產品造形屬性對視覺複雜度與消費者偏好之影響

產品造形特徵直接影響其視覺感知上的外觀複雜度，也間接牽動消費者的偏好和購買意願。本研究以電熱壺為例，除了探討影響產品視覺複雜度因子外，期能瞭解此等造形屬性與消費者偏好的關聯性。研究設計首先蒐集了56件國內、外市售電熱壺，以集群分析選定具代表性的四款商品作為實驗樣本，並經由形態分析描述具層級架構的特徵因子以界定屬性和水準；爾後，藉由3D模擬樣本調查受測者對產品造形的視覺複雜度與偏好，最終運用聯合分析求取各屬性、水準之成分效用值與相對重要性。研究結果顯示：視覺複雜度的相對重要性為外形45.45%、材料21.39%、顏色21.72%以及質感11.45%；而消費者偏好則為外形36.70%、材料22.13%、顏色29.67%以及質感11.50%。至於視覺複雜度與偏好的關聯性為負相關，說明低複雜度的產品造形較受消費者青睞；反之，屬高複雜度的產品，則較不為消費者所喜愛。因此，產品設計師可參酌本研究之量化分析數據，協助公司擬訂產品市場定位、造形意象、設計方針與行銷策略，有效提昇企業營運績效。 Product attributes directly influence the visual complexity of appearance, and indirectly affect the consumer preferences and purchase intention via the response of consumer's visual perception. This research chose electrical kettle from the electric appliance industry as an example, in a hope to understand the various factors affecting product visual complexity, and to explore its relationship with consumer preferences. This study began by exploring the relevant literature on product visual complexity and asked senior industrial designers to do a product grouping on the 56 electric kettle samples collected. Through cluster analysis, four typical products types were produced; furthermore, morphological analysis was used to describe those characteristic factors with hierarchical structure to define the product form attributes and standards. As for samples of products' overall outline constructed using 3D visual simulation, they were used to investigate the consumer's level of acceptance of the new product form preferences and complexity, while conjoint analysis was applied to obtain the part-worth and relative importance of each attribute and level. The research outcome shows that the relative importance of consumer's attribute preference was form 36.70%, material 22.13%, color 29.67%, and texture 11.50%; for visual complexity, form was 45.45%, material 21.39%, color 21.72%, and texture 11.45%. The correlation between product visual complexity and preference was a negative one, indicating a product with low visual complexity is more favorable among consumers, and a product with high degree of visual complexity is not welcomed. Such effective product design and development model can facilitate the planning department of a company in developing product positioning, market segmentation, marketing strategy, and effectively improve operational performance. Based on the study with understanding the product visual complexity on consumer preferences, designers can accurately manage the relative importance and part-worth of product's visual attributes and levels.