Effect of perceived warmth on positive judgment

Purpose This paper aims to explore how color-based visual sensation affects people’s judgment of other people and their environment. The authors focus primarily on uncovering the causal mechanism in which such effect is mediated by warmth stereotype. Design/methodology/approach The authors used data collected from experiments and field surveys in the USA and South Korea. Findings Pilot study shows that an anonymous person against a warm color background (vs neutral and cold color background) is perceived to be one with warmer personality. Study 1 shows that warm (vs neutral) color in advertising increases a perceiver’s warmth stereotype and trust and, consequently, a favorable attitude toward the advertiser. Study 2 shows that color-based warmth of an e-commerce website increases a web user’s warmth stereotype and trust of the website and higher intention to purchase. Study 3 shows that the nurses’ perception of warmth from a hospital’s ambient color affects their favorable judgment of the hospital and intention to take on an extra role. Importantly, all effects observed across studies were mediated by the activation of warmth stereotype. Practical implications The findings provide practical guidelines to companies for the usage of colors in crafting advertising artifacts, designing a website and creating a workplace environment to induce positive attitudes and motivations toward each target. Originality/value The extant research on warmth experiences focuses on tactile sensation as a key independent variable and transient mood as a dominant mediator. This study extends the stream of research by adopting perceived visual sensation as an independent variable and warmth stereotype as a new mediating construct.