Color is an essential part of how we experience the world. But do colors really matter for conversion optimization? Can a button color guarantee better performance for a call to action (CTA)?
No single color is better than another. Ultimately, what matters is how much a button color contrasts with the area around it.
This post explains what really matters for website CTAs and button colors. The “definitive” studies you’ve read are far from definitive, and a superficial approach to testing (i.e. try any random button color) won’t help you build a rigorous experimentation program.
Table of contents
The psychological associations of colors
The psychology of color plays a significant role in marketing, as different colors evoke specific emotions and associations that can influence consumer behavior.
Understanding these psychological associations helps brands shape how consumers feel and respond to their messaging.
Orange
Orange radiates confidence, creativity, and boldness, making it a great fit for fun, non-corporate brands. Its warmth is tied to the sun, giving it an energetic and inviting feel.
But it’s not all sunshine—orange can also evoke frustration, sluggishness, or even immaturity. No wonder 29% of people rank it as their least favorite color.
The use of orange CTA buttons, however, is popular because it evokes feelings of energy, excitement, and urgency, encouraging visitors to take action quickly.
Amazon, Ahrefs, and Mint Mobile are the perfect examples of brands leveraging its psychological and emotional effects. The color’s quirky, youthful energy and ability to create a sense of urgency and prompt users to take immediate action, make it the perfect color for “Buy Now” or “Get Started” buttons.
Red
Red, on the other hand, is a bold, high-energy color tied to excitement, power, and passion. In sales, it’s used in call-to-action buttons to create urgency and drive conversions. It even triggers hunger, which is why many food brands use it.
But red isn’t always positive—it also signals danger, anger, and warnings.
When used strategically, red can be a branding powerhouse. Instantly recognizable brands like Coca-Cola, YouTube, and Target embrace this color in their logos and CTAs for its vibrant, attention-grabbing impact.
Netflix uses a bold red “Get Started” button, drawing users’ attention to start their membership, triggering urgency and encouraging sign-ups.
Blue
Blue is the world’s favorite color—57% of men and 35% of women rank it as their top choice. It’s also the most common logo color, used by 33% of top brands.
Why? Blue evokes security, strength, and trust. That’s why social media giants like Meta use it—it makes them seem dependable, which is crucial when handling user data.
But blue isn’t all positive. It can also feel cold or unwelcoming and is rare in natural foods. So, the fact that it can suppress appetite and is therefore rarely used in the food industry is not surprising.
Blue is commonly used by companies that want to establish trust, particularly for essential services. Think health insurance providers, financial organizations, IT businesses, home repairs, or pharmaceuticals, which is why brands like Facebook, PayPal, and Dropbox use it in their logos and CTAs. Their blue branding reinforces reliability, reassuring customers during important decisions.
Green
Green is the color of life and is linked to relaxation, health, prosperity, and growth, making it ideal for fresh food and health and wellness brands. But on the flip side, it can also feel dull or stagnant.
In the food industry, color significantly affects perceptions of taste, quality, and freshness. Manufacturers often utilize specific colors in packaging to evoke desired taste perceptions and emotional responses, influencing consumer choices.
Whole Foods uses green to reinforce its image of fresh, high-quality products. As “America’s healthiest grocery store,” the color perfectly aligns with its focus on health and sustainability.
Evernote, the productivity app, uses green “Get Evernote free” and “Start for free” CTA buttons to invoke feelings of success and progress. They’ve also cleverly taken it a step further by highlighting their value proposition “achieve” in green too. This way, users know they can use the app to start achieving their goals at no cost, at one glance. Not bad!
Yellow
Like orange, yellow radiates youthfulness and happiness—it’s the color of smiley faces, sunflowers, and rubber ducks. Brands use it to evoke optimism, creativity, and warmth.
But, yellow is also linked to caution and anxiety, seen in police tape, traffic signs, and warning labels. Before using it, consider the balance between cheerfulness and urgency.
Ecommerce giant Amazon nails this balance with its “Add to cart” and “Buy now” CTAs.
The yellow “Add to Cart” button creates a feeling of positivity and optimism. It subconsciously signals savings and value, reinforcing Amazon’s reputation for convenience and competitive pricing.
Just below, the orange “Buy Now” button evokes excitement and energy, encouraging quick decision-making. Orange is also associated with affordability, making purchases feel accessible rather than high-risk.
