The first scientific
experiment of its kind has revealed that beautiful car design can tangibly
evoke a powerful range of feelings that are on a par with the most basic of
human emotions. The scientific experiment, conducted by Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) in collaboration with EEG specialists Myndplay, tested
respondents to analyse how the brain reacts emotionally to car design and how
design aesthetics actually make us feel.
EEG is the recording
of electrical activity along the scalp and measures voltage
fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the
brain. The experiment proved that humans react emotionally to the shape of a
car, with men in particular seeming almost genetically programmed to like sleek
design with beautiful lines.
The experiment was conducted to coincide with the launch of
the Volvo Concept Coupé, the first
expressive interpretation of Volvo’s new design strategy aimed at building a
more emotive connection with the brand. Participants were asked to rate a
series of images whilst wearing a dry sensor EEG headset that measured
brainwave activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. The images included
the new Volvo Concept Coupé alongside perceived ‘bad’ and ‘out-dated’ car
design, visuals of happy/crying babies and men & women considered to be
‘beautiful’.
Thomas Ingenlath,
Senior Vice President Design at Volvo Cars, said: “This survey finally
proves what we’ve always suspected. Beautiful car design can elicit strong
emotional responses ranging from a positive frame of mind to a sense of
empowerment.”
* Men experienced more emotion whilst looking at images of
beautiful car design than they did whilst looking at an image of a crying child
* Women displayed an emotional intensity to the picture of a
crying baby which almost doubled that of male participants
* 74% of men claimed that good design made them feel
positive
* Only 33% of women rated images of car design higher than
an image of an attractive man
* 60% of men claimed that driving a beautiful car makes them
feel confident and empowered
Dr David Lewis, a
UK leader in the neuroscience of consumerism and communications stated:
“Appreciating an aesthetically pleasing design is an experience which combines
understanding and emotions. These are so closely intertwined that it is
impossible to distinguish between them. Aesthetic experience involves a unity
of sensuous delight, meaningful interpretation, and emotional
involvement."
A parallel survey conducted by OnePoll revealed that 43% of
men said that they found the car shape and design to be the most appealing
aspect, over the interior, gadgets, wheels and engine. The front of the car was
the most attractive feature for men, in contrast to the reaction from women
where the rear of the car scored the most highly.
The only image both men and women shared the same reaction
was that of a crying baby. They both expressed the highest emotional intensity
and the highest negative score of all images. Women displayed the most
emotional response to the crying baby, whereas men demonstrated more emotion
looking at pictures of beautiful car design than to the picture of the
distressed child.
The Volvo ‘Emotion Of Design’ study was designed to measure
the emotional response of subjects whilst watching a series of images. In order
to measure the emotional response of participants, a single dry electrode
MyndPlay EEG headset, was placed on FpZ (middle of forehead) and Fp1 (left
prefrontal forehead) to measure activation in the left prefrontal cortex. The experiment
was specifically looking for activation and spikes in the Beta and Gamma
frequencies. The experiment used existing attention and meditation algorithms
and user generated scores in order to cross-reference the results. Participants
were asked to rate how they felt about each image immediately after being shown
the visual.
In order to gauge emotional response to known positive
emotional stimulus, a picture of a smiling baby was included within the
experiment. To gauge how subjects respond to old design in comparison with new
design, images of a 30-year-old car was also included within the experiment.
A blank image was added to normalise and measure baseline. A further
study was conducted as a follow up study in which we added further known positive
stimulus to measure arousal response. For the purposes of validating arousal,
during the second experiment we utilised ECG monitors to measure increase in
heart rate for specific images.
The data was cross referenced and analysed against previous
experiments to calibrate and substantiate the results & findings.
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