The impacts of red and blue font color on intertemporal choice

The impacts of red and blue font color on intertemporal choice | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The impacts of red and blue font color on intertemporal choice Kai Zhang, Xiaowei Geng This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5170976/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in BMC Psychology → Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Intertemporal choices are the process by which people make choices about losses or gains at different points in time (near or far). To explore the relationship between font color and intertemporal choice and to examine the serial mediation of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison on the association between font color and intertemporal choice on the basis of attribute-based choice models. Methods We randomly assigned subjects to the intertemporal choices questionnaire in a specific font color (blue vs. red) condition. The Intertemporal Choice Task, the Subjective Duration Judgment Task and the Intradimensional Difference Comparison Task were administered to a sample comprising 210 college students (103 males accounting for 49.05%). Multivariate analysis and latent variable analysis were used to explore the separate mediating roles of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the association between font color and intertemporal choice, and their serial mediation was also investigated. The bootstrap method was employed to test the significance of these mediating effects. Results Compared with red font, blue font can encourage students to choose more-farsighted intertemporal choices (i.e., LL). Students who use the blue font are more likely to have shorter durations and can choose the more farsighted intertemporal choice (i.e., LL) than those who use the red font. Students using blue fonts are more likely to perceive the difference between the two options chosen across time (∆payoff A,B ) to be greater than the difference between the two options in the payoff dimension (∆time A,B ), leading to farsighted choices compared with those using red fonts. Serial mediation was also found. Conclusion The findings revealed why font color influences intertemporal choice. This study revealed the mediating role that time perception and intradimensional difference comparison play in the association between font color and intertemporal choice. blue font red font time perception intradimensional difference comparison intertemporal choice Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Introduction Intertemporal choice refers to the trade-off between the costs paid and the benefits received at different points in time (Loewenstein & Elster, 1992; Loewenstein, et al., 2003). It is the process of choosing between a trade-off between a small reward that can be obtained in the short term and a large reward that can be obtained in the long term. Intertemporal choice has two dimensions: time and payment. The single-dimensional priority model (Jiang, et al., 2016) assumes that people make intertemporal decisions by comparing the two dimensions of delay and outcome and basing the intertemporal decision on the dimension with the greater difference, i.e., if they believe that the difference in waiting time is greater than the profit or loss in outcome, people will choose the option with a shorter wait, and vice versa, they will choose the option with greater profit or less loss. The Equate-to-Differentiate Model (Li, 2004) is a classical theoretical model in the single dimension priority model, which argues that in intertemporal choice, people tend to compare the difference between two choices in the payoff dimension (∆ payoff A,B ) and the time dimension (∆ time A,B ), and if ∆ payoff A,B > ∆ time A,B , people will think that there is no difference between the two choices in the time dimension; then, they will choose the shorter option according to the difference in the payoff dimension, and then, they will choose the shorter option according to the difference in the time dimension. In turn, they choose on the basis of the difference in the payoff dimension, and vice versa (∆ payoff A,B < ∆ time A,B ) (Li, 2004; Cowling et al. 2020). According to this model, the effect of time-perceived ability on people becomes particularly important in intertemporal choice. Previous research has shown that color affects people's decision making. Research has shown that red color suggests danger and activates the perception of danger (Pravossoudovitch, Cury, Young, Elliot, & 2014), which can increase the level of arousal of the individual, which in turn causes the individual to make suboptimal decisions (Knecht & Frazier, 2015). This effect is specific to a variety of decision-making situations, where labeling potential financial losses with a red (as opposed to black) symbol influences people's preference for financial risk (Bazley, Cronqvist, & Mormann, 2018). More direct findings have shown that people in the red condition perform more irrationally in BART tasks (classical risky decision-making tasks) (Gnambs, Appel, & Oeberst, 2015). One study used the moral stroop paradigm to explore the effect of colored fonts on moral processing and reported that individuals judge green moral words faster and green immoral words slower than blue and red fonts do, revealing a metaphorical link between the green color of fonts and moral concepts (Gan & Fang, 2016). If consumers themselves are more environmentally conscious, they automatically make a connection between the appearance of green and environmental protection when shopping for goods and consider the goods to be environmentally friendly (Barone & Winterich, 2016). Visual perception is a fundamental element of human sensation, and color is an important component of vision, an element that also affects people's perception of time. Most research on this topic has focused on two of the three primary colors—red and blue (Mehta and Zhu, 2009). Previous findings have shown that the color of a screen affects people's time perception (red screens are more likely to be perceived as longer than blue screens) (Gorn et al., 2004; Shibasaki and Masataka, 2014). There is a pacemaker-accumulator model theory (Gibbon et al. 1984; Treisman, 1963; Gibbon, 1977) that explains the effect of color on time perception: the color red, which consists mainly of longer wavelengths, elicits higher levels of arousal (Wilson, 1966; Walters, Apter, & Svebak, 1982; Jacobs & Hustmyer, 1974), and the color red elicits higher levels of arousal than the color blue when brightness and saturation are equal (Wilms & Oberfeld, 2017). Arousal level is an important influence when making judgments about the length of a duration (Thönes, Von Castell, Iflinger, & Oberfeld, 2018). High levels of arousal cause people to overestimate the duration of a period (Wearden & Pentonvoak, 1995; Mella, Conty, & Pouthas, 2011; Droit-Volet, Brunot, & Niedenthal, 2004; Gil & Droit-Volet. 2011; Dirnberger, 2012; Jason & Tipples, 2010). A recent study also concluded that red light environments (in contrast to blue light environments) cause people to overestimate time, which in turn leads to a greater preference for SS in intertemporal choice (Geng et al., 2023). As a result, individuals using red fonts will perceive longer durations than those using blue fonts and will be more likely to perceive the difference between the two options chosen across time (∆ time A,B ) to be greater than the difference between the two options on the payoff dimension (∆ payoff A,B ), leading to short-sighted choices. Thus, time perception and the comparison of intradimensional differences chain-mediate the effect of color font (red vs. blue) on intertemporal choice preferences. The present study The present study aimed to investigate the nature of the association between font color and intertemporal choice and whether time perception and intradimensional difference comparisons mediate this possible relationship. In particular, we propose the following four hypotheses for this study: H1: Compared with red font, blue font can encourage people to choose more-farsighted intertemporal choices (i.e., larger and later, LL). H2: People perceive that the duration is shorter when making intertemporal choices in blue font than in red font. H3. People using blue fonts are more likely to perceive the difference between the two options chosen across time (∆payoff A,B ) to be greater than the difference between the two options on the payoff dimension (∆time A,B ). H4. Time perception and intradimensional difference comparison play a serial mediating role in the relationship between font color and intertemporal choice. The sequence of the pathway is as follows: font of color→ time perception→ intradimensional difference comparison→ intertemporal choice. The study hypothesized path effects, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Proposed chain mediation model. We conducted one experiment to test the hypotheses that blue font can encourage employees to choose more-farsighted intertemporal choices (i.e., LL) than can red font. In all the experiments, the participants completed the intertemporal choice tasks under red, blue or white light. Method Participants According to the calculation of G*Power 3.1 (Faul et al. 2007), under the premise of a statistical test force of 1− β = 0.80, a bilateral test of α = 0.05, and a medium effect of f = 0.25, the number of subjects subjected to one-way ANOVA was 159. A total of 210 university participants (103 males, age M = 18.62, SD = 0.94) were assigned randomly to one of 3 conditions: 70 each in red, blue or black font. All the participants had no symptoms of color blindness or color weakness and had normal visual acuity or corrected visual acuity. They could not guess the purpose of the experiment. The research was reviewed and approved by the academic ethics committee of the school of education of the university before being conducted. All the participants provided written informed consent prior to the experiment. Materials Presentation of different color fonts We achieve the rendering of different color fonts (red, blue and black) by editing the font color in the Word document editing questionnaire. The font colors presented in this experiment are all pure colors (according to the RGB parameters): red (255.0.0), blue (0.0.255), and black (0,0,0). Intertemporal choice task The intertemporal choice task was adapted from the monetary choice task developed by Kirby et al. (Kirby et al. 1999), in which we changed the original alternative-choice paradigm into a 6-point Likert scale to represent the degree of willingness to choose, where 1 = very much prefer to choose smaller and sooner (SS) and 6 = very much prefer to choose LL. For example, “Would you prefer $54 today (A), or $55 in 117 days (B)?” and 1 = very much prefer to choose