Color Place Marketing—The Role of Atmospheric Colors on Place Product Association and Consumer Choices in Luoyang, China

Place branding has become a fast-growing area of research in recent years due to the proliferation of technology and services facilitating travel. However, place-branding research has primarily focused on place promotion and image orchestration. The main purpose of this paper is to address the lack of place–product combination research and introduce a novel approach to extract and commercialize distinctive place elements such as colors. We examine the extent to which place atmospheric colors influence consumer decisions through priming. In addition, we look into the moderating role of a consumer characteristic, productivity orientation (PO), on atmospheric color to consumer decisions. Four studies are conducted in Luoyang, China, with 408 samples in pretest, 83 samples in Study 2, and 2361 samples in Study 3 and 4, to examine our hypotheses. The results support the hypothesis of atmospheric color priming: people are more likely to favor products that display colors similar to their surrounding environment. We also find that PO consumers are more likely to favor products that display color patterns similar to the surrounding environment than consumers under social influence. Drawing from a dynamic view of place branding, we provide a unique approach for scholars and practitioners to grasp the concepts of place marketing.