Effect of Experience of Use on The Process of Formation of Stereotype Images on Shapes of Products

抄録

It is necessary to explain the terms used in this research to help the readers better understand the contents of this research. Originally stereotype meant the lead plate cast from a mold of letterpress printing, but now it is used as a term indicating a simplified and fixed notion toward certain group “Knowledge in fixed form” or a term indicating an image simplified and generalized over the members of certain group.[1] Generally, stereotype is used in negative cases, but has both sides of positive and negative view.[2, 3] I believe that a research on the factors of forming stereotype[4] images commonly felt by a large number of persons may suggest a new research methodology for the areas which require high level of creative thinking such as areas of design and researches on emotions. Stereotype images appear between persons, groups and images of countries, enterprises and other organizations. For example, as we usually hear words saying ‘He maybe oo because he is from oo’, we have strong images of characteristics commonly held by the persons who belong to certain categories after tying regions and persons to dividing categories.[5, 6] In this research, I define such images as the stereotype images. This kind of phenomenon appears for the articles used in daily lives. In this research, I established a hypothesis that stereotype images exist for products and underwent the process of verification through experiments.