Relation between naturalness and luxuriousness through onomatopoeia expressing texture

Abstract

Many people prefer products made with natural rather than artificial materials, and favor luxury products with high social value. In this study, we examined whether similarities and differences between “naturalness” and “luxuriousness” manifested in the onomatopoeic expressions used in texture evaluation. We used pearls and gold leaf, which have different market values depending on grade. Participants were asked to visually evaluate the “naturalness” and “luxuriousness” of these items through a semantic differential technique and onomatopoeic expressions. We found that it was difficult for non-experts to distinguish which item actually had the highest value, but there was a positive correlation between “naturalness” and “luxuriousness” perceptions. Regarding the onomatopoeia results, when a material was perceived as artificial, participants described its texture with visual onomatopoeia. However, when the material was perceived as natural, tactile as well as visual onomatopoeias were used to describe texture. Based on these results, we suggest that knowledge based on of tactile experience may have influenced the visual perception of “naturalness” and “luxuriousness.”