The Influence of Unity and Prototypicality on Aesthetic Responses to New Product Designs

Veryzer, Robert W, and J Wesley Hutchinson

Journal of Consumer Research, 1998, vol. 24, issue 4, 374-94

Abstract: Unity and prototypicality are important visual aspects of product design. These design principles were operationalized by modifying line drawings of existing products. The results of four experiments provide evidence that these two factors positively affect aesthetic response. These effects were strongest when visual properties were the sole basis of judgment and when design variations were easily compared. However, they persisted when aesthetic aspects were combined with other product information and when comparing design features was difficult. The effect of unity was found to be superadditive, suggesting that it has a relational, "all-or-none" character. Finally, regression analyses show that direct effects of the design modifications on aesthetic response exist in addition to possible indirect effects that are mediated by perceived typicality. Copyright 1998 by the University of Chicago.

Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (67)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209516 (application/pdf)

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:oup:jconrs:v:24:y:1998:i:4:p:374-94

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Consumer Research is currently edited by Bernd Schmitt, June Cotte, Markus Giesler, Andrew Stephen and Stacy Wood

More articles in Journal of Consumer Research from Journal of Consumer Research Inc.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().