The effect of (un)pleasant sounds on the visual and overall pleasantness of products

Conference paper (2014)
Department
Industrial Design (IDE) (TU Delft)
Copyright: Schifferstein, H.N.J.
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Published Date

15-10-2014

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Source:

Proceedings of the colors of care: The 9th international conference on design and emotion, 6-7 October 2014, Bogota, Colombia

Faculty

Industrial Design Engineering

Department

Industrial Design

Abstract

A product is a nnulti-sensory object and eacli sensory property can contribute to the product experience. In this study we investigated the effect of sound (pleasant, unpleasant, original, and no sound) on the perceived pleasantness of products (i.e., visual pleasantness and overall pleasantness). Results indicate that ratings for visual and overall pleasantness are similar when no sounds are provided with the products (pictures). When participants are provided with sounds corresponding to the product, however, the overall pleasantness ratings decreased and visual pleasantness increased. Furthermore, while original and unpleasant sounds had a negative effect, pleasant sounds had a positive effect on visual and overall pleasantness ratings. We suggest that if efforts are put into improving the sound quality users will be more pleased and more willing to interact with products.

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