question: How does our brain work when we choose a favorite color/number/etc? Why like something more than other?
comment: With colors and numbers, you acquire a favorite due to positive associations with that color or number, i.e. my favorite color is dark blue because it's the color of a quilt my mother made for me when I was 6, or a certain numeral resonates because it was the number on my first football jersey.
passages: The study "The Neural Basis of Rationalization: Cognitive Dissonance Reduction During Decision-making" (2011) indicated that participants rated 80 names and 80 paintings based on how much they liked the names and paintings. To give meaning to the decisions, the participants were asked to select names that they might give to their children. For rating the paintings, the participants were asked to base their ratings on whether or not they would display such art at home.
   Slightly older children who have developed a sense of favorite color often tend to pick items that are in that color. However, when their favorite color is not available for a desired item children choose colors that they think matches the product best. Children's preferences for chocolate bar wrappers showed that although one third of the children picked a wrapper of their favorite color, the remaining two thirds picked a wrapper they perceived as fitting the product best. For example, most children thought that a white wrapper was most fitting for white chocolate and a black wrapper for most fitting for a dark chocolate bar and therefore chose those options for those two bars. This application can be seen in The Hershey Company chocolate bars where the company strategically has light wrappers for white chocolate and brown wrappers for milk chocolate, making the product easily identifiable and understandable.
   Although different colors can be perceived in different ways, the names of those colors matters as well. Many products and companies focus on producing a wide range of product colors to attract the largest population of consumers. For example, cosmetics brands produce a rainbow of colors for eye shadow and nail polish, to appeal to every type of person. Even companies such as Apple Inc. and Dell who make iPods and laptops do so with a certain amount of color personalization available to attract buyers. Moreover, color name, not only the actual color, can attract or repel buyers as well. When asked to rate color swatches and products with either generic color names (such as brown) or "fancy" color names (such as "mocha"), participants rated items with fancy names as significantly more likable than items with generic names. In fact, the same paint color swatch with two different names produced different rating levels, and the same effect was found when participants rated the pleasantness of towels given fancy or generic color names, showing an overall pattern of preference for fancy color names over generic ones when describing exactly the same color.
   Section::::Brand meaning.:Attracting attention.
   Color preferences
  
  In the psychology of color, color preferences are the tendency for an individual or a group to prefer some colors over others, such as having a favorite color.
  
  Section::::Introduction.
   Although some companies use a single color to represent their brand, many other companies use a combination of colors in their logo, and can be perceived in different ways than those colors independently. When asked to rate color pair preference of preselected pairs, people generally prefer color pairs with similar hues when the two colors are both in the foreground; however, greater contrast between the figure and the background is preferred.
   Many cultural differences exist on perceived color personality, meaning, and preference. When deciding on brand and product logos, companies should take into account their target consumer, since cultural differences exist. A study looked at color preference in British and Chinese participants. Each participant was presented with a total of 20 color swatches one at a time and had to rate the color on 10 different emotions. Results showed that British participants and Chinese participants differed on the like-dislike scale the most. Chinese participants tended to like colors that they self rated as clean, fresh, and modern, whereas British participants showed no such pattern. When evaluating purchasing intent, color preference affects buying behavior, where liked colors are more likely to be bought than disliked colors. This implies that companies should consider choosing their target consumer first and then make product colors based on the target's color preferences.
   Research on the effects of color on product preference and marketing shows that product color could affect consumer preference and hence purchasing culture. This is mostly due to associative learning. Most results show that it is not a specific color that attracts all audiences, but that certain colors are deemed appropriate for certain products.
  
  Section::::Brand meaning.
   Preferred numbers represent preferences of simple numbers (such as 1, 2, and 5) multiplied by the powers of a convenient basis, usually 10.
  
  Section::::Renard numbers.
   There are two steps involved in making a choice to purchase. First, the consumer selects an assortment. Second, the consumer chooses an option within the assortment. Variety and complexity vary in their importance in carrying out these steps successfully, resulting in the consumer deciding to make a purchase.
  
  Variety is the positive aspect of assortment. When selecting an assortment during the perception stage, the first stage of deciding, consumers want more variety. 
   Plate color has also been shown to influence perception and liking; in one study individuals perceived a dessert to be significantly more likable, sweet, and intense when it was served on a white versus a black plate.
  
  Section::::Environmental influences.:Food variety.
   A few studies have shown that cultural background has a strong influence on color preference. These studies have shown that people from the same region regardless of race will have the same color preferences. Also, one region may have different preferences than another region (i.e., a different country or a different area of the same country), regardless of race.
  
