Want to Win? Science Says to Wear More Red

Humans are sensitive creatures. We perceive more than we believe we do from the outer world. Outer sensations affect our behavior, emotions, and state of mind.

Psychologists know that very well. They apply different techniques that affect the senses to improve the mental state of their patients on a daily basis. But how can this strategy help you? It turns out you can impact perception with some simple tricks as well.

Think this is impossible? Think again. The fashion and marketing industries have been playing with our minds for decades.

The psychology of consumer behavior is a complex and very important part of the success of huge companies. People from both worlds of fashion and marketing use colors to subconsciously affect the behavior of their target audience.

The Color Most Closely Associated with Strength and Power

Colors are a lot more powerful than we think they are. They all represent different things and send different messages to our subconscious.

Every color has the potential to impact the people around you, but when it comes to success and prosperity, you should strongly consider using red. This warm and positive color is associated with our need to survive and represents strong and powerful energy. It motivates and helps the wearer to take action and win.

These qualities all lead to success. There is scientific proof that wearing the color red can, in fact, breed success. Did you think the lady in red was only attractive because of the cut of her dress? No. She stands out more because the color brings out her confidence and makes her stand taller and present her best.

There is a powerful message to wearing red. It’s a statement that no one can ignore. In short: Winners wear red.

Want proof? Look no further than competitive sports. A study of almost 60 years of results has shown that football players and football teams that wear red shirts win more matches.

It was discovered that the color red subconsciously boosts the player’s confidence and affects their opponents as well. Scientists from Plymouth and Durham University analyzed the winning history of 68 top English teams from 1946 and 2013.

The results were surprising. Regardless of experience or winning record, teams that wore red win more than they lose. Their discovery proves the importance of the color and how it is associated with success.

Throughout his career, Tiger Woods wore red shirts on the many of the most important days of any tournament he was in. Woods started wearing red in the final rounds even before touring professionally in 1996. When we look at his career and what he was able to achieve, we can see the importance of wearing red. It intimidates your competition. That’s why his choice of color was red for so many years on the final rounds.

Golf not your game? How about the Olympics? According to research from the University of Durham, participants who wore red at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens won 55 percent of all competitions.

But I Don’t Like Red!

Red isn’t your color? Maybe that blue power suit is the way to go. There’s evidence that blue is very highly associated with winning teams, as well.

It’s also considered by many to be the world’s favorite color. But stay away from just wearing the color white, as it was the worst performing color on the spectrum just behind orange and yellow.

Like it or not, clothes and colors are inherently attached to our subconscious. We are conditioned to expect certain things from specific colors and clothes and, as such, we judge others based on how they fit within what our subconscious minds value. Several studies have shown that people value clothing that matches expectations. For instance, we expect doctors to wear white or blue and finance consultants to wear black.

Some studies published in the Journal of Consumer Research explained that people follow the expectation rule with one exception: The color red. In the article, a man with a red tie at a black-tie event was viewed as being more successful than the others. The same applied to a university professor who was seen by his students as a person with higher competence because he wore red Converse sneakers on his lectures.

Maybe it’s time you added some new colors to your wardrobe and started making your career rivals see some red.

This article originally appeared on Inc.com on October 20, 2017.