The Impact of Haptic Imagery in Art Supplies: Evaluation and Need for Touch

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Driven Marketing, specialization in Digital Marketing and AnalyticsWe live in a fast-paced world, where information is instantaneously consumed through the speed of the internet, and where brands need to stand out from the others to get their customer’s attention, which incentives the constant evolution of technologies and marketing strategies. Sensory Marketing has proven to be an effective way of capturing the consumers’ senses, and to provide unexpected shopping experiences that attract the attention of new consumers. The exploration of sensorial stimulation has been increasingly used in physical stores, but has been quite left behind when it comes to the online sales environments, especially if we focus on the touch sense. However, it is possible to stimulate the tactile sensation through images, videos and even text descriptions. It is called Haptic Imagery, and it triggers the memories of previous touch experiences, by stimulating the brain to tactile sense, and which can be used to overcome the lack of physical stimulation in digital stores. The aim of this study is to investigate how digital stores can take advantage of Haptic Imagery, to influence the buyer’s product judgement and purchase intention. Moreover, the present research uses the Need for Touch scale (NFT), developed by Peck and Childers (2003), to understand the individual differences between participants’ necessity for touching a product before buying it, and to study its relation to the artists’ willingness to buy their art supplies online. For this purpose, a survey was constructed and distributed among art students from two Art Universities, who are believed to be the right target consumers for art supplies. The main findings of the present study contradict the overarching literature, since the results in relation to product quality perception and purchase intention were not different between the group that saw Haptic Imagery and the one that saw Non-Haptic Imagery. Nevertheless, it was possible to verify that individuals with high NFT felt more frustration for not being able to touch the product, and therefore were less probable to buy it in online stores than individuals with lower NFT values, which confirms the previous findings on the subject and validates the use of Peck and Childers’ NFT scale

Designing enriched aesthetic interaction for garment comfort

This thesis describes a research through design approach to identifying comfort factors within the kinaesthetic experiences of human sensory activities and perceptions. The research explores the experience of women through the way they touch, move and feel when interacting with wool garments. The research provides (1) a body of creative work, (2) a framework of ‘enriched aesthetic interaction’ and (3) the development of design principles for the comfort and related aesthetic qualities of clothing

Coming to your senses: exploring the role of touch in physical and digitally immersive consumption experiences

This dissertation consists of two empirical papers in which I examine the Need for Touch (NFT)in two settings where the ability to touch is disrupted, exploring the role of touch and other senses in physical and metaverse consumption experiences. In the first paper, I investigate the pandemic\u27s influence on consumer shopping behaviors, focusing on the coping mechanisms for reduced tactile interactions. The research uses an exploratory, inductive sequential design to chronicle shopping experiences through longitudinal interviews and autodriving. The findings reveal two primary themes: Shopping as a Reprieve and Fear of Shopping. This research underscores the intricate connection between grieving and the sensory deprivation of touch in traumatic events like COVID-19. In the second paper, I adopt a mixed-method approach that combines short-form interviews and a 2x2 between-subjects design experiment to test whether the physical touch of a featured product before a virtual encounter affects brand attitudes, examining the moderating role of the NFT. A multiple linear regression analysis shows a significant interaction between the physical touch condition and the NFT on brand attitudes. Individuals with high-NFT reported lower brand attitudes, while low-NFT participants express enhanced positivity towards the brand. This paper contributes insights into the interplay between tactile experiences and the NFT on the formation of attitudes toward brands encountered in digitally immersive environments

The Effect of Touch Simulation in Virtual Reality Shopping

This study aims to explore the effect of touch simulation on virtual reality (VR) store satisfaction mediated by VR shopping self-efficacy and VR shopping pleasure. The moderation effects of the autotelic and instrumental need for touch between touch simulation and VR store satisfaction are also explored. Participants wear a head-mounted display VR device (Oculus Go) in a controlled laboratory environment, and their VR store experience is recorded as data. All participants’ responses (n = 58) are analyzed using SPSS 20.0 for descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and the Process macro model analysis. The results show that touch simulation positively influences VR store satisfaction, which is mediated by the self-efficacy and by the dual path of the self-efficacy and the pleasure. Furthermore, the relation between touch simulation and pleasure is moderated by need for touch. For individuals with a high level of autotelic need for touch, the effect of touch simulation on the pleasure is heightened. However, instrumental need for touch does not moderate the path of touch simulation on the self-efficacy