Purple
Purple has long been a symbol of royalty and prestige. In ancient Rome, high-ranking officials wore Tyrian purple, a dye so expensive it was worth more than gold. Queen Elizabeth I even restricted its use to the royal family.
Thanks to these historic ties, purple exudes wisdom, wealth, and sophistication—perfect for brands that want to signal luxury or exclusivity. But it can also evoke indulgence, mystery, or even excess, so using it strategically is key.
Hallmark leverages purple as it’s often associated with emotion, nostalgia, and premium quality, making it an ideal choice for a brand that focuses on heartfelt moments and meaningful connections. It also helps them stand out, as few companies use purple, making it a memorable choice.
By using purple in its CTAs, Hallmark subtly encourages users to engage with its products—whether that’s purchasing a greeting card, subscribing to a service, or exploring personalized gift options. The color reinforces a sense of warmth, inspiration, and trust, making customers feel they are choosing something special and thoughtful.
Pink
Pink is often linked to femininity but can also give a brand a youthful, playful, and bold edge. However, pink can also feel childish or even overwhelming over time—think of Victoria’s Secret, where the rosy decor can become overstimulating.
T-Mobile, for example, uses magenta to stand out in a crowded market and create an emotional connection with users, aligning with their fun and energetic, rebellious brand personality and fresh, customer-focused approach. Their magenta CTAs create a sense of urgency and enthusiasm, encouraging users to take action, whether it’s signing up for a plan, upgrading a device, or exploring new offers.
For brands like Lemonade, pink adds to the overall brand personality, making the traditionally serious and sometimes confusing world of insurance feel more approachable and accessible. Using pink CTA buttons aims to make the process of signing up or interacting with the brand feel less intimidating and more engaging.
Black and white
If your brand wants a clean, minimalist look, white is a solid choice. Paired with black, it creates a modern, sleek feel and conveys purity and simplicity.
But white can also come off as sterile—think hospitals. Without other colors, it might make your brand feel plain or lifeless. Context matters, though.
Brands like Tesla strategically use a combination of white and blue in their CTAs. White is used for their “Learn more” CTA buttons to signal innovation and elegance, while their blue “Order Now” CTA buttons signal trust and reliability when it comes to making a purchase.
Black is a go-to color for brands that want to appear sophisticated, powerful, and sleek. Luxury brands like Chanel use black to exude elegance, and about 30% of high-tech companies incorporate it into their logos for a modern, cutting-edge feel.
But black isn’t always positive. It can symbolize coldness, oppression, or even villainy and is often also associated with death and mourning.
Nike, however, uses a combination of black and white masterfully. Its bold black-and-white branding, combined with the swoosh logo, reinforces themes of strength and empowerment—aligning perfectly with its athlete-driven message.
When Nike uses black CTA buttons, it creates a bold, dominant feel that aligns with its “Just Do It” ethos—encouraging decisive action and reinforcing the premium quality of its products. When used in CTAs, white maintains a clean, minimalist aesthetic that keeps the focus on the product while evoking a sleek, modern feel. The stark contrast of black against white backgrounds, or vice versa, also ensures high visibility and a sense of exclusivity.
Cultural and geographical factors
Although the psychological impact of color is undeniable, it’s not a simple matter of one color always being better than another. The psychology is complex and often needs to be taken in context of cultural and geographical differences as they can have contradictory meanings.
For example, white is the color of mourning and death in Chinese culture, but the color of death in Brazil is purple. Yellow symbolizes happiness and peace in Hinduism but represents sadness in Greece and jealousy in France. It’s also said that, in North American culture, the color blue creates a feeling of trust, but also encourages appetite. Green supposedly means nature, freshness, growth, and money.
People from tropical countries respond favorably to warm colors; people from northern climates prefer cooler colors, and so on.
There’s some truth to these interpretations, but can we translate these supposed associations into conversion lifts?
Experiments with color usage: What the results have to say
Studies have shown that consumers decide whether they like a product within 90 seconds of viewing it, with up to 90% of that assessment based on color alone. These studies underscore the importance of color in shaping consumer perceptions of value, influencing their purchasing decisions and brand loyalty. Let’s take a look at various experiments and what they reveal about the effect of color in marketing.
