Perceived color quality: The effect of light reflection brightness of a car’s exterior design on consumers’ purchase intentions

Abstract

In industrial design, perceived quality is driven by color, material, and finishing (CMF). Extant literature on CMF in the automobile industry has primarily focused on hue. Accordingly, the present study focused on color brightness with the goal of assessing whether light reflection brightness of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) positively affects consumers’ purchase intentions due to an expectation of premium design. Additionally, it was hypothesized that light reflection brightness of compact cars would negatively affect consumers’ purchase intentions, as they would expect a cost-effective design. Subsequently, multiple car designs—with the same style but different levels of light reflection brightness—were created, and randomized controlled trials were conducted through an online research environment in Japan. The results confirmed the study hypotheses, indicating that while light reflection brightness of SUVs positively affected consumers’ purchase intentions, the same effect was not observed for compact cars. This suggests the importance of coherent embodiment based on product concepts. While some elements, such as safety and durability, are required in all products, compatibility with product characteristics needs to be examined for emotional elements, such as design.

The value created by the removal of cut lines: Evaluating the impact of finishing of industrial designs on purchase intention

“…However, as this theoretical framework is relatively new, there is a lack of research in the area of consumer behavior. In addition, most of the existing literature on CMF concentrates on color (Baptista et al, 2021; Elliot & Maier, 2014; Garaus & Halkias, 2020; Kato, 2022; Labrecque, 2020; Lyons & Wien, 2018; Marozzo et al, 2020; Stuart et al, 2014; Tantanatewin & Inkarojrit, 2018; Van Esch et al, 2019; Wagner et al, 2018) and material (Bae, 2021; Donato et al, 2021; Klaiman et al, 2016; Magnier & Schoormans, 2015; Piqueras‐Fiszman & Spence, 2012; Polyportis et al, 2022; Rebollar et al, 2017; Testa et al, 2020; Trudel, 2019). Therefore, it is necessary to accumulate scientific knowledge on the impact of finish.…”

“…The survey questions elicited the following personal information: (1) gender, (2) age, (3) number of cars owned, (4) owned car's brand(s), (5) owned car's body type(s), (6) frequency of driving, (7) next purchase plan, (8) purchase emphasis point (options: design, usability, driving performance, fuel economy performance, safety performance, and price; single answer), and (9) purchase intention for each of the four designs (5‐point Likert scale; 1 = would not like to purchase at all , 5 = would very much like to purchase ; Chang & Jai, 2015; Ventre & Kolbe, 2020). The options for (8) were defined based on existing research on the factors involved in consumer behavior with regard to cars: design (Kato, 2022), usability (Gish et al, 2017), driving performance (Jeon et al, 2014), fuel economy performance (Sun et al, 2022), safety performance (Simsekoglu & Nayum, 2019), and price (Krishnan & Koshy, 2021). Information on the device types that the respondents used to provide their responses was automatically obtained when they completed and submitted the questionnaires.…”

“…Saturation and brightness also define color (Stuart et al, 2014). For example, purchase intention changes depending on the amount of light reflected by the exterior of an automobile (Kato, 2022). As such, color has a significant impact on consumer behavior and brand value (Garaus & Halkias, 2020).…”

Matte Finish vs Light Reflection: Effect of Car Exterior Finish on Product Attractiveness

“…In fact, many automakers, such as Audi and Hyundai, provide matte finishes to highlight their design. However, it has also been found that increasing the amount of light reflected by a car's exterior design improves the perceived quality [2]. In other words, the two are in opposite positions and their effects are unknown.…”

“…However, companies can reproducibly improve their perceived quality by investing time and money [1]. For example, increasing the amount of light reflected by the exterior design of a car improves perceived quality [2]. Practitioners who understand this relationship can adjust the amount of reflected light and incorporate it in the design of multiple products in advance.…”