Leandro Miletto Tonetto

Modifying action sounds influences people's emotional responses and bodily sensations

We report an experiment designed to investigate the effect of modifying the sound of high-heeled shoes on womens self-reported valence, arousal, and dominance scores, as well as any changes to a variety of measures of bodily sensation. We also assessed whether self-evaluated personality traits and the enjoyment associated with wearing heels were correlated with these effects. Forty-eight women walked down a “virtual runway” while listening to four interaction sounds (leather- and polypropylene-soled high-heeled shoes contacting ceramic flooring or carpet). Analysis of the questionnaires that the participants completed indicated that the type of sonic interaction impacted valence, arousal, and dominance scores, as well as the evaluated bodily sensations. There were also correlations between these scores and both self-evaluated personality traits and the reported enjoyment associated with wearing high heels. These results demonstrate the effect that the sound of a womans physical interaction with the environment can have, especially when her contact with the ground while walking makes a louder sound. More generally, these results demonstrate that the manipulation of product extrinsic sounds can modify peoples evaluation of their emotional outcomes (valence, arousal, and dominance), as well as their bodily sensations.

Understanding the role of intuition in decision-making when designing for experiences: contributions from cognitive psychology

In the cognitive sciences, intuition is described as a way of processing information based on automatic, affective and personal standards, but it is not the opposite of rationality. Designers generate solutions to daily issues, which forces them to make decisions that cannot be always understood rationally. Designing for experiences is a delicate practice in a rational perspective, since the designers interpretation on how to trigger particular experiences can be highly influenced by intuition. Designers have a choice to use intuition in the design process without control, or to understand the process and use it consciously. In this context, self-knowing is a key factor in intentional intuiting. This paper aims at discussing how intuition works when professionals design for experiences and, by providing the basis to understand the process, offers inputs on how to deal with it, avoiding biases in the design practice and helping to develop self-knowledge. Relevance to ergonomics theory In recent decades, ergonomics has been concerned with the understanding of designing to evoke or prevent particular experiences among users. The designers challenge is to interpret users’ bodily experiences, commonly without awareness of the situation or context in which they are perceived. The design process is often affected by intuition and its role needs to be understood by professionals in order to be used accurately. Theoretical inputs from cognitive psychology are discussed in relation to the design practice, to help improve ergonomics theory in the context of intuition in designing for experiences. The paper indicates that a designer can make a conscious decision to use intuition when designing for experiences. The use of intentional intuiting in this context does not exclude rational thinking, but complements it and helps qualifying design decision-making, since it reduces the use of biased subjectiveness in the interpretation on how to evoke or prevent particular experiences. The training of intentional intuiting is possible but challenging since it takes time, and the keys to successful use of intuition lay in self-knowing and appropriate state of mind of a designer.

Psicologia cognitiva e consumo: o impacto da quantidade de informações na configuração de objetivos

Goal framing effect refers to the finding that different ways of presenting the same content of communication tend to generate different degrees of persuasion among consumers. It seems to be a reflex from automatic (intuitive) responses given by consumers regarding low amounts of information. This research shows the results of an experiment investigating the impact of the amount of information on goal framing effect. In a between-subject design experiment, 296 undergraduates were split in four conditions, being exposed to different text frames (gains and losses) and amounts of information (extended and abbreviated). The results have shown goal framing effect only for the abbreviated versions of the text, being gain frame the most persuasive.

Emotional Design: Concepts, approaches and research perspectives

O presente artigo tem como objetivo discutir o que se entende por design emocional, considerando o cenario internacional da pesquisa. Para tanto, resgata uma definicao sobre a area, incluindo seu foco de estudo e suas origens, antes de focar nas tres abordagens mais amplamente discutidas nas pesquisas na area (Jordan, 1999a; Desmet, 2002; Norman, 2004). Palavras-chave: Design Emocional, Design, Emocao, Psicologia das Emocoes.

