Giving colour to emotions in entrepreneurship

Abstract

This paper introduces colour as a visual resource for accessing the emotional experience of entrepreneurs. Colour has been demonstrated throughout the past decades to contain strong affective meanings and the ability to communicate specific emotional experiences. In this paper I show how colours are used by entrepreneurs through the colour timeline approach as a tool to facilitate the process of making sense of and expressing emotion. In particular, I show how colour can give form to complex emotions, draw out significant emotional events, and provide visual space for holistic reflection. This paper thus highlights the potential of colour for research on emotion in the context of entrepreneurship.