A, 6 = very much prefer to choose B. Subjective Duration Judgment Task The subjective duration judgment task was adapted from the scale task developed by Zauberman et al. (Zauberman et al. 2009), as shown in Figure 2. A 15 cm scale was listed on the questionnaire, and the 0 scale position represented "today". The subjects were asked to judge the length of the period of "10 years" subjectively and to mark it on the scale. Figure 2. Subjective duration judgment task. Intradimensional difference comparison task The intradimensional difference comparison was measured by a visual analog scale developed by Jiang et al. (2016), as shown in Figure 3 (payoffs and delays are adjusted to correspond to the intertemporal choice task). The participants were asked to compare the difference in the time dimension (∆ time ) with the difference in the payoff dimension (∆ payoff ) on the visual analog scale. For example, when the perceived difference in the time dimension was greater than the perceived difference in the reward dimension, the subjects chose the left-hand option to indicate the relative difference, and vice versa. If the difference was not significant, the middle option was chosen. A 7-point scale was used, with options closer to the ends representing greater differences between dimensions. Figure 3. Visual analog scale. Results Color and willingness to choose LL The results of the experiment revealed that the willingness to choose LLs with red font (M = 2.97, SD = 0.55) was lower than that with black font (M = 3.63, SD = 0.35) and was lower than that with blue font (M = 4.13, SD = 0.58), F (207) =93.77, p < 0.01, η 2 = 0.48, indicating that subjects with blue font questionnaires were more inclined to choose LLs (i.e., prospective selection). The distribution of LL willingness under the three color fonts is shown in Figure 4(a). Color and time perception The results of the experiment revealed that the time perception with red font (M = 12.93, SD = 0.60) was greater than that with black font (M = 11.37, SD = 0.57) and was greater than that with blue font (M = 8.70, SD = 0.86), F (209) =648.43, p < 0.01, η 2 = 0.87, suggesting that the subjects with blue-font questionnaires had shorter time perceptions. The distribution of time perception under the three color fonts is shown in Figure 4(b). Color and intradimensional difference comparison The results of the experiment revealed that the intradimensional difference in red font (M = 3.41, SD = 0.19) was smaller than that in black font (M = 4.44, SD = 0.21) and was smaller than that in blue font (M = 4.81, SD = 0.18), F (209) =938.36, p < 0.01, η 2 = 0.99, suggesting that subjects with blue-font questionnaires perceived greater variation in the payoff dimension than in the time dimension. The distribution of the intradimensional difference comparison under the three color fonts is shown in Figure 4(c). Figure 4. Violin and box plots of the key variables under blue, red, and black (baseline) font in the experiment. The crossbar of each box represents the median; the bottom and top edges of the box represent the first and third quartiles; and the dots represent the extreme outliers. The violin-shaded areas reflect the distribution shape of the data. (a) Willingness to choose LLs, with higher values corresponding to more farsight; (b) assessment of the distance between today and 10 years from now, with higher values corresponding to longer time perception; (c) assessment of intradimensional difference comparison. Time perception as the mediator In the model with time perception as the mediator, to identify the mediating role of time perception, the bootstrap method was used to estimate the mediating effect (Fang et al. 2012, Wen and Ye 2014). First, we examined the mediating role of time perception in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= red) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or black font) had a statistically significant negative effect on participants’ willingness to choose LL ( c = -0.584, t = -8.45, p < 0.001) and a statistically significant positive effect on time perception ( a = 0.802, t = 15.79, p < 0.001), which means that participants using black font were more willing to choose LL and perceived the time perception to be shorter than the red font was. Furthermore, when willingness to choose LL was regressed on both font color (red or black) and time perception, the size of the experimental condition effect was regressed significantly ( c’ = 0.326, t = 5.09, p < 0.001), and time perception had a statistically significant negative influence on the willingness to choose LL ( b = -1.134, t = -17.72, p < 0.001; see Figure 5a). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through time perception was -1.02, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [-1.1707, -0.8802]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008). Second, we examined the mediating role of time perception in the effect of black/blue font (0 = black, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (black or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ willingness to choose LL ( c = 0.469, t = 6.25, p < 0.001) and a statistically significant negative effect on time perception ( a = -0.880, t = -21.72, p < 0.001), which means that participants using blue font were more willing to choose LL and perceived the time perception to be shorter than the black font was. Furthermore, when willingness to choose LL was regressed on both font color (blue or black) and time perception, the size of the experimental condition effect was significantly reduced ( c’ = -0.588, t = -4.87, p < 0.001), and time perception had a statistically significant negative influence on the willingness to choose LL ( b = -1.202, t = -9.95, p < 0.001; see Figure 5b). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through time perception was 1.14, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [0.7880, 1.4732]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008). Third, we examined the mediating role of time perception in the effect of red/blue font (0 = red, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ willingness to choose LL ( c = 0.719, t = 12.15, p < 0.001) and a statistically significant negative effect on time perception ( a = -0.945, t = -33.86, p < 0.001), which means that participants using blue font were more willing to choose LL and perceived the time perception to be shorter than the red font was. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the time perception, the size of the experimental condition effect was significantly reduced ( c’ = -0.703, t = -5.50, p < 0.001), and the time perception had a statistically significant negative influence on the willingness to choose LL ( b = -1.505, t = -11.79, p < 0.001; see Figure 5c). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through time perception was 2.30, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [1.6594, 2.9210]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008). Figure 5. Mediating effect of time perception on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice. Note: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: (a) 0 = black, 1= red; (b) 0 = black, 1= blue; (c) 0 = red, 1 = blue. *** p <0.001. Intradimensional difference comparison as the mediator In the model with intradimensional difference comparison as the mediator, to identify the mediating role of the intradimensional difference comparison, the bootstrap method was used to estimate the mediating effect (Fang et al. 2012, Wen and Ye 2014). First, we examined the mediating role of the intradimensional difference in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= red) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or black font) had a statistically significant negative effect on participants’ willingness to choose LL ( c = -0.584, t = -8.45, p < 0.001) and a statistically significant negative effect on the intradimensional difference comparison ( a = -0.930, t = -29.64, p < 0.001), which means that participants were more willing to choose LL and that the perceived ∆ payoff was greater than the ∆ time in black font than in red font. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the intradimensional difference comparison, the size of the experimental condition effect was significantly reduced ( c’ = -0.265, t = -1.43, p = 0.156), and the intradimensional difference comparison had a statistically significant positive influence on the willingness to choose LL ( b = 0.343, t = 1.85, p = 0.067; see Figure 6a). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through the intradimensional difference comparison was -0.36, which was the same as zero (95% CI = [-0.7493, 0.0086]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008). Second, we examined the mediating role of the intradimensional difference in the effect of black/blue font (0 = black, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (black or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ willingness to choose LL ( c = 0.469, t = 6.25, p < 0.001) and a statistically significant positive effect on the intradimensional difference comparison ( a = 0.690, t = 11.21, p < 0.001), which means that participants were more willing to choose LL and that the perceived ∆ payoff was greater than the ∆ time in blue font than in black font. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the intradimensional difference comparison, the size of the experimental condition effect was regressed on significance ( c’ = 0.238, t = 2.38, p = 0.019), and the intradimensional difference comparison revealed a statistically significant positive influence on the willingness to choose LL ( b = 0.335, t = 3.34, p = 0.001; see Figure 6b). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through the intradimensional difference comparison was 0.25, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [0.1249, 0.3931]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008). Third, we examined the mediating role of the intradimensional difference in the effect of red/blue font (0 = red, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ willingness to choose LL ( c = 0.719, t = 12.15, p < 0.001) and a statistically significant positive effect on the intradimensional difference comparison ( a = 0.965, t = 43.24, p < 0.001), which means that participants were more willing to choose LL and that the perceived ∆ payoff was greater than the ∆ time in blue font than in red font. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the intradimensional difference comparison, the size of the experimental condition effect was regressed on significance ( c’ = 0.067, t = 0.31, p = 0.761), and the intradimensional difference comparison revealed a statistically significant positive influence on the willingness to choose LL ( b = 0.676, t = 3.09, p = 0.002; see Figure 6c). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through the intradimensional difference comparison was 1.05, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [0.4347, 1.7337]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008). Figure 6. Mediating effect of intradimensional difference comparison on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice. Note: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: (a) 0 = black, 1= red; (b) 0 = black, 1= blue; (c) 0 = red, 1 = blue. *** p <0.001, 0.001<** p <0.01, 0.01<* p <0.05. The serial mediation model of time perception on intradimensional difference comparison In the full model, the specific indirect effect of time perception on intradimensional difference comparison (M1→M2) is significantly positively associated (d=-0.827, t=-21.21, p<0.001). Specifically, in the direct effect model, first, we examined the mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= red) on intertemporal choices. In addition, after accounting for these hypothesized mediated associations and covariates, font color was negatively associated with participants’ willingness to choose LL (c’=0.483, t=4.34, p<0.001). The specific indirect effect of font color on participants’ willingness to choose LL through both mediators (time perception and intradimensional difference comparison) in series (X→M1→M2→Y) is not significant (a 1 b 1 +a 2 b 2 = 1.228, 95% bootstrapped CI: -0.0388--0.0032; see Figure 7a). Second, we examined the mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. In addition, after accounting for these hypothesized mediated associations and covariates, the color of the font was negatively associated with participants’ willingness to choose LL (c’=-0.680, t=-5.49, p<0.001). In support of our hypotheses, the specific indirect effect of the color of the font on participants’ willingness to choose LL through both mediators (time perception and intradimensional difference comparison) in series (X→M1→M2→Y) is also significant (a 1 b 1 +a 2 b 2 = 1.289, 95% bootstrapped CI: 0.0110--0.1247; see Figure 7b). Third, we examined the mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the effect of red/black font (0 = red, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. In addition, after accounting for these hypothesized mediated associations and covariates, the color of the font was negatively associated with participants’ willingness to choose LL (c’=-0.984, t=-5.38, p<0.001). In support of our hypotheses, the specific indirect effect of the color of the font on participants’ willingness to choose LL through both mediators (time perception and intradimensional difference comparison) in series (X→M1→M2→Y) is also significant (a 1 b 1 +a 2 b 2 = 2.075, 95% bootstrapped CI: 0.0177 to 0.2133; see Figure 7c). Figure 7. Chain-mediated effects of time-perception and within-dimensional difference comparisons on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice. Note: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: (a) 0 = black, 1= red; (b) 0 = black, 1= blue; (c) 0 = red, 1 = blue. *** p <0.001, 0.001<** p <0.01, 0.01<* p <0.05. The present experiment proved that, compared with red and black fonts, blue fonts can encourage individuals to make farsighted choices (i.e., delayed but larger payments) and further revealed that time perception and interdimensional difference comparisons in sequence and their separate mediating effects were statistically significant. In other words, on the blue font questionnaire, individuals feel that ∆ money is greater than ∆ time because they perceive time to be shorter, and in the intertemporal choice, individuals prefer the far-sighted choice. Discussion In this study, we found that participants who used red fonts chose SS more often than those who used blue fonts did, which is consistent with the statement in Hypothesis 1. We also demonstrated that red fonts increase individuals' perception of time, which validates Hypothesis 2. Compared with blue fonts, red fonts make people more likely to perceive larger differences in the time dimension between the two options of an intertemporal choice (∆time A,B) than in the payoff dimension (∆payoff A,B), which is consistent with Hypothesis 3. The results of the study also demonstrated that the red font (rather than the blue font) made participants choose SS more because users of the red font felt that it lasted longer and thus perceived a greater time difference than a payoff difference, which is consistent with Hypothesis 4. Our study revealed that red color is associated with longer time perception. This finding is consistent with those of previous studies. Previous evidence suggested that red screens lead to a longer perception of time than blue screens do (Gorn et al. 2004 , Shibasaki and Masataka 2014 ). The present research makes several contributions. First, the results of this study provide new findings on the effect of font color on intertemporal choice, adding to previous work on the effect of light color on intertemporal choice (Geng et al., 2023). Second, the results of the present study revealed that time perception plays a mediating role in the influence of color on intertemporal choice, which complements and complements the mechanism of color's influence on intertemporal choice in previous studies (Geng et al., 2023). Third, since words of various colors are often seen in daily life, the results of this study can inform the design of textual environments that help people with distance vision in daily life. However, there are limitations to this study. First, this study was conducted under laboratory conditions and cannot fully model the effect of font color on people's intertemporal choices under natural conditions. Second, the participants in this study were college students and could not be representative of other occupations and ages. In the future, we will consider conducting experiments in real-life situations with representative occupations and different age groups to ensure that the effects found in this study are stable. Conclusions In conclusion, this study provides empirical evidence for the pathways linking font color to intertemporal choice in a Chinese population. Red font was associated with shorter sight both directly and indirectly. More specifically, the main contribution of the present study is to shed light on the independent and accumulative mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the color‒intertemporal choice linkage. It is thus possible that this linkage is partially due to the causal link between time perception and intradimensional difference comparison. Abbreviations LL larger and later SS smaller and sooner Declarations Acknowledgments This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71971104). The authors would like to thank the college students from 3 universities for agreeing to participate in the study. Authors’ contributions ZK was responsible for the conceptualization, methodology, writing of the original draft, data analysis, and revision of the paper. GXW was responsible for the revision of the paper and guidance of the application of the statistical methods. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Funding National Natural Science Foundation of China (71971104). Availability of data and materials The dataset used and analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Ethics approval and consent to participate The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Ludong University Ethics Committee. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin. In addition, this study followed the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Author details Z K is a doctoral candidate at Faculty of Education, Ludong University, China. His research interests are intertemporal choice, environmental psychology. G Xw is a professor at Department of Psychology, Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, China. Her research interests are environmental psychology, behavioral decision making, organizational behavior etc. References Barone M. J., Winterich K. P. (2016). Does Green Make You Greedy or Does it Make You Go Green?The Influence of Green Color Primes on Consumers' Promotion Preferences.Customer Needs and Solutions, 3(1):3-10. Bazley W. J., Cronqvist H., Mormann M. M. (2018) In the red: the effects of color on investment behavior. Social Science Electronic Publishing. Cowling M., Brown R. (2020) Did you save some cash for a rainy COVID-19 day? The crisis and SMEs. International Small Business Journal. 38(7):593–604. Fang J., Qiu Z., Zhang M. (2012) Testing methods of mediating effect and measurement of effect size: review and prospect. Psychological Development and Education. 28(1):105–111. Faul F., Erdfelder E., Lang A. G., Buchner A. (2007) G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods. 39(2):175–191. Gan T., Fang W., Ge, L. Z. (2016) Colors' Impact on Morality: Evidence from Event-related Potentials. Scientific Reports. 6(1):38373. Gibbon J. (1977) Scalar expectancy theory and Weber's law in animal timing. Psychological Review. 84(3):279–325. Gibbon J., Church R. M., Meck W. H. (1984) Scalar timing in memory. Annals of the New York Academy of sciences. 423(1):52–77. Gnambs T., Appel M., Oeberst A. (2015) Red color and risk-taking behavior in online environments. PLoS One. 10(7):e0134033. Gorn G. J., Chattopadhyay A., Sengupta J., Tripathi S. (2004) Waiting for the web: how screen color affects time perception. Journal of Marketing Research. 41(2):215–225. Jacobs K. W., Hustmyer Jr F. E. (1974) Effects of four psychological primary colors on GSR, heart rate and respiration rate. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 38(3):763–766. Jiang C. M., Liu H. Z., Cai X. H., Li S. (2016) Process test for intertemporal selection of one-dimensional dominant model. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 48(1):59–72. Kirby K. N., Petry N. M., Bickel N. M. (1999) Heroin addicts have higher discount rates for delayed rewards than non-drug-using controls. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 128(1):78–87. Kliger D., Gilad D. (2012) Red light, green light: Color priming in financial decisions. The Journal of Socio-Economics. 41:738-745. Li S. (2004) A behavioral choice model when computational ability matters. Applied Intelligence. 20(2):147–163. Mehta R., Zhu R. J. (2009) Blue or red? Exploring the effect of color on cognitive task performances. Science. 323(5918):1226–1229. Preacher K. J., Hayes A. F. (2008) Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods. 40(3):879–891. Rao L. L., Li S. (2011) New paradoxes in intertemporal choice. Judgment & Decision Making. 6(2):122–129. Scholten M., Read D. (2010) The psychology of intertemporal tradeoffs. Psychological Review. 117(3):925–944. Shibasaki M., Masataka N. (2014) The color red distorts time perception for men, but not for women. Scientific Reports. 