Application of Fuzzy Theory to the Investigation of Children’s Preference for Wooden Toy Materials—A Case Study of Rocking Horses

Yu-Chun Liu and An-Sheng Lee ()
Additional contact information
Yu-Chun Liu: Department of Wood-Based Materials and Design, National Chiayi University, Chiayi City 60004, Taiwan
An-Sheng Lee: Department of Wood-Based Materials and Design, National Chiayi University, Chiayi City 60004, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the sensory preferences of children aged 8–12 regarding the material and characteristics of wooden toys. Taking wooden rocking horses as research samples, this study selected three types of wood, respectively Pinus taiwanensis, Fagus sylvatica, and Juglans nigra, which are significantly different in appearance from solid wood commonly used to make wooden toys. The experiment was conducted through on-site observation and questionnaire surveys to record children’s preferences for wood characteristics, such as the characteristic factors of wood texture, color and luster, touch, weight, smell, and overall preference. Descriptive statistics and analysis were performed using SPSS 25V, and the experimental results were analyzed and interpreted using fuzzy trigonometric functions. The findings reveal that Taiwan pine had the highest average worth score among the various evaluation characteristics in terms of wood surface performance preferences. Other types of wood also showed different favorability results in different characteristics. This study also analyzes the correlation and significant differences in favorability evaluation using fuzzy theory. This study provides insights that can be useful for toy designers and children’s teaching aid developers to purchase and match wooden toys effectively while promoting the efficient use of wood resources.

Keywords: wooden toy; children’s perception; fuzzy theory; preference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/6356/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/6356/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:8:p:6356-:d:1118205

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().