The role of individual behavioural differences on consumer's intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products

Electronic commerce of apparel products has experienced unprecedented growing in the last decade and is considered a major category in the online market. Despite the significant bulk of research in this domain, there are still issues barely explored related to the consumer Individual behavioural differences specifically associated with online apparel mass-customisation. Supported by a detailed literature review, the main purpose of this study was to understand the roles of personality traits - desire for unique products, need for touch, apparel involvement and two new proposed traits (need for simplicity and need for reality) on intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products. The investigation uses as conceptual framework the hierarchy of traits from the meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) that, to the best of our knowledge has never been applied to explore how traits in different hierarchical levels impact on the intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products. A structured equation modelling approach was selected to represent the relationships among the constructs, which resulted on a set of 24 hypotheses that were then tested using a quantitative approach. The empirical data was collected through a self-administered online questionnaire directed to a non-probabilistic convenience sample. Considering the purpose of the study, were only considered respondents who have already bought apparel online and those who have not yet bought, but are considering it in the near future, resulting in 840 valid questionnaires retained for further analysis. Data analysis procedures employed include descriptive statistics, Partial Least Squares-Path Modelling technique and hierarchical regression. Major findings indicate that the surface trait - intention to purchase online mass-customised products (first level) - is mostly determined by situational traits (second level traits) - desire for unique products, apparel involvement, need for touch and need for simplicity. Compound traits (third level traits) - sense of uniqueness, need for cognition and need to evaluate - and elemental traits (fourth level traits) - openness to experience, extraversion, neuroticism, need for material resources and need for arousal - were found to be positive predictors of situational traits, but lacks explanatory power on the surface trait - intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products. Furthermore, in this thesis two new personal traits, need for simplicity and need for reality were proposed and tested. Need for reality was dropped out the model, due to validity and reliability issues, however, this study provides a relevant starting-point for further research and discussion. Moreover, the framework applied has proven to be useful in improving knowledge about the relationships within personal traits in the context of online apparel mass-customisation. The theoretical contributions of this study are expected to extend the knowledge regarding online apparel mass-customisation consumer behaviour. Practical implications are presented and discussed and future research directions are detailed.O comércio eletrónico tem experienciado na última década um crescimento sem precedentes, e o vestuário tem sido uma das categorias de produtos mais dinâmicas no mercado online. Apesar do significativo crescimento da investigação neste domínio, existem ainda questões pouco exploradas, principalmente relacionadas com as características individuais de comportamento do consumidor associadas à customização em massa de vestuário online. A definição do objetivo deste estudo foi alicerçada numa revisão de literatura detalhada, e consiste em compreender o papel das características de personalidade - desejo por produtos únicos, necessidade de toque, envolvimento com o vestuário, e de duas novas características propostas (necessidade de simplicidade e necessidade de realidade) na intenção de compra online de produtos de vestuário customizado. A investigação realizada usa como estrutura conceptual a hierarquia de características (elemental, compound, situational, surface traits) do modelo meta-teórico da motivação e personalidade (3M), que até à data ainda não foi usada no estudo do impacto das características de personalidade em diferentes níveis, na intenção de compra online de produtos de vestuário customizado. Foi usada uma abordagem baseada em equações estruturais para representar as relações entre as variáveis, resultando num conjunto de 24 hipóteses. Os dados foram recolhidos através de um questionário online a uma amostra não probabilística e de conveniência. Tendo em conta os objetivos do estudo, foram só considerados os respondentes que já compraram vestuário online e aqueles que não tendo comprado demonstraram intenções de fazê-lo no futuro próximo. Deste modo, foram obtidos 840 questionários válidos para análise. Os procedimentos de análise dos dados incluíram análises descritivas, modelação através da técnica “Partial Least Squares Path Modelling” (PLS-Path) e regressão hierárquica. Dos resultados obtidos ressalta que o “surface trait” - intenção de compra online de vestuário customizado - é principalmente determinado pelos “situational traits” – desejo por produtos únicos, envolvimento com o vestuário, necessidade de toque e necessidade de simplicidade. Os “compound traits” - sentido de singularidade, necessidade de conhecimento e necessidade de avaliar - e também os “elemental traits” - abertura à experiencia, extroversão, instabilidade emocional, necessidade de recursos materiais e necessidade de estímulos - revelaram ser antecedentes dos “situational traits”, no entanto carecem de capacidade preditiva do “surface trait” intenção de compra online de vestuário customizado. Esta tese também propõe e testa duas novas características de personalidade, necessidade de simplicidade e necessidade de realidade, uma das quais revelou problemas de validade e fiabilidade, tendo por isso sido excluída. Não obstante este resultado o trabalho desenvolvido constitui um ponto de partida para futuras investigações e discussões. Nomeadamente, a opção pela estrutura conceptual aplicada, que demonstrou ser útil para o estudo do comportamento do consumidor e que representa uma ampliação do conhecimento sobre as relações entre as várias características de personalidade no contexto da customização online de vestuário. O trabalho desenvolvido apresenta igualmente contribuições teóricas relevantes para o conhecimento do comportamento do consumidor online de produtos de vestuário customizado, que podem ser aproveitadas igualmente pela indústria

