Color has been an important part of M&M's history. Over the past 10 years Mars, Inc. has conducted consumer polls related to the color of candy pieces. In 2003 Nestle conducted a consumer poll related to candy color. There are other candy brands that include several mixtures of color in their products such as Skittles and Starburst. In addition, many candy manufacturers create special color combinations of their candies during holidays such as a package of just orange and black M&M's during the Halloween season. What might be the reason candy manufacturers invest time and money into different candy colors?

Following a lab investigation in candy color assign each member of the team an area of expertise. Each expert will examine website information for their area of expertise.. Use the information found in the websites and data collected from the lab investigation to develop an answer to the question, how might color influence consumer choice?

Historian

The Story of M&M's Brand
Background information about M&M's candies and the color changes since they first emerged in 1941.

Lifesavers Changes its Stripes
News article that provides history about lifesaver candy and a flavor/color change in August of 2003.

M&M lovers pick purple
News release in 2002 about the selection of purple as an additional color in M&M's packages.

Food Marketing Expert

Color Matters: The Body: Color and Food Matters
An article that discusses the relationship between food and color.

Color for Food and Packaging, Color and the Consumer
A webpage developed by the Society of Dyers and Colourists from the United Kingdom. This webpage discusses the use of color for marketing products.

Food Displays, Food Colors Affect How Much People Eat
The results of research on how food colors affect consumption are presented in this article.

Food Industry Turns to Color to Sell to Kids
Newspaper article about the use of color in food to market products to kids.

Color Psychologist

The Psychology of Color in Marketing
Marketing website that explains color choice in marketing strategies.

The Psychology of Color
Explanations of how color affects people.

Psychology of Color
An article that describes how color affects mood and the relationship of color to food.

Color: The Silent Language
A website article about color and color theory.

Copyright © 2005 eMINTS and The Curators of the University of Missouri.
Last updated June 10, 2009.