Impulse buying
Research indicates that red can encourage impulse purchases. A study cited by the Daily Mail found that the use of red in marketing materials led to more spontaneous buying decisions, whereas navy blue prompted more thoughtful and budget-conscious responses.
What’s more, a study based on eBay data, revealed that red backgrounds increased the willingness-to-pay in negotiations and auctions in comparison to blue backgrounds.
The proposition: Bright, warm colors like red, orange, and yellow are particularly effective at creating a sense of urgency, excitement, and enthusiasm, which can encourage shoppers to make quick, unplanned purchases.
Perception of value
Different colors evoke psychological associations that affect how people judge worth and pricing. Studies suggest that consumers tend to associate certain colors with specific price points.
For example, when the price of a product is displayed using warmer tones like red or orange, it can create a perception of urgency or affordability, making people believe they are getting a better deal.
On the other hand, cooler tones like blue and black or gold are often perceived as more premium or luxury, and this association influences their price perception and willingness to pay more.
And, when looking at backgrounds, studies found that prices displayed on light-colored backgrounds (like white or cream) were perceived as more expensive than those on dark-colored backgrounds (like black or navy blue), suggesting that color contrast plays a role in how consumers perceive the value of the price tag.
The proposition: Different colors influence how people perceive pricing and value, with warm tones creating a sense of urgency and affordability, while cool tones are linked to luxury and higher price points. Prices on light-colored backgrounds appear more expensive than those on dark backgrounds, highlighting the role of color contrast in price perception.
Evoking specific emotions
An analysis of 644 food and beverage companies revealed that red and gray were prevalent across all emotional categories, indicating their importance in branding. The study confirmed associations of yellow with happiness, blue with sadness, and bright colors with surprise, highlighting how color choices can shape consumer attitudes.
These insights underscore the complexity of using red in marketing. While it can effectively capture attention and drive certain behaviors, its impact varies based on context, cultural background, and the specific marketing objectives.
The proposition: Strategic color choices influence consumer perceptions. The use of red in marketing is complex—Red and gray are dominant across all emotional categories, while yellow with happiness, blue with sadness, and bright colors with surprise—highlighting the emotional impact of color in marketing.
Brand recognition
Research indicates that color can increase brand recognition by up to 80%. This heightened recognition stems from the emotional and psychological associations that colors invoke.
Maintaining consistent color usage across all branding materials enhances brand identity and recognition. Consistency helps consumers associate specific colors with a brand, reinforcing its presence in the market.
A PMC study underpinned the importance of consistency, revealing that if “the color of the sale price is inconsistent with that of the original price, consumers will form negative beliefs about the retailer. Furthermore, the color inconsistency of the original price and sale price will make consumers perceive that retailers are attempting to persuade them to buy, which will lead to less trust in the sale price.”
The proposition: Consistent color usage strengthens brand recognition and identity by creating strong psychological associations. Inconsistency in color, especially in pricing, can reduce consumer trust and negatively impact purchasing decisions.
What is the best color for CTA buttons?
Based on psychology, the best color for CTA (Call-to-Action) buttons depends on the context, audience, and brand identity. But research and A/B testing have identified some colors that tend to perform well in conversions.
According to a study by Ed Leake, based on 90 high-converting CTA buttons, orange, blue, red, and green seem to be the most popular.
(Image Source: edleake.com)
But is the answer really that “black and white” (or orange, blue, red, and green, so to speak?)
Green vs. red: A call-to-action button war
Over the years, there’s been controversy about which color converts best for your CTA button. Unbounce declared that the future of CTA buttons was “BOB” (Big Orange Buttons).
There are also a number of interesting A/B testing case studies in which an orange or mostly red button was tested against other colors, often green.
When you think about it, green is mostly associated with positive emotions. When the traffic lights turn green, it means you can drive. Vice-versa with red. The color is mostly associated with negative emotions.
So what do you think? Which button color won? Here’s what the case studies had to say.
Case study 1
Dmix wrote about a test of green and red button colors. In their testing with 600 subjects, they found that conversions increased by 34% when they used a red button.
Case study 2
The next test comes courtesy of HubSpot. They ran a similar test with green and red buttons on a client site. They ran the test for a few days and, in total, had more than 2,000 visits.
Their result? The red button outperformed the green button by 21%.
Case study 3
The third test comes courtesy of VWO. Their client was an ecommerce site selling mobile phones and accessories. They tested “Buy Now” button colors on the site. The competition included a white button with green text, green button with white text, and red (dark orange) button with white text.
And the winner was—you guessed it—the red button, this time with a 5% conversion lift.
Case study 4
This study, instead of comparing reddish versus green buttons, looked at an orange versus blue button. In their tests, the blue button won, producing a 9% lift.
Despite that “upset” by blue buttons, red or reddish buttons were dominant, a trend supported by other studies as well.
And yet, didn’t Peep Laja write the following about colors in web design in this post:
I liked this tweet by Naomi Niles:
I couldn’t agree more. This kind of narrative gives people the wrong idea about what testing is about. Yes sure – sometimes the color affects results – especially when it affects visual hierarchy, makes the call to action stand out better and so on. But “green vs orange” is not the essence of A/B testing. It’s about understanding the target audience. Doing research and analysis can be tedious and it’s definitely hard work, but it’s something you need to do.
In order to give your conversions a serious lift you need to do conversion research. You need to do the heavy lifting.
Serious gains in conversions don’t come from psychological trickery, but from analyzing what your customers really need, the language that resonates with them and how they want to buy it. It’s about relevancy and perceived value of the total offer.
Why you should be skeptical of button color case studies
Let’s take a look at one last example, which will help this make a whole lot more sense. RIPT Apparel tested the color of their “Buy Now” button to see if it would make any difference to their bottom line.
This is the original version:
And this was the new button:
To no great surprise, conversion numbers went up. Looking at the previous cases, one could say that if they changed the button to red, it might convert even better. Well, not quite.
Take a look at the original again. Do you see something that should be there but isn’t? The original is missing a button! The “Buy Now” CTA gets lost in the design. You can see the new button clearly, regardless of whether it’s green, red, yellow, or any of several colors.
This, unfortunately, is how the great controversy of button colors got started. You see amazing results that suggest that one color always converts the best. That is, until you look closer.
More often than not, these tests reveal that, previously, there was no button, or the button is just much more prominent. It stands out from the rest of the page and converts better because it’s a high-contrast color, not any single color.
Monetate, which ran the blue vs. orange button test, had this to say:
But, if you dig into the results, you’ll see that orange buttons were almost always tested against a control of no button at all. In cases like these, it’s hardly a surprise that orange buttons make a difference. Of course they do … when compared to no button at all! Practically any button will make a difference, regardless of color.
In the case of RIPT Apparel, they tested one final version, with a yellow button:
Conversions went up a further 6.3%. So yellow beats green? No, no, no.
The CTA button color makes little difference on its own
The color of the button has little-to-no effect on its own. What’s more important is how it changes the visual hierarchy of the page and how it makes the call-to-action stand out.
It also depends on what we’re used to seeing. Bing increased their revenue by $80 million by finding the exact color of blue for their links. People are used to seeing blue links. When the World Wide Web first came to be, blue was the color of links. (Microsoft engineers working on this also admitted that “…it was a shade of blue quite similar to the one used by Google.”)
There is no best color for conversions. In the yellow button’s case, they also added urgency (“$10 only for 24 hours”), which has been demonstrated time and time again to lift conversions. In the case of Bing and blue, it was the power of convention in action.
Back to HubSpot
The same can be said for the HubSpot’s example. Take a look at it again:
Do you notice anything that might contribute to the red button being a better choice? Something in the overall design of the page?
Green is one of the main colors of the site! And what happens when you add a green button to the mix? It won’t stand out. They could have tested green against almost any other bright color and would have seen the same “amazing” results.
To HubSpot’s credit, they too say in the case study that they “cannot generalize these results to all situations.” But still, a green button on a page with a dominant green design? Really?
Conclusion
Color matters for your calls to action. But saying that one color converts better than another doesn’t hold. There is no universal best color. What works on one site doesn’t necessarily work on another.
Visual hierarchy matters. So does making your CTA buttons stand out with a high-contrast color. The “green vs. red” debate is less about color per se and more about whether the color helps the button stand out.
Want to create a brand that stands out and influence customer behavior with precision? CXL’s expert-led courses on Branding, Behavioral Design, and A/B Testing Statistics teach you the strategies top marketers use to drive real results. You’ll learn how to build a brand that people trust, understand the psychology behind customer decisions, and apply proven techniques to increase conversions. Don’t rely on guesswork—learn from the best. Browse our premium courses and start making smarter marketing decisions today.
Related Posts
-
A/B testing is highly useful, no question here. But a lot of businesses should not be…
-
It's not unusual in our line of work to see the exact same landing page…
-
Wingify says 30% of all A/B tests run by their customers are CTA button tests. But…
-
"Our A/B testing tool's visual editor allows marketers to set up tests without needing developers!" A version…
Peep, I was seriously worried for a minute. Thank goodness you pulled through for me.
All is good, no need to worry.
And this is Ott, author of this piece.
Well, I think color is an important factor. But marketers don’t need to be obsessed with it!
Factors affecting color effectivity are color contrast and color complementarity.
1) Color contrast. This element is important because if the button color does not get the attention of the potential customer you don’t get the sale/sign-up…
2) Color complementarity. If the only factor on the equation was the color contrast, we would chose the most striking and flamboyant color. But reality tell us that most of the time this is not the right answer. Color contrast must be coherent with the rest of the colors used in your website.
Therefore, use a high contrast color, complementary with your website color chromatic range.
BTW, Great website Peep!
PD.- The article talks about order button color tests and does not make any reference to the most tested website on earth (Amazon). Their buttons won all the tests they made using different color combinations.
You can see them at:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/common/sprites/sprite-dp-2._V395767383_.png
Contrast and complementary matter for sure as well as various other things.
The idea behind this writing was to make people realize that while colors of your buttons and other elements are important, it’s the site as a whole that needs to make sense first.
I was at a meeting with Shane Cassells, Online Conversion Specialist, NACE at Google as he looked over our site.
Google tested 4,000 shades of blue prior to picking the button on the search
I wonder how many people came to this post hoping you had the answer that would help them generate millions of dollars.
If you think about it for a second and you asked 10 friends what their favorite color was you might get a majority but more than likely you would get 2 to 3 choices of colors. You can apply that to this theory of button colors. Not everybody likes green or red or blue or yellow. There has to be a call to action and in the case of buttons or links it is making them stand out from the content so people have ease of use to click.
Terrific article. Thanks for sharing.
Well, for sure lots of people clicked and were hoping to hear me write that color X is the best. But, you know, hopefully there is a bit less confusion now about the whole “this is the best color ever” situation. A bit more clarity.
Yeah it requires more work but, what doesn’t?
Nice post! I was going to write something pointed and long-winded about how Red Vs. Green is a worse debate than Gun Control in the US, but realized that Francisco Moriones made many of the good points that I would have. In addition to Color Contrast and Color Complementarity, I’d add Color Appeal and Trust. If your website makes good use of more earthly colors, then having a bright pink button will look on the cheesy side and might not appeal to your audience.
Cheers!
Trust and color appeal are a bit tricky – different people view them differently so there’s possibility there to make mistakes. But in general yes, you have to take into account readability and a host of other things as well… So is not easy, but definitely worth it.
As with pink buttons, would be interesting to see a design that could pull that off successfully :D
Peep!
I couldn’t agree with you more. CRO is all about digging deeper, finding out what is important to people before they buy. Making things clear to users. Creating a great user experience and using smart calls to action. as you said, it’s about relevancy and perceived value of the total offer.
If you do that right, you will win! Awesome post!
Best,
Darren
Glad to hear you got some value out of it, thank you.
If you’re wondering who am I , then I’m Ott – author of this post ;)
Brilliant article. I’m very impressed with the blogs on this site.
Thank you ;)
Excellent article! I enjoyed the previous article on this subject, but this one was far more enlightening on the influence of color and conversions. Thanks Peep!
Glad to hear you found value from this article – while the previous one was written by Peep, this one was from me ;)
Interesting. I wonder if red keeps people from performing well on tests as it’s often used to point out mistakes and to give a bad mark on homework? Could be a subtle correlation in the mind.
It definitely does! The second research on the color red (non conversion based) concludes pretty much that.
As a designer in an in-house web team for a large UK publisher I was repeatedly frustrated when the whole “orange button” thing was doing the rounds. Time and time again I had to point out that it was really dependant on the rest of the page. I found using Easyjet as an example of where an orange button wouldn’t stand out!