KEER2022

Avanttítol: KEER2022. DiversitiesDescripció del recurs: 25 juliol 202

Pinching sweaters on your phone – iShoogle : multi-gesture touchscreen fabric simulator using natural on-fabric gestures to communicate textile qualities

The inability to touch fabrics online frustrates consumers, who are used to evaluating physical textiles by engaging in complex, natural gestural interactions. When customers interact with physical fabrics, they combine cross-modal information about the fabric's look, sound and handle to build an impression of its physical qualities. But whenever an interaction with a fabric is limited (i.e. when watching clothes online) there is a perceptual gap between the fabric qualities perceived digitally and the actual fabric qualities that a person would perceive when interacting with the physical fabric. The goal of this thesis was to create a fabric simulator that minimized this perceptual gap, enabling accurate perception of the qualities of fabrics presented digitally. We designed iShoogle, a multi-gesture touch-screen sound-enabled fabric simulator that aimed to create an accurate representation of fabric qualities without the need for touching the physical fabric swatch. iShoogle uses on-screen gestures (inspired by natural on-fabric movements e.g. Crunching) to control pre-recorded videos and audio of fabrics being deformed (e.g. being Crunched). iShoogle creates an illusion of direct video manipulation and also direct manipulation of the displayed fabric. This thesis describes the results of nine studies leading towards the development and evaluation of iShoogle. In the first three studies, we combined expert and non-expert textile-descriptive words and grouped them into eight dimensions labelled with terms Crisp, Hard, Soft, Textured, Flexible, Furry, Rough and Smooth. These terms were used to rate fabric qualities throughout the thesis. We observed natural on-fabric gestures during a fabric handling study (Study 4) and used the results to design iShoogle's on-screen gestures. In Study 5 we examined iShoogle's performance and speed in a fabric handling task and in Study 6 we investigated users' preferences for sound playback interactivity. iShoogle's accuracy was then evaluated in the last three studies by comparing participants’ ratings of textile qualities when using iShoogle with ratings produced when handling physical swatches. We also described the recording and processing techniques for the video and audio content that iShoogle used. Finally, we described the iShoogle iPhone app that was released to the general public. Our evaluation studies showed that iShoogle significantly improved the accuracy of fabric perception in at least some cases. Further research could investigate which fabric qualities and which fabrics are particularly suited to be represented with iShoogle

Design and semantics of form and movement (DeSForM 2006)

