Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making
Abstract The present study investigated the effect of colors red and blue on fair behavior in two economic games. Study 1 showed that the color red (vs. blue) could lead to a higher (vs. lower) offer in the ultimatum game, and that this effect was mediated by the perceived competitiveness. Study 2 i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04407-9 |
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| author | Ou Li Yan Shi Kuangran Li |
| author_facet | Ou Li Yan Shi Kuangran Li |
| author_sort | Ou Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The present study investigated the effect of colors red and blue on fair behavior in two economic games. Study 1 showed that the color red (vs. blue) could lead to a higher (vs. lower) offer in the ultimatum game, and that this effect was mediated by the perceived competitiveness. Study 2 introduced the impunity game and showed that the colors red and blue only affected offers in the ultimatum game, but not in the impunity game. These findings suggested that colors play a more influential role in strategic motives than in pure altruism in fair decision-making, and color-induced perceived competitiveness underlies this effect. This study presents the first empirical evidence of the relationship between colors and fairness in decision-making and offers a solution to nudge cooperative and fair behavior in allocation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aa6e9f3d688c4846aca042a6f06d36ac |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-aa6e9f3d688c4846aca042a6f06d36ac2025-02-02T12:13:03ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-01-0112111010.1057/s41599-025-04407-9Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-makingOu Li0Yan Shi1Kuangran Li2Alibaba Business School, Hangzhou Normal UniversityAlibaba Business School, Hangzhou Normal UniversityDepartment of Economics, University of SouthamptonAbstract The present study investigated the effect of colors red and blue on fair behavior in two economic games. Study 1 showed that the color red (vs. blue) could lead to a higher (vs. lower) offer in the ultimatum game, and that this effect was mediated by the perceived competitiveness. Study 2 introduced the impunity game and showed that the colors red and blue only affected offers in the ultimatum game, but not in the impunity game. These findings suggested that colors play a more influential role in strategic motives than in pure altruism in fair decision-making, and color-induced perceived competitiveness underlies this effect. This study presents the first empirical evidence of the relationship between colors and fairness in decision-making and offers a solution to nudge cooperative and fair behavior in allocation.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04407-9 |
| spellingShingle | Ou Li Yan Shi Kuangran Li Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making |
| title_full | Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making |
| title_fullStr | Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making |
| title_short | Red, rather than blue can promote fairness in decision-making |
| title_sort | red rather than blue can promote fairness in decision making |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04407-9 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ouli redratherthanbluecanpromotefairnessindecisionmaking AT yanshi redratherthanbluecanpromotefairnessindecisionmaking AT kuangranli redratherthanbluecanpromotefairnessindecisionmaking |