4:5899. Treisman M. (1963) Temporal discrimination and the indifference interval: Implications for a model of the" internal clock". Psychological Monographs: General and Applied. 77(13):1–31. Velden F., Baas M., Shalvi S., Preenen P., Dreu C. (2012). In competitive interaction, displays of red increase actors' competitive approach and perceivers' withdrawal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(5):1205-1208. Walters J., Apter M. J., Svebak M. J. (1982) Color preference, arousal, and the theory of psychological reversals. Motivation and Emotion. 6(3):193–215. Wen Z. L., Ye B. J. (2014) Mediating effect analysis: methodology and model development. Advances in Psychological Science. 22(5):731–745. Wilms L., Oberfeld D. (2018) Color and emotion: effects of hue, saturation, and brightness. Psychological Research. 82:896–914. Zauberman G., Kim B. K., Malkoc S. A., Bettman J. R. (2009) Discounting time and time discounting: Subjective time perception and intertemporal preferences. Journal of Marketing Research. 46(4):543–556. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in BMC Psychology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 03 Oct, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 01 Oct, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Sep, 2024 First submitted to journal 28 Sep, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5170976","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":361994285,"identity":"149b5514-015a-46d8-be5a-df230549c189","order_by":0,"name":"Kai Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ludong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kai","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":361994286,"identity":"e7094cd1-3706-4a4c-980c-faa88205ad95","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaowei Geng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA10lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gYwxQxEzAcOfKggQgvPAbgWtsSDM86QpIWBx/gwbwsxWth7D7/4ucM6sZ+d58MB3gYGeX6xAwS08JxLs+w9k544s5l3wwHJHQyGM2cn4NdiL5FjZsDbdjh3w2GgFsMzDAkGtwlo4ZF/Y2b4F6hl/2GeBwcS24jRIsFj/BhsCzMPw4GDRGnhyTFjlm1Lr59xmM3gYMMZCcJ+4WE/Y/zxbZu1MX//4cef/1TYyPNLE9ACBGwSSBwJnMqQAfMHopSNglEwCkbByAUA0IFHNkqs5u8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaowei","middleName":"","lastName":"Geng","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-09-28 14:38:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5170976/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5170976/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02332-1","type":"published","date":"2025-01-09T15:57:29+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":72165546,"identity":"5effead1-837d-4c28-8f26-2adf0ed712f7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:41","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":14923,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eProposed chain mediation model.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/0ea0e90268b657eddb292fe7.png"},{"id":72165548,"identity":"f16ef145-8a2a-4ae5-89b4-6c7d870fb03e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:41","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":47361,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSubjective duration judgment task.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/776be3719254745e9152d14f.png"},{"id":72165551,"identity":"7a7d86b5-929b-4e3e-8767-910bd330fb2c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:41","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":64973,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eVisual analog scale.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/43eb949d7304d0d953ef7404.png"},{"id":72165550,"identity":"b5fcc033-2ecf-4c1c-be89-8a3a7d0c90bb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:41","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":73389,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eViolin and box plots of the key variables under blue, red, and black (baseline) font in the experiment. The crossbar of each box represents the median; the bottom and top edges of the box represent the first and third quartiles; and the dots represent the extreme outliers. The violin-shaded areas reflect the distribution shape of the data. (a) Willingness to choose LLs, with higher values corresponding to more farsight; (b) assessment of the distance between today and 10 years from now, with higher values corresponding to longer time perception; (c) assessment of intradimensional difference comparison.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/7c12fc5067aa06faa67504be.png"},{"id":72165552,"identity":"85b63bc1-a4a1-48c1-9ade-4b00571fb3ff","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:42","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":65073,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMediating effect of time perception on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: \u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= red; \u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= blue; \u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = red, 1 = blue. *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.001.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntradimensional difference comparison as the mediator\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/d967a71de6a96c04d01604f1.png"},{"id":72165549,"identity":"ff6cfcfe-f789-409b-b192-b2293fcd9118","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:41","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":65218,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMediating effect of intradimensional difference comparison on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: \u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= red; \u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= blue; \u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = red, 1 = blue. *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.001, 0.001\u0026lt;** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt;0.01, 0.01\u0026lt;* \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.05.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/ab72aacbeec61d88b6dd172c.png"},{"id":72165547,"identity":"cb71610a-4a03-477a-a356-f40bdf310591","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-23 10:19:41","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":88180,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eChain-mediated effects of time-perception and within-dimensional difference comparisons on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: \u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= red; \u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= blue; \u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = red, 1 = blue. *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.001, 0.001\u0026lt;** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt;0.01, 0.01\u0026lt;* \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.05.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/18d99dc43f797e405d1bc87f.png"},{"id":73693937,"identity":"77cfcb1f-6ab4-4c72-a3a6-0d570916e9a5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-13 16:09:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":875376,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5170976/v1/bf0429be-6598-4442-a316-13fd3d2464e5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The impacts of red and blue font color on intertemporal choice","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eIntertemporal choice refers to the trade-off between the costs paid and the benefits received at different points in time (Loewenstein \u0026amp; Elster, 1992; Loewenstein, et al., 2003). It is the process of choosing between a trade-off between a small reward that can be obtained in the short term and a large reward that can be obtained in the long term. Intertemporal choice has two dimensions: time and payment. The single-dimensional priority model (Jiang, et al., 2016) assumes that people make intertemporal decisions by comparing the two dimensions of delay and outcome and basing the intertemporal decision on the dimension with the greater difference, i.e., if they believe that the difference in waiting time is greater than the profit or loss in outcome, people will choose the option with a shorter wait, and vice versa, they will choose the option with greater profit or less loss. The Equate-to-Differentiate Model (Li, 2004) is a classical theoretical model in the single dimension priority model, which argues that in intertemporal choice, people tend to compare the difference between two choices in the payoff dimension (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e) and the time dimension (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e), and if ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e \u0026gt; ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e, people will think that there is no difference between the two choices in the time dimension; then, they will choose the shorter option according to the difference in the payoff dimension, and then, they will choose the shorter option according to the difference in the time dimension. In turn, they choose on the basis of the difference in the payoff dimension, and vice versa (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e \u0026lt; ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e) (Li, 2004; Cowling et al. 2020). According to this model, the effect of time-perceived ability on people becomes particularly important in intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrevious research has shown that color affects people's decision making. Research has shown that red color suggests danger and activates the perception of danger (Pravossoudovitch, Cury, Young, Elliot, \u0026amp; 2014), which can increase the level of arousal of the individual, which in turn causes the individual to make suboptimal decisions (Knecht \u0026amp; Frazier, 2015). This effect is specific to a variety of decision-making situations, where labeling potential financial losses with a red (as opposed to black) symbol influences people's preference for financial risk (Bazley, Cronqvist, \u0026amp; Mormann, 2018). More direct findings have shown that people in the red condition perform more irrationally in BART tasks (classical risky decision-making tasks) (Gnambs, Appel, \u0026amp; Oeberst, 2015). One study used the moral stroop paradigm to explore the effect of colored fonts on moral processing and reported that individuals judge green moral words faster and green immoral words slower than blue and red fonts do, revealing a metaphorical link between the green color of fonts and moral concepts (Gan \u0026amp; Fang, 2016). If consumers themselves are more environmentally conscious, they automatically make a connection between the appearance of green and environmental protection when shopping for goods and consider the goods to be environmentally friendly (Barone \u0026amp; Winterich, 2016).