  Children's preferences for colors they find to be pleasant and comforting can be changed and can vary, while adult color preference is usually non-malleable.
   In contrast to a strong preference for similar color combinations, some people like to accent with a highly contrasting color. In a study on color preference for Nike, Inc. sneakers, people generally combined colors near each other on the color wheel, such as blue and dark blue. However, a smaller segment preferred to have the Nike swoosh accentuated in a different, and contrasting, color. Most of the people also used a relatively small number of colors when designing their ideal athletic shoe. This finding has relevance for companies that produce multicolored merchandise, suggesting that to appeal to consumer preferences, companies should consider minimizing the number of colors visible and using similar hues in any one product.
   In addition, the sensation pleasure of "liking" can occur when opioids are released by nucleus accumbens. This helps someone evaluate the unfamiliar situation or environment and attach value to the novel object. These processes of both wanting and liking play a role in activating the reward system of the brain, and perhaps in the stimulation of curious or information-seeking tendencies as well.
  
  Section::::Role of neurological aspects and structures.:Motivation and reward.:Caudate nucleus.
   BULLET::::2. Respondents do not place the item high up on the scale BUT they are very certain of their preferences, consistently (frequently) choosing the item over others presented alongside, or
  
  BULLET::::3. Some combination of (1) and (2).
   Studies, which refer to the link between colors and particular individual responses, includes notions of size affected by colors, personal evaluations, and beliefs influenced by colors of goods packaging and sale surroundings. It also contains physiological responses which are suggested by a numerous of studies that warm colors and high saturated colors create stronger physical stimulation, emotional responses produced by different colors, and behavioral reactions which connect with the choices of products.
  
  Section::::Advertisement's color.:Hypotheses.
   Section::::Schedule of convenient numbers between 10 and 100.
  
  Notes:
  
  BULLET::::1. Numbers are shown once only, in the highest applicable preference column. (For example, the number 20 would occur as 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th preference as well as 2nd preference).
  
  BULLET::::2. In some contexts, 25 and 75 may become 2nd preferences rather than 4th preferences.
   These mechanisms are a part of evolutionary change because they operate in a way that causes the qualities that are desired in a mate to be more frequently passed on to each generation over time. For example, if female peacocks desire mates who have a colourful plumage, then this trait will increase in frequency over time as male peacocks with a colourful plumage will have more reproductive success. Further investigation of this concept, has found that it is in fact the specific trait of blue and green colour near the eyespot that seems to increase the females likelihood of mating with a specific peacock.
   Section::::Brand meaning.:Color name.
   In her 1975 paper, "Cognitive Representation of Semantic Categories" (J Experimental Psychology v. 104:192-233), Eleanor Rosch asked 200 American college students to rate, on a scale of 1 to 7, whether they regarded the following items as a good example of the category "furniture". This ranged from chair and sofa, ranked number 1, to a love seat (number 10), to a lamp (number 31), all the way to a telephone, ranked number 60.
   Section::::Children.
  
  The age when infants begin showing a preference for color is at about 12 weeks old. Generally, children prefer the colors red/pink and blue, and cool colors are preferred over warm colors. Purple is a color favored more by girls than by boys. Color perception of children 3–5 years of age is an indicator of their developmental stage. Color preferences tend to change as people age.
  
  Section::::In different societies.
   Favoritism of colors varies widely. Often societal influences will have a direct impact on what colors we favor and disdain. In the West, the color black symbolizes mourning and sadness, red symbolizes anger and violence, white symbolizes purity and peace, and yellow symbolizes joy and luck (other colors lack a consistent meaning). From a recent study, it was discussed that associative learning is the process where an individual develops color preferences. In different countries, color preference vary. In China, red indicates luck, while in Nigeria and Germany it means the exact opposite.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Car color popularity
   Marketers must be aware of the application of color in different media (e.g. print vs. web), as well as the varying meanings and emotions that a particular audience can assign to color. Even though there are attempts to classify consumer response to different colors, everyone perceives color differently. The physiological and emotional effect of color in each person is influenced by several factors such as past experiences, culture, religion, natural environment, gender, race, and nationality. When making color decisions, it is important to determine the target audience in order to convey the right message. Color decisions can influence both direct messages and secondary brand values and attributes in any communication. Color should be carefully selected to align with the key message and emotions being conveyed in a piece.
   Stieger, Voracek, and Formann recommend that the task involve both letter preference and number preference, that it be administered twice, and that the instructions focus on liking rather than attractiveness. The Number Preference Task has been used to measure implicit self-esteem in contexts as diverse as parenting and mental habits.
  
  Section::::Wider implications.
   Section::::Color and time perception.
  