What Color Does the Consumer See? Perceived Color Differences in Plastic Products in an LED-Lit Environment

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 11; no. 21; p. 5985
• Main Authors: Dou, Xiao, Wu, Chih-Fu, Lin, Kai-Chieh, Liou, Jeih-Jang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2019
• Subjects: Acrylonitrile; Butadiene; Color; Color temperature; Consumers; Consumption; Experiments; Eye (anatomy); Green buildings; Heat resistance; Illuminance; Light effects; Light emitting diodes; Light sources; Lighting; Plastics; Product design; Styrene; Sustainable development; Temperature; Visual effects; Visual perception
• DOI: 10.3390/su11215985
• ISSN: 2071-1050

To attract customers and increase market opportunities, retailers frequently use lighting to highlight the color of their products. However, differences between perceived and actual color, triggered by display lighting, can motivate buyers to discard products after purchase. Few studies have been reported on differences in perceived color, caused by LEDs. This study focuses on two correlated color temperatures (2800 K, 4000 K) and illuminance levels (500 lx, 1500 lx) to create four LED-lit environments, and measures the differences in the color perceived by 20 observers on acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) plastics, with different surfaces, under these four environments. The results reveal that correlated color temperature results in larger perceived differences in color than illuminance, and the effects of LED light sources on green and yellow ABS plastic products are more obvious than their effects on red and blue products. One possible reason for this can be attributed to the visual sensitivity effect of human eyes. The results of this study can serve as a reference for designers fabricating ABS plastic products for practical lighting applications, and improving the role of LED lighting in sustainable development.