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVisual perception is a fundamental element of human sensation, and color is an important component of vision, an element that also affects people's perception of time. Most research on this topic has focused on two of the three primary colors—red and blue (Mehta and Zhu, 2009). Previous findings have shown that the color of a screen affects people's time perception (red screens are more likely to be perceived as longer than blue screens) (Gorn et al., 2004; Shibasaki and Masataka, 2014). There is a pacemaker-accumulator model theory (Gibbon et al. 1984; Treisman, 1963; Gibbon, 1977) that explains the effect of color on time perception: the color red, which consists mainly of longer wavelengths, elicits higher levels of arousal (Wilson, 1966; Walters, Apter, \u0026amp; Svebak, 1982; Jacobs \u0026amp; Hustmyer, 1974), and the color red elicits higher levels of arousal than the color blue when brightness and saturation are equal (Wilms \u0026amp; Oberfeld, 2017). Arousal level is an important influence when making judgments about the length of a duration (Thönes, Von Castell, Iflinger, \u0026amp; Oberfeld, 2018). High levels of arousal cause people to overestimate the duration of a period (Wearden \u0026amp; Pentonvoak, 1995; Mella, Conty, \u0026amp; Pouthas, 2011; Droit-Volet, Brunot, \u0026amp; Niedenthal, 2004; Gil \u0026amp; Droit-Volet. 2011; Dirnberger, 2012; Jason \u0026amp; Tipples, 2010). A recent study also concluded that red light environments (in contrast to blue light environments) cause people to overestimate time, which in turn leads to a greater preference for SS in intertemporal choice (Geng et al., 2023).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a result, individuals using red fonts will perceive longer durations than those using blue fonts and will be more likely to perceive the difference between the two options chosen across time (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e) to be greater than the difference between the two options on the payoff dimension (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e), leading to short-sighted choices. Thus, time perception and the comparison of intradimensional differences chain-mediate the effect of color font (red vs. blue) on intertemporal choice preferences.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present study\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present study aimed to investigate the nature of the association between font color and intertemporal choice and whether time perception and intradimensional difference comparisons mediate this possible relationship. In particular, we propose the following four hypotheses for this study:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH1: Compared with red font, blue font can encourage people to choose more-farsighted intertemporal choices (i.e., larger and later, LL).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH2: People perceive that the duration is shorter when making intertemporal choices in blue font than in red font.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH3. People using blue fonts are more likely to perceive the difference between the two options chosen across time (∆payoff \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e) to be greater than the difference between the two options on the payoff dimension (∆time \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH4. Time perception and intradimensional difference comparison play a serial mediating role in the relationship between font color and intertemporal choice. The sequence of the pathway is as follows: font of color→ time perception→ intradimensional difference comparison→ intertemporal choice. The study hypothesized path effects, as shown in Figure 1.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 1. Proposed chain mediation model.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe conducted one experiment to test the hypotheses that blue font can encourage employees to choose more-farsighted intertemporal choices (i.e., LL) than can red font. In all the experiments, the participants completed the intertemporal choice tasks under red, blue or white light.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Method","content":"\u003cp\u003eParticipants\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to the calculation of G*Power 3.1 (Faul et al. 2007), under the premise of a statistical test force of 1\u0026minus;\u003cem\u003e\u0026beta;\u003c/em\u003e = 0.80, a bilateral test of \u003cem\u003e\u0026alpha;\u003c/em\u003e = 0.05, and a medium effect of \u003cem\u003ef\u003c/em\u003e = 0.25, the number of subjects subjected to one-way ANOVA was 159. A total of 210 university participants (103 males, age \u003cem\u003eM\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 18.62, \u003cem\u003eSD\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.94) were assigned randomly to one of 3 conditions: 70 each in red, blue or black font. All the participants had no symptoms of color blindness or color weakness and had normal visual acuity or corrected visual acuity. They could not guess the purpose of the experiment. The research was reviewed and approved by the academic ethics committee of the school of education of the university before being conducted. All the participants provided written informed consent prior to the experiment.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePresentation of different color fonts\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe achieve the rendering of different color fonts (red, blue and black) by editing the font color in the Word document editing questionnaire. The font colors presented in this experiment are all pure colors (according to the RGB parameters): red (255.0.0), blue (0.0.255), and black (0,0,0).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntertemporal choice task\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe intertemporal choice task was adapted from the monetary choice task developed by Kirby et al. (Kirby et al. 1999), in which we changed the original alternative-choice paradigm into a 6-point Likert scale to represent the degree of willingness to choose, where 1 = very much prefer to choose smaller and sooner (SS) and 6 = very much prefer to choose LL. For example, \u0026ldquo;Would you prefer $54 today (A), or $55 in 117 days (B)?\u0026rdquo; and\u0026nbsp;1 = very much prefer to choose A, 6 = very much prefer to choose B.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSubjective Duration Judgment Task\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe subjective duration judgment task was adapted from the scale task developed by Zauberman et al. (Zauberman et al. 2009), as shown in Figure 2. A 15 cm scale was listed on the questionnaire, and the 0 scale position represented \u0026quot;today\u0026quot;. The subjects were asked to judge the length of the period of \u0026quot;10 years\u0026quot; subjectively and to mark it on the scale.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 2. Subjective duration judgment task.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntradimensional difference comparison task\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe intradimensional difference comparison\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003ewas measured by a visual analog scale developed by Jiang et al. (2016), as shown in Figure 3 (payoffs and delays are adjusted to correspond to the\u0026nbsp;intertemporal choice task). The participants were asked to compare the difference in the time dimension (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e) with the difference in the payoff dimension (∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e) on the visual analog scale. For example, when the perceived difference in the time dimension was greater than the perceived difference in the reward dimension, the subjects chose the left-hand option to indicate the relative difference, and vice versa. If the difference was not significant, the middle option was chosen. A 7-point scale was used, with options closer to the ends representing greater differences between dimensions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 3. Visual analog scale.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eColor and willingness to choose LL\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the experiment revealed that the willingness to choose LLs with red font (M = 2.97, SD = 0.55) was lower than that with black font (M = 3.63, SD = 0.35) and was lower than that with blue font (M = 4.13, SD = 0.58), \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(207) =93.77, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, \u003cem\u003e\u0026eta;\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e = 0.48,\u0026nbsp;indicating that subjects with blue font questionnaires were more inclined to choose LLs (i.e., prospective selection). The distribution of LL willingness under the three color fonts is shown in Figure 4(a).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColor and time perception\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the experiment revealed that the time perception with red font (M = 12.93, SD = 0.60) was greater than that with black font (M = 11.37, SD = 0.57) and was greater than that with blue font (M = 8.70, SD = 0.86), \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(209) =648.43, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, \u003cem\u003e\u0026eta;\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e = 0.87, suggesting that the subjects with blue-font questionnaires had shorter time perceptions. The distribution of time perception under the three color fonts is shown in Figure 4(b).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColor and intradimensional difference comparison\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the experiment revealed that the intradimensional difference in red font (M = 3.41, SD = 0.19) was smaller than that in black font (M = 4.44, SD = 0.21) and was smaller than that in blue font (M = 4.81, SD = 0.18), \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(209) =938.36, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, \u003cem\u003e\u0026eta;\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e = 0.99, suggesting that subjects with blue-font questionnaires perceived greater variation in the payoff dimension than in the time dimension. The distribution of the intradimensional difference comparison under the three color fonts is shown in Figure 4(c).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 4.