New research from facade supplier Cedral suggests that the Covid lockdown, the squeeze on household budgets and a love of nature have all changed customers’ attitudes to colour choice.
It’s widely believed that the colour of car you choose says a lot about you. Drivers of red cars are said to be confident and are often risk takers, while those behind the wheel of white cars are more conservative and in control. Don’t even go there with orange or brown cars! The same psychology is at play when customers specify building materials such as external cladding.
Keeping current on colour trends, fibre cement facade specialist Cedral recently conducted the company’s largest piece of consumer research. Over two years, the business interviewed homeowners and installers across eight European cities about attitudes to colour. The study has unearthed some surprising results that could help contractors understand more about what drives customers’ thinking when it comes to colour choice.
Leading the research was Karin Steculorum, co-founder of European branding colour specialist I-VSUAL. She explained: “Our research into Cedral’s established colour range took us right back to basics, exploring the emotional aspect of colour choice and why we choose the tones and hues we do. When thinking about colour, people’s lifestyles are hugely important. Every family has its own character and it’s important to have colours in the range that suit them, whether they live in the city or country; whether they have a young family or are retired.
“Our study also looked at gaps in the established Cedral collection and looked at changing lifestyle trends. For instance, research shows that natural colours are gaining popularity and muted or garish colours are less popular now.”
“This is really interesting,” added Dan Frith, product manager for Cedral. “In the last few years, we’ve seen a major shift in building styles towards natural materials such as wood and stone, away from steel and glass. This trend, which is known as ‘biophilia’ is having a big influence in construction and this movement is informing people’s choice of colour when it comes to cladding and facades.”
Colour in context
Another revelation from the study concerns how homeowners made choices when it came to specifying façade colours. Dan Frith continued: “Our research showed that a lot of people feel almost overwhelmed when faced with a wall of say 30-40 different colours from which to choose. It’s too much for us to process, so we end up making decisions under stress – sometime regretting that choice.
“During our research, we discovered that customers wanted to be guided in some way, so they felt confident in making the right colour selection. For us, this meant streamlining the range, which we then divided into four themes; the Design Collection; the Natural Collection; the Classic Collection and the Expressive Collection. All of these relate to different lifestyles, this providing homeowners with a visual roadmap. In marketing, we talk about the ‘customer journey’ and approaching our new colour range in this more structured way has already proved really popular with the trade and end-customers alike.”
Another important revelation from the survey concerns the colour range customers expected to see from product manufacturers. Interestingly, homeowners wanted to see that manufacturers were able to offer the full array of colours, even if they weren’t going to specify those particular hues. Karin explains, “This availability of a complete spectrum gives people a kind of confidence in the business as a credible supplier. For building product manufacturers, the big take-out here is that you need to offer a complete range of colours, otherwise you won’t be seen as a serious supplier.”
Colour changes
Reflecting wider fashion trends researchers found that public taste has veered more strongly towards natural colours and away from more garish or bright hues. Dan continues: “We’ve seen customers take a new approach to colours for instant instance clay colours and earthy tones are proving very popular. Homeowners are now wanting more of a natural warm effect. Given the economic climate this may have something to do with protection security and comfort.
“Equally we’ve seen a huge move to bring the outside into homes thus natural green colours are now proving very popular. We need to make an important distinction here between the brighter warm colours of green and the cooler more natural colours which refer to minerals and also plants. It’s the latter group but he’s really saying a resurgence in popularity.”
The findings of the study guided Cedral in developing its new facade collections launched in September 2023. The company now offers colours arranged across four different collections, each reflecting a specific lifestyle and outlook. Harnessing the power of the four collections will certainly give installers confidence to engage homeowners with more open conversations on colour specification.
To find out more about the Cedral Collection visit The Cedral Collection – Cedral.
