Prior to 1961, the cost and inflexibility of colorcasting commercials and the limited number of color television sets in the United States had deterred advertisers from switching to color commercials. From 1961 to 1967, however, color's popularity grew significantly. It was hypothesized that, because research on television color effectiveness increased prior to and during this period, such research was a primary decision-making factor in the advertiser move to color. To test this hypothesis, memoranda and client newsletters from a diverse group of advertising agencies, advertiser interviews from the trade press, network research reports, and trend and issue perspectives from the business and trade journals were consulted. The findings did not support the hypothesis. The call for color research by industry and advertising agencies heightened and, indeed, led to more research for the purpose of aiding decision making during the period under study. However, when the decision to colorcast was actually made, other criteria were used more often. Specifically, the (1) product's color appeal, (2) color audience composition, (3) agency or advertiser desire for colorcasting experience, (4) competitive parity, and (5) affective dispositions of the advertiser in general all took priority over primary research findings recommending color use in advertising. (A list of color sponsors on NBC from 1956 to 1966 is appended.) (FL)