\u0026nbsp;Violin and box plots of the key variables under blue, red, and black (baseline) font in the experiment. The crossbar of each box represents the median; the bottom and top edges of the box represent the first and third quartiles; and the dots represent the extreme outliers. The violin-shaded areas reflect the distribution shape of the data. (a) Willingness to choose LLs, with higher values corresponding to more farsight; (b) assessment of the distance between today and 10 years from now, with higher values corresponding to longer time perception; (c) assessment of intradimensional difference comparison.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTime perception as the mediator\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the model with time perception as the mediator, to identify the mediating role of time perception, the bootstrap method was used to estimate the mediating effect (Fang et al. 2012, Wen and Ye 2014). First, we examined the mediating role of time perception in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= red) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or black font) had a statistically significant negative effect on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003e = -0.584, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -8.45, \u003cem\u003ep\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt; 0.001) and a statistically significant positive effect on time perception (\u003cem\u003ea\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.802, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 15.79, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), which means that participants using black font were more willing to choose LL and perceived the time perception to be shorter than the red font was. Furthermore, when willingness to choose LL was regressed on both font color (red or black) and time perception, the size of the experimental condition effect was regressed significantly (\u003cem\u003ec\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.326, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 5.09, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), and time perception had a statistically significant negative influence on the willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e = -1.134, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -17.72, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001; see Figure 5a). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through time perception was -1.02, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [-1.1707, -0.8802]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecond, we examined the mediating role of time perception in the effect of black/blue font (0 = black, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (black or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003e = 0.469, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 6.25, \u003cem\u003ep\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt; 0.001) and a statistically significant negative effect on time perception (\u003cem\u003ea\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -0.880, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -21.72, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), which means that participants using blue font were more willing to choose LL and perceived the time perception to be shorter than the black font was. Furthermore, when willingness to choose LL was regressed on both font color (blue or black) and time perception, the size of the experimental condition effect was significantly reduced (\u003cem\u003ec\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -0.588, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -4.87, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), and time perception had a statistically significant negative influence on the willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e = -1.202, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -9.95, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001; see Figure 5b). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through time perception was 1.14, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [0.7880, 1.4732]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThird, we examined the mediating role of time perception in the effect of red/blue font (0 = red, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003e = 0.719, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 12.15, \u003cem\u003ep\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt; 0.001) and a statistically significant negative effect on time perception (\u003cem\u003ea\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -0.945, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -33.86, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), which means that participants using blue font were more willing to choose LL and perceived the time perception to be shorter than the red font was. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the time perception, the size of the experimental condition effect was significantly reduced (\u003cem\u003ec\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -0.703, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -5.50, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), and the time perception had a statistically significant negative influence on the willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e = -1.505, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -11.79, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001; see Figure 5c). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through time perception was 2.30, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [1.6594, 2.9210]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 5. Mediating effect of\u0026nbsp;time perception on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Standardized regression coefficients\u0026nbsp;are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: \u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= red; \u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= blue; \u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = red, 1 = blue. *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.001.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntradimensional difference comparison as the mediator\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the model with intradimensional difference comparison as the mediator, to identify the mediating role of the intradimensional difference comparison, the bootstrap method was used to estimate the mediating effect (Fang et al. 2012, Wen and Ye 2014). First, we examined the mediating role of the intradimensional difference in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= red) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or black font) had a statistically significant negative effect on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003e = -0.584, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -8.45, \u003cem\u003ep\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt; 0.001) and a statistically significant negative effect on the intradimensional difference comparison (\u003cem\u003ea\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -0.930, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -29.64, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), which means that participants were more willing to choose LL and that the perceived ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e was greater than the ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e in black font than in red font. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the intradimensional difference comparison, the size of the experimental condition effect was significantly reduced (\u003cem\u003ec\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -0.265, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= -1.43, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.156), and the intradimensional difference comparison had a statistically significant positive influence on the willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e = 0.343, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 1.85, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.067; see Figure 6a). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through the intradimensional difference comparison was -0.36, which was the same as zero (95% CI = [-0.7493, 0.0086]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecond, we examined the mediating role of the intradimensional difference in the effect of black/blue font (0 = black, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (black or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003e = 0.469, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 6.25, \u003cem\u003ep\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt; 0.001) and a statistically significant positive effect on the intradimensional difference comparison (\u003cem\u003ea\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.690, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 11.21, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), which means that participants were more willing to choose LL and that the perceived ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e was greater than the ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e in blue font than in black font. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the intradimensional difference comparison, the size of the experimental condition effect was regressed on significance (\u003cem\u003ec\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.238, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 2.38, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.019), and the intradimensional difference comparison revealed a statistically significant positive influence on the willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e = 0.335, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 3.34, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.001; see Figure 6b). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through the intradimensional difference comparison was 0.25, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [0.1249, 0.3931]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThird, we examined the mediating role of the intradimensional difference in the effect of red/blue font (0 = red, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. The experimental condition (red or blue font) had a statistically significant positive effect on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003e = 0.719, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 12.15, \u003cem\u003ep\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt; 0.001) and a statistically significant positive effect on the intradimensional difference comparison (\u003cem\u003ea\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.965, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 43.24, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001), which means that participants were more willing to choose LL and that the perceived ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003epayoff\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e was greater than the ∆\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003etime\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/em\u003e in blue font than in red font. Furthermore, when the willingness to choose LL was regressed on both the experimental condition and the intradimensional difference comparison, the size of the experimental condition effect was regressed on significance (\u003cem\u003ec\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.067, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 0.31, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.761), and the intradimensional difference comparison revealed a statistically significant positive influence on the willingness to choose LL (\u003cem\u003eb\u003c/em\u003e = 0.676, \u003cem\u003et\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e= 3.09, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e = 0.002; see Figure 6c). Finally, a bootstrapping procedure was used that generated a sample size of 5000 to assess the mediation effect. The results of a 95% confidence interval indicated that the indirect effect through the intradimensional difference comparison was 1.05, which was significantly different from zero (95% CI = [0.4347, 1.7337]) (Preacher and Hayes 2008).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 6. Mediating effect of intradimensional difference comparison on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: \u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= red; \u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= blue; \u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = red, 1 = blue. *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.001, 0.001\u0026lt;** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.01, 0.01\u0026lt;* \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.05.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe serial mediation model of\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003etime perception on intradimensional difference comparison\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the full model, the specific indirect effect of time perception on intradimensional difference comparison (M1\u0026rarr;M2) is significantly positively associated (d=-0.827, t=-21.21, p\u0026lt;0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpecifically, in the direct effect model, first, we examined the mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= red) on intertemporal choices. In addition, after accounting for these hypothesized mediated associations and covariates, font color was negatively associated with participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (c\u0026rsquo;=0.483, t=4.34, p\u0026lt;0.001). The specific indirect effect of font color on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL through both mediators (time perception and intradimensional difference comparison) in series (X\u0026rarr;M1\u0026rarr;M2\u0026rarr;Y) is not significant (a\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003eb\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003e+a\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eb\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e = 1.228, 95% bootstrapped CI: -0.0388--0.0032; see Figure 7a).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecond, we examined the mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the effect of red/black font (0 = black, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. In addition, after accounting for these hypothesized mediated associations and covariates, the color of the font was negatively associated with participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (c\u0026rsquo;=-0.680, t=-5.49, p\u0026lt;0.001). In support of our hypotheses, the specific indirect effect of the color of the font on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL through both mediators (time perception and intradimensional difference comparison) in series (X\u0026rarr;M1\u0026rarr;M2\u0026rarr;Y) is also significant (a\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003eb\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003e+a\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eb\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e = 1.289, 95% bootstrapped CI: 0.0110--0.1247; see Figure 7b).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThird, we examined the mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the effect of red/black font (0 = red, 1= blue) on intertemporal choices. In addition, after accounting for these hypothesized mediated associations and covariates, the color of the font was negatively associated with participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL (c\u0026rsquo;=-0.984, t=-5.38, p\u0026lt;0.001). In support of our hypotheses, the specific indirect effect of the color of the font on participants\u0026rsquo; willingness to choose LL through both mediators (time perception and intradimensional difference comparison) in series (X\u0026rarr;M1\u0026rarr;M2\u0026rarr;Y) is also significant (a\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003eb\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003e+a\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eb\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e = 2.075, 95% bootstrapped CI: 0.0177 to 0.2133; see Figure 7c).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 7. Chain-mediated effects of time-perception and within-dimensional difference comparisons on the influence of different color fonts on intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Standardized regression coefficients are marked on the path. Red/blue light is a dummy variable: \u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= red; \u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = black, 1= blue; \u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c/strong\u003e0 = red, 1 = blue. *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.001, 0.001\u0026lt;** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.01, 0.01\u0026lt;* \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt;0.05.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present experiment proved that, compared with red and black fonts, blue fonts can encourage individuals to make farsighted choices (i.e., delayed but larger payments) and further revealed that time perception and interdimensional difference comparisons in sequence and their separate mediating effects were statistically significant. In other words, on the blue font questionnaire, individuals feel that ∆ money is greater than ∆ time because they perceive time to be shorter, and in the intertemporal choice, individuals prefer the far-sighted choice.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn this study, we found that participants who used red fonts chose SS more often than those who used blue fonts did, which is consistent with the statement in Hypothesis 1. We also demonstrated that red fonts increase individuals' perception of time, which validates Hypothesis 2. Compared with blue fonts, red fonts make people more likely to perceive larger differences in the time dimension between the two options of an intertemporal choice (∆time A,B) than in the payoff dimension (∆payoff A,B), which is consistent with Hypothesis 3. The results of the study also demonstrated that the red font (rather than the blue font) made participants choose SS more because users of the red font felt that it lasted longer and thus perceived a greater time difference than a payoff difference, which is consistent with Hypothesis 4.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur study revealed that red color is associated with longer time perception. This finding is consistent with those of previous studies. Previous evidence suggested that red screens lead to a longer perception of time than blue screens do (Gorn et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e, Shibasaki and Masataka \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe present research makes several contributions. First, the results of this study provide new findings on the effect of font color on intertemporal choice, adding to previous work on the effect of light color on intertemporal choice (Geng et al., 2023). Second, the results of the present study revealed that time perception plays a mediating role in the influence of color on intertemporal choice, which complements and complements the mechanism of color's influence on intertemporal choice in previous studies (Geng et al., 2023). Third, since words of various colors are often seen in daily life, the results of this study can inform the design of textual environments that help people with distance vision in daily life.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHowever, there are limitations to this study. First, this study was conducted under laboratory conditions and cannot fully model the effect of font color on people's intertemporal choices under natural conditions. Second, the participants in this study were college students and could not be representative of other occupations and ages. In the future, we will consider conducting experiments in real-life situations with representative occupations and different age groups to ensure that the effects found in this study are stable.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, this study provides empirical evidence for the pathways linking font color to intertemporal choice in a Chinese population. Red font was associated with shorter sight both directly and indirectly. More specifically, the main contribution of the present study is to shed light on the independent and accumulative mediating role of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the color‒intertemporal choice linkage. It is thus possible that this linkage is partially due to the causal link between time perception and intradimensional difference comparison.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003cp\u003eLL \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; larger and later\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSS \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; smaller and sooner\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71971104).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors would like to thank the college students from 3 universities for agreeing to participate in the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors\u0026rsquo; contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZK was responsible for the conceptualization, methodology, writing of the original draft, data analysis,\u0026nbsp;and revision of the paper. GXW was responsible for the revision of the paper and guidance of the application of the statistical methods. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNational Natural Science Foundation of China (71971104).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dataset used and analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by\u0026nbsp;the Ludong University Ethics Committee. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants\u0026rsquo; legal guardian/next of kin. In addition, this study followed the Declaration of Helsinki.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor details\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eZ K\u003c/strong\u003e is a doctoral candidate at Faculty of Education, Ludong University, China. His research interests are intertemporal choice, environmental psychology.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eG Xw\u003c/strong\u003e is a professor at Department of Psychology, Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, China. Her research interests are environmental psychology, behavioral decision making, organizational behavior etc.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eBarone M. J., Winterich K. P. (2016). Does Green Make You Greedy or Does it Make You Go Green?The Influence of Green Color Primes on Consumers\u0026apos; Promotion Preferences.Customer Needs and Solutions, 3(1):3-10.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eBazley W. J., Cronqvist H., Mormann M. M. (2018) In the red: the effects of color on investment behavior. Social Science Electronic Publishing.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eCowling M., Brown R. (2020) Did you save some cash for a rainy COVID-19 day? The crisis and SMEs. International Small Business Journal. 38(7):593\u0026ndash;604.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eFang J., Qiu Z., Zhang M. (2012) Testing methods of mediating effect and measurement of effect size: review and prospect. Psychological Development and Education. 28(1):105\u0026ndash;111.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eFaul F., Erdfelder E., Lang A. G., Buchner A. (2007) G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods. 39(2):175\u0026ndash;191.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGan T., Fang W., Ge, L. Z. (2016) Colors\u0026apos; Impact on Morality: Evidence from Event-related Potentials. Scientific Reports. 6(1):38373.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGibbon J. (1977) Scalar expectancy theory and Weber\u0026apos;s law in animal timing. Psychological Review. 84(3):279\u0026ndash;325.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGibbon J., Church R. M., Meck W. H. (1984) Scalar timing in memory. Annals of the New York Academy of sciences. 423(1):52\u0026ndash;77.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGnambs T., Appel M., Oeberst A. (2015) Red color and risk-taking behavior in online environments.\u0026nbsp;PLoS One. 10(7):e0134033.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGorn G. J., Chattopadhyay A., Sengupta J., Tripathi S. (2004) Waiting for the web: how screen color affects time perception. Journal of Marketing Research. 41(2):215\u0026ndash;225.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eJacobs K. W., Hustmyer Jr F. E. (1974) Effects of four psychological primary colors on GSR, heart rate and respiration rate. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 38(3):763\u0026ndash;766.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eJiang C. M., Liu H. Z., Cai X. H., Li S. (2016) Process test for intertemporal selection of one-dimensional dominant model. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 48(1):59\u0026ndash;72.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eKirby K. N., Petry N. M., Bickel N. M. (1999) Heroin addicts have higher discount rates for delayed rewards than non-drug-using controls. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 128(1):78\u0026ndash;87.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eKliger D., Gilad D. (2012) Red light, green light: Color priming in financial decisions. The Journal of Socio-Economics. 41:738-745.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eLi S. (2004) A behavioral choice model when computational ability matters. \u003cem\u003eApplied Intelligence.\u003c/em\u003e 20(2):147\u0026ndash;163.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eMehta R., Zhu R. J. (2009) Blue or red? Exploring the effect of color on cognitive task performances.\u0026nbsp;Science. 323(5918):1226\u0026ndash;1229.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003ePreacher K. J., Hayes A. F. (2008) Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods. 40(3):879\u0026ndash;891.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eRao L. L., Li S. (2011) New paradoxes in intertemporal choice. Judgment \u0026amp; Decision Making. 6(2):122\u0026ndash;129.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eScholten M., Read D. (2010) The psychology of intertemporal tradeoffs. Psychological Review. 117(3):925\u0026ndash;944.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eShibasaki M., Masataka N. (2014) The color red distorts time perception for men, but not for women. Scientific Reports. 4:5899.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eTreisman M. (1963) Temporal discrimination and the indifference interval: Implications for a model of the\u0026quot; internal clock\u0026quot;. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied. 77(13):1\u0026ndash;31.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eVelden F., Baas M., Shalvi S., Preenen P., Dreu C. (2012). In competitive interaction, displays of red increase actors\u0026apos; competitive approach and perceivers\u0026apos; withdrawal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(5):1205-1208.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWalters J., Apter M. J., Svebak M. J. (1982) Color preference, arousal, and the theory of psychological reversals. Motivation and Emotion. 6(3):193\u0026ndash;215.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWen Z. L., Ye B. J. (2014) Mediating effect analysis: methodology and model development. Advances in Psychological Science. 22(5):731\u0026ndash;745.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWilms L., Oberfeld D. (2018) Color and emotion: effects of hue, saturation, and brightness. Psychological Research. 82:896\u0026ndash;914.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZauberman G., Kim B. K., Malkoc S. A., Bettman J. R. (2009) Discounting time and time discounting: Subjective time perception and intertemporal preferences. Journal of Marketing Research. 46(4):543\u0026ndash;556.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"blue font, red font, time perception, intradimensional difference comparison, intertemporal choice","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5170976/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5170976/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e Intertemporal choices are the process by which people make choices about losses or gains at different points in time (near or far). To explore the relationship between font color and intertemporal choice and to examine the serial mediation of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison on the association between font color and intertemporal choice on the basis of attribute-based choice models.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e We randomly assigned subjects to the intertemporal choices questionnaire in a specific font color (blue vs. red) condition. The Intertemporal Choice Task, the Subjective Duration Judgment Task and the Intradimensional Difference Comparison Task were administered to a sample comprising 210 college students (103 males accounting for 49.05%). Multivariate analysis and latent variable analysis were used to explore the separate mediating roles of time perception and intradimensional difference comparison in the association between font color and intertemporal choice, and their serial mediation was also investigated. The bootstrap method was employed to test the significance of these mediating effects.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e Compared with red font, blue font can encourage students to choose more-farsighted intertemporal choices (i.e., LL). Students who use the blue font are more likely to have shorter durations and can choose the more farsighted intertemporal choice (i.e., LL) than those who use the red font. Students using blue fonts are more likely to perceive the difference between the two options chosen across time (∆payoff \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e) to be greater than the difference between the two options in the payoff dimension (∆time \u003csub\u003eA,B\u003c/sub\u003e), leading to farsighted choices compared with those using red fonts. Serial mediation was also found.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003e The findings revealed why font color influences intertemporal choice. This study revealed the mediating role that time perception and intradimensional difference comparison play in the association between font color and intertemporal choice.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The impacts of red and blue font color on intertemporal choice","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-12-23 10:19:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5170976/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-10-03T17:35:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-10-01T05:52:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-09-30T04:43:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Psychology","date":"2024-09-28T14:22:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"46d4204f-2aa5-412c-8d96-e17d2590bebc","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 23rd, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-01-13T16:01:48+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5170976","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02332-1","journal":{"identity":"bmc-psychology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Psychology"},"publishedOn":"2025-01-09 15:57:29","publishedOnDateReadable":"January 9th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-12-23 10:19:37","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s40359-024-02332-1","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02332-1","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5170976","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5170976","identity":"rs-5170976","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}