Wrong product color can doom sales.

A company trying to market green toilet seats in Iran may as well flush any notions of turning a profit. "In some Islamic cultures, a green toilet seat would be considered sacrilegious," explains Surya Vanka, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign industrial design professor who has created a computer program called "Color Tool" to aid manufacturers and designers competing in the global marketplace. He points out that the same green toilet seat well may sell easily in other parts of the world, but in certain Middle Eastern countries, it would be sure to offend local sensibilities because the color is associated closely with the prophet Mohammed, who wore a green turban.

Transference of an intended product message or concept from culture to culture can be derailed by various factors. Language, religion, and custom often play a part. Color can play a role, too. "In many countries, especially those with traditional cultures, the meaning associated with colors is dramatic, not subtle." Frequently, those meanings translate at opposite ends of the spectrum. For instance, in the U.S., white almost always has a positive value, but in India and China, it is the color of mourning.

While the green toilet seat is a purely hypothetical example of what can...