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM) grew from applied research exploring emerging design methods and practices to support new generation product and interface design. The products and interfaces are concerned with: the context of ubiquitous computing and ambient technologies and the need for greater empathy in the pre-programmed behaviour of the ‘machines’ that populate our lives. Such explorative research in the CfDR has been led by Young, supported by Kyffin, Visiting Professor from Philips Design and sponsored by Philips Design over a period of four years (research funding £87k). DeSForM1 was the first of a series of three conferences that enable the presentation and debate of international work within this field: • 1st European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM1), Baltic, Gateshead, 2005, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 2nd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM2), Evoluon, Eindhoven, 2006, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 3rd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM3), New Design School Building, Newcastle, 2007, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. Philips sponsorship of practice-based enquiry led to research by three teams of research students over three years and on-going sponsorship of research through the Northumbria University Design and Innovation Laboratory (nuDIL). Young has been invited on the steering panel of the UK Thinking Digital Conference concerning the latest developments in digital and media technologies. Informed by this research is the work of PhD student Yukie Nakano who examines new technologies in relation to eco-design textiles

Enhancing the E-Commerce Experience through Haptic Feedback Interaction

The sense of touch is important in our everyday lives and its absence makes it difficult to explore and manipulate everyday objects. Existing online shopping practice lacks the opportunity for physical evaluation, that people often use and value when making product choices. However, with recent advances in haptic research and technology, it is possible to simulate various physical properties such as heaviness, softness, deformation, and temperature. The research described here investigates the use of haptic feedback interaction to enhance e-commerce product evaluation, particularly haptic weight and texture evaluation. While other properties are equally important, besides being fundamental to the shopping experience of many online products, weight and texture can be simulated using cost-effective devices. Two initial psychophysical experiments were conducted using free motion haptic exploration in order to more closely resemble conventional shopping. One experiment was to measure weight force thresholds and another to measure texture force thresholds. The measurements can provide better understanding of haptic device limitation for online shopping in terms of the availability of different stimuli to represent physical products. The outcomes of the initial psychophysical experimental studies were then used to produce various absolute stimuli that were used in a comparative experimental study to evaluate user experience of haptic product evaluation. Although free haptic exploration was exercised on both psychophysical experiments, results were relatively consistent with previous work on haptic discrimination. The threshold for weight force discrimination represented as downward forces was 10 percent. The threshold for texture force discrimination represented as friction forces was 14.1 percent, when using dynamic coefficient of friction at any level of static coefficient of friction. On the other hand, the comparative experimental study to evaluate user experience of haptic product information indicated that haptic product evaluation does not change user performance significantly. However, although there was an increase in the time taken to complete the task, the number of button click actions tended to decrease. The results showed that haptic product evaluation could significantly increase the confidence of shopping decision. Nevertheless, the availability of haptic product evaluation does not necessarily impose different product choices but it complements other selection criteria such as price and appearance. The research findings from this work are a first step towards exploring haptic-based environments in e-commerce environments. The findings not only lay the foundation for designing online haptic shopping but also provide empirical support to research in this direction

Embodied Continuity: Weaving the Body Into a Web of Artistry and Ethnography

abstract: Embodied Continuity documents the methodology of Entangled/Embraced, a dance performance piece presented December, 2011 and created as an artistic translation of research conducted January-May, 2011 in the states of Karnataka and Kerala, South India. Focused on the sciences of Ayurveda, Kalaripayattu and yoga, this research stems from an interest in body-mind connectivity, body-mind-environment continuity, embodied epistemology and the implications of ethnography within artistic practice. The document begins with a theoretical grounding covering established research on theories of embodiment; ethnographic methodologies framing research conducted in South India including sensory ethnography, performance ethnography and autoethnography; and an explanation of the sciences of Ayurveda, Kalaripayattu and yoga with a descriptive slant that emphasizes concepts of embodiment and body-mind-environment continuity uniquely inherent to these sciences. Following the theoretical grounding, the document provides an account of methods used in translating theoretical concepts and experiences emerging from research in India into the creation of the Entangled/Embraced dance work. Using dancer and audience member participation to inspire emergent meanings and maintain ethnographic consciousness, Embodied Continuