Jiang, Feng, and Rui Zhang. Red and Risk Preferences: The Effects of Culture and Individual Differences. Behavioral Decision Making (Article published online January 20, 2021). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bdm.2233

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Color is shown to affect decision making and judgment. However, no prior research has examined both between‐ and within‐culture variations in color associations. To this end, we test the red (vs. green) effects on risk preferences in the United States and China while assessing individual differences in color associations. Across three studies, we find cultural reactance effects, that is, in the domain of risk aversion, the color associated with gain (American: green/Chinese: red) leads participants to become more risk averse when they personally associate green (in America) and red (in China) with loss. In the domain of risk seeking, the color associated with loss (American: red/Chinese: green) leads participants to become more risk seeking when they personally associate green (in China) and red (in America) with gain. By providing a novel perspective that integrates between‐ and within‐culture variations, our findings have implications for understanding the generalizability of the color effects across individuals and cultures.

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