The Impact of Colour Complexity and Colour Preferences on TikTok Content Interactions and Success

Abstract

THE AIM OF THE PAPER

In this study, knowledge about the role of colour in visual communication is combined with the specificities of the TikTok social media platform, essentially seeking answers to the following two questions: Do global colour preferences influence the interaction and reach of TikTok content? Does the use of the most consistently used colours by marketing professionals, which have been proven to be the most relevant from a communication point of view, influence the interactions and reach of TikTok content? The relevance of the study is demonstrated by the usefulness of the research results for professionals involved in social media marketing, including promotion on TikTok, to better design the visual attributes of video content for higher reach and the high interaction rates that underpin it.

METHODOLOGY

The research method was the experiment. During the study, the authors created six new profiles on the TikTok platform, uploading six identical videos to them with the same technical and content parameters. The only difference between the videos was the dominant colour, as well as colour complexity or the absence of colours. Subsequently, we monitored and recorded the reach numbers and the most relevant interaction metrics at specified intervals. The collected data were analysed using statistical methods, including linear regression calculations.

MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS

When global colour preferences are considered, it can be concluded that the use of blue and red, which are strongly preferred globally according to the literature reported in this study, did not yield higher reach and interaction metrics, and that even the video with red colour scheme underperformed the globally least preferred video with brown colour scheme. The green video, on the other hand, performed well, but the poor numbers of the other two videos mentioned above mean that the correlation with colour preferences cannot be confirmed. The same finding holds true when the correlation with the communicatively preferred colours and colour complexity, as suggested by the relevant marketing literature, also presented in this study, is examined. The red and blue colour dominant content underperformed, while the colour complex video performed well, but was outperformed, if not by much, by the black and white video, which produced the best reach results of the six test videos.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The results and conclusions of this research should be considered and applied by communication and marketing professionals who want to create successful, high-performing content for the TikTok platform.