Quando a forma importa:: o efeito de configuração de mensagens na tomada de decisão

The present paper proposes a literature review about the framing effect on decision making. The framing effect refers to the belief that people answer in distinct ways to different descriptions of the same problem. Thus, the article begins exploring the rise of the prospect theory, responsible for the studies of the framing effect, regarding the distinct variables studied in relation to this effect. The advance of the studies highlighted the different types of framing effect (risky, goal framing and attribute), that disagree in terms of operational definition, result patterns and interpretation theories. The prospect theory nevertheless was found only adequate for analysis and interpretation of the effect solely in a risky context.

Aesthetic and functional bra attributes as emotional triggers

This paper aims to evaluate how bra design can trigger positive emotional experiences among users through aesthetic and functional attributes. To achieve this aim, the relationships between women and their favorite bras were investigated, since the users’ preferred products tend to evoke positive experiences. Emotional experiences while using the chosen bras were accessed through five measures: Arousal (intensity of an emotional response); Valence (degree of pleasantness); Dominance (degree of control experienced by the person facing a stimulus); how attractive the chosen bra is; and agreement levels with sentences stating that each design attribute from a list (aesthetic and functional) was determinant for the choice of a certain bra as favorite. The research instrument was a printed questionnaire, which was answered by 182 women. The results indicate that pleasantness (Valence) was related to relaxation (low Arousal), but the feeling of being in control (Dominance), when wearing the chosen bra, was not connected to pleasantness. Attractiveness of the bra, relaxation and pleasantness were related to both aesthetic and functional attributes. The feeling of being in control when using the chosen bra was mostly related to functional attributes. Results are discussed to foster bra design with potential to evoke positive experiences among users.

Methodological perspectives on consumer research

The present paper presents a critical review of the literature about research methods in psychology with a focus on consumer studies, followed by examples of the professional practice of the authors in consumer behavior research. The market reality urges the researcher to be able to choose and make use of the most appropriate method to solve the research problem (exploratory, descriptive, experimental), what creates the need to classify, describe and compare the different methods. The scenery and the consumer in constant transformation also brought the call for an integrative view of the different methods into an essential tool to the comprehension of the study phenomenon. The conclusion is that the psychologist should know how to differentiate the need to use each distinct research method when facing specific requirements to understand consumers based not only on pre-established methodological rules from theory, but also based on guidance from professional practice.

Perspectivas metodológicas na pesquisa sobre o comportamento do consumido

The present paper presents a critical review of the literature about research methods in psychology with a focus on consumer studies, followed by examples of the professional practice of the authors in consumer behavior research. The market reality urges the researcher to be able to choose and make use of the most appropriate method to solve the research problem (exploratory, descriptive, experimental), what creates the need to classify, describe and compare the different methods. The scenery and the consumer in constant transformation also brought the call for an integrative view of the different methods into an essential tool to the comprehension of the study phenomenon. The conclusion is that the psychologist should know how to differentiate the need to use each distinct research method when facing specific requirements to understand consumers based not only on pre-established methodological rules from theory, but also based on guidance from professional practice.

Perspectivas metodológicas em la investigación sobre el comportamiento del consumidor

The present paper presents a critical review of the literature about research methods in psychology with a focus on consumer studies, followed by examples of the professional practice of the authors in consumer behavior research. The market reality urges the researcher to be able to choose and make use of the most appropriate method to solve the research problem (exploratory, descriptive, experimental), what creates the need to classify, describe and compare the different methods. The scenery and the consumer in constant transformation also brought the call for an integrative view of the different methods into an essential tool to the comprehension of the study phenomenon. The conclusion is that the psychologist should know how to differentiate the need to use each distinct research method when facing specific requirements to understand consumers based not only on pre-established methodological rules from theory, but also based on guidance from professional practice.

When the frame matters: message framing effect on decision making

The present paper proposes a literature review about the framing effect on decision making. The framing effect refers to the belief that people answer in distinct ways to different descriptions of the same problem. Thus, the article begins exploring the rise of the prospect theory, responsible for the studies of the framing effect, regarding the distinct variables studied in relation to this effect. The advance of the studies highlighted the different types of framing effect (risky, goal framing and attribute), that disagree in terms of operational definition, result patterns and interpretation theories. The prospect theory nevertheless was found only adequate for analysis and interpretation of the effect solely in a risky context.