I hear you! Every time I see the BOB recommended as treatment, I cringe.
Great article – after all is said and one and all things being equal, red will generally be the correct choice for a call to action button.
Great article. Quick question, any reason why your email signup popup on the right side of your site (13 Ways to Increase Your Conversion Rate – Right Now) isn’t using a red (or similar) button based on your findings?
This was the best article I have seen on the psychology of color choice directly aimed at “Buy” buttons. I just recently started A/B testing both colors in some of my remarketing campaigns and appreciated the effort that went into the post as it was exactly what I needed.
Great Article. I suggest at least two other factors should be considered when analysing results of colour tests such as these. Colour tone affects legibility. For example, red has a darker tone than green so white lettering on buttons of these colours is easier to read on the red button and the brain has less work to do (fluency). So I would expect better results from red all other things being equal.
Secondly, significant proportions of the population are colour blind and may struggle to interpret some colour combinations. This is statistically worse for men than women. So, if your site is about gender specific clothing for example, you may have to factor this in any analysis of results you do.
Red also appears to recede in relation to other colors, so it makes the white letters stand farther out. Try putting red text on a white button and you can see the inverse of that.
I think the whole “Green vs Red” is the most wrong assumption I always do. I still can’t believe that Red outperform Green especially on Checkout pages.
This shows that you always need to run your tests and don’t depend so much on your assumptions. You need to think and test “out of the box”.
So cool to come across an article like this from a friend like that!
Great and very comprehensive post.Colors are very important, but your website proves that the most important thing, however, that something like this can be useful to read.Thanks.
Good collection of research here. I’m not surprised red converts better than green though I came to this article curious about blue vs red which wasn’t answered conclusively. Perhaps for a service requiring some degree of trust, blue would work well.
My company insists that the button color be part of the “primary palette”, meaning it’s always competing with other elements of the same color on the same page. When I suggest another color in order to create contrast, the feedback is “That color is off-brand”.
While understanding that placement, size and content also play huge factors, is there any hard evidence I can point to that says “Stop making your buttons the same color as other stuff on the page”?
I came here after a google search for tests on RED vs ORANGE buttons. Strange that they always win when put up against blue or green…but so far I haven’t seen any split tests between the 2 WINNERS (which seem to be the “BOB” Big Orange Button (“Belcher button”) with DARK BLUE TEXT and the RED with WHITE TEXT.
Those are the 2 that always win the split tests..Has anybody tested them against teach other and published the results??
Thanks!
Hannah, did you read the post?:) There are no buttons that always win. It’s a myth certain infomarketers want you to believe. Get out while you can!
Great article, Ott. You start out leading readers to believe that red converts the best, and then you bring up interesting perspective to get readers to think more deeply and realize that color is only one piece of the puzzle.
It’s been a while since I’ve read a well-written piece like this.
purple is not the color of death in Brazil!!!
Another BS click bait article asking a question and then answering it by saying there is no answer. Thanks Internet.
Ha! Alas that is the truth – there is no universal best color. People ask this stupid question – but they shouldn’t! So this article sets them straight – stop looking for the unicorn, and think in terms of contrast and visual hierarchy.
Purple is not associated with death in Brazil. I’ve been living here for a few decades and I’ve never heard of that belief, not even for minorities. The article does have some good conclusions though.
I tend to keep things simple and rely on my gut feeling about visual factors but that is indeed just a part of the mix. The overall conclusion of your article calms my nerves as well. Thanks for sharing and outlining some interesting results Ott.
I think the most basic thing is being overlooked here with this “green vs red” argument.
When you’re creating a landing page or buy button it’s not about color as much as it is about CONTRAST.
Your button needs to be in STARK CONTRAST with its backdrop and should be the loudest thing on the page.
The idea is to get people’s attention so they know WHAT and WHERE to click.
Couple that with a color palette that speaks to your audience and you’re in conversion city.
That alone will do tons more for conversions than just making these two colors battle it out all the time.
If everyone is always using Red or Green, the colors will eventually lose their effectiveness and as soon as someone comes to a website that has a PURPLE or CYAN button, it’ll likely get clicks JUST because it’s different and a breath of fresh air.