Factors that Elicit Human Affects : Affective Responses among Japanese Adults(Theory and Methodology)

Abstract

Demand is growing for design of services and products that provide affective experiences. Recent studies have indicated people tend to enjoy services or products that can engender affects (emotions, moods and feelings). A number of studies have investigated the relationships between design parameters and human affects, while some others were concerned with how to design affect-eliciting services and products. However, few studies have specifically examined what the essential elements that elicit human affects may be. The purpose of this study is to therefore find general factors contributing to the generation of human affects. First, free narrative descriptions about things or experiences that could elicit affects are collected from participants and analyzed to extract the elements contributing to the generation of human affects. Second, a questionnaire-based investigation was conducted to validate the elements extracted. Factor analysis was employed to investigate the factor structure of the extracted elements. Results showed that the extracted affective elements could be grouped into eight factors, named "affective factors." Meanwhile, the relationship between affect and affective factors was validated using correlation analysis. The results of this study suggest possible ways to elicit human affects while also serving as a reference tool for designers of products and services.