The Relationship between Intuitive Preference and Emotional States Considering Inherent Images

抄録

It has emerged from preference research that people's preferences are often based on intuition more than rational thought. This concept was derived from the previous studies on human facial expressions, and has been applied to product design researches. The influence of intuitional construction on preference applies to this study as well. However, this study does not focus on preference itself, but on the relationship between intuitive preference and emotional states with inherent images derived from car front faces. One hundred thirty-nine car front face photos were used as stimuli. This research consists of two experiments: experiment 1 and 2. Experiment 1 purposed to investigate the relationship between intuitive preference and emotional states, and experiment 2 aimed at eliciting inherent images from the stimuli. In experiment 1, twenty subjects participated in consecutive sessions: item-screening and affective-scale evaluation sessions. Subjects made decisions within limited time whether like-dislike the car front face photos (an item-screening session), and evaluated the stimuli with SAM (Self Assessment Manikin), an efficient measurement method of emotional responses: valence, arousal, and dominance (an affective-scale evaluation). In experiment 2, two other subjects dichotomized the 139 car front face photos with subjective states, and reported a scale that they used in dichotomizing. They conducted it five times per person. The results showed that valence was the most affective value to intuitive preference whether subject differences were considered or not, and elicited “cuteness” from the 102 car front face photos as an inherent category.