Cultural Color Codes in Animal-Focused Children's Literature: How Vietnamese and Japanese Perceptions of Color Shape Emotional Response and Brand Messaging

This research explores the impact of culturally embedded color meanings, character-based color–emotion linkages, and color branding on children’s emotional reactions to animal characters in picture books, drawing comparisons between young readers in Vietnam and Japan. Grounded in Ecological Valence Theory and Social Semiotic Theory, the study views children’s affective responses as emerging from both innate perceptual appraisals and culturally shaped interpretive lenses woven into visual storytelling. Through a survey using authentic picture-book images and a 5-point Likert scale completed by 385 children, combined with SPSS reliability checks, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple regression, the analysis identifies three powerful predictors: cultural color meaning (β = 0.627), color–emotion associations in character design (β = 0.659), and color branding (β = 0.526). These results underscore that children interpret color not primarily through universal biological mechanisms, but through learned symbolic frameworks that heighten emotional clarity, deepen engagement, and enrich narrative comprehension. By bridging cultural semiotics, affective psychology, and branding principles, the study addresses a significant gap in cross-cultural children’s literature scholarship and provides practical guidance for illustrators, educators, and publishers aiming to create visually compelling, culturally sensitive, and emotionally powerful picture books for young audiences.