been shown to increase women's physical and sexual attractiveness to men.

In conducting the study, researchers Nicolas Gueguen and Celine Jacob of the University of Southern Brittany, in France, instructed 11 waitresses in five restaurants to wear the same tee shirt in six different colors over the course of six weeks.

On any given day, the women wore either a black, white, red, blue, green or yellow shirt. The waitresses were also told to act normally and record how much they received in tips from each customer.

After recording the tips of 272 restaurant customers, the investigators found that across the board, men gave bigger tips than women. They also found that men gave between 14 percent and 26 percent more to waitresses wearing red. However, the color waitresses wore had no effect on the tips left by female customers.

The findings suggest that when it comes to waitresses selecting what to wear, "as red color has no negative effect on women customers, it could be in their interest to wear red clothes at work," the researchers concluded in the news release.

This study was released online in advance of print publication in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay667385_20120809_Male_Diners_Tip_Better_When_Waitress_Wears_Red__Study.html?cmpid=138896554#ixzz23TvF0De9

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Type: Discussion • Score: 11 • Views: 4,274 • Replies: 19

[+3] - edgarblythe - 08/13/2012Well, if I was a waitress I would be grateful to them.

@edgarblythe,

I can't believe that they would spend good money on funding a study like this!

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@Reyn,

Well, if I was a waitress I would be grateful to them.

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I like having red things around me.
Makes me feel warm secure and protected.

I don't like mixing black with it though, at least not a noticeable amount.

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@chai2,

A few minutes back, I was thinking that red with black might be a good effect for larger women, as I don't think of plain red as the best color for them.

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@edgarblythe,

There's something primordial to it. In Russian language the word for red is the base part of several words indicating beauty or splendor i.e.

Красный red
Красывый pretty/beautiful
Красота beauty
Прекрасно splendid

etc.

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@chai2,

chai2 wrote:

I like having red things around me.
Makes me feel warm secure and protected.

I don't like mixing black with it though, at least not a noticeable amount.

It's possible that the women wearing red felt different subconsciously and behaved differently without being aware of it. If that's the case then the conclusion of the study is wrong and it isn't the men who are being affected by the red but the women, and the men are simply picking up on subtle behavioral changes in the women.

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I remember reading an article once that said a highway patrol officer will pull over a red speeding before any other.

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@rosborne979,

I don't think so. An eon ago, when I worked in corporate sales, I noticed when I wore a red dress or skirt I was more likely to make a sale (and get hit on). Most of my clients were MIS geeks and male engineers and I used to joke that you had to get their attention the way a matador would get the attention of a bull. I actually don't like the color and never felt my best in it. I never wore it when I was not working and I no longer have any in my wardrobe, but there was a definite up swing in my sales record when I wore one of my "lucky red" outfits. How I felt wearing stiletto high-heels is a different story...

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I once took a computer "color quiz" along with the rest of the office staff. I have no idea now who made it up or how they got the information on which to base it. I was the only one that picked "spouse" when asked whom the color red brought to mind. The quiz said that "red" person is the one you love.

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@Green Witch,

If you say so. But I'm not convinced that the study has ruled out (even reasonably) the possibility that the women's behavior subtly changes depending on what they are wearing. And until something can rule that out, the conclusion isn't foregone.

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@rosborne979,

rosborne979 wrote:

If you say so. But I'm not convinced that the study has ruled out (even reasonably) the possibility that the women's behavior subtly changes depending on what they are wearing. And until something can rule that out, the conclusion isn't foregone.

there are other studies on the effect of various colours on the people wearing them. just gotta find the right one.

when I studied people/colour/environment 30+ years ago, there were already a whackload of studies on this sort of thing

it's a very interesting area of research (even if Reyn doesn't think it's worthwhile)

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Quote:

In the verbal, cooperative patient, two of the best tests of overall optic nerve function are subjective red color saturation and light intensity

Michael Stewart

Head, face and Neck Trauma Comprehensive Management

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

it's a very interesting area of research (even if Reyn doesn't think it's worthwhile)

My take on it is (Ed and Beth) that there are far more worthwhile things to fund. It's typical of stories we hear coming out of Canada and the U.S.

In my opinion, I would like to see governments properly fund food banks and not have to see them begging for donations. We send all kinds of money overseas to help out in other countries (which I'm sure is very worthwhile, too), but shouldn't we be helping those standing in lines at our food banks?

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@rosborne979,

You've obviously never been a waitress. Wink

Red is a powerful colour. It's the first colour in the spectrum that hits your eye. I love red, it goes well with my skin tone. Back in the day, I wore red a lot and made a ton of tips when I did. It certainly made a difference to my pocket book.. When waitressing - nothing untoward mind you.. lol

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@Reyn,

This study was done in France, not N. America. They must have money to spend.. not.

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@Reyn,

Miller's link is one example of why this sort of research can be important.

Learning how people react to different things in their environment can be very useful in planning all kinds of things - from how best to design a fund-raising brochure to what colours calm prisoners to what stimulates learning.

Some research leads to unexpected results and benefits for all of us.

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@ehBeth,

It's why grocery stores prefer green signs, yellow for sales, pastels for hospitals.. The science of colour, for real.

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You know, there are different types of red.

Blue red, which is good for clothes for me. Orangey red that is better for decor IMO. Although dark red, without orange, is good for walls.

cherry, burgundy, blood...

all reds are not created equal.

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Have been folowing this discussion with interest, so many associations with red: stop, danger, roses, passion, planet, rover(I am curious red), menace, rage, in the red, ink, red, white and blue, sea, river, neck, faced, zone, code... on and on we could go until we reach that stop sign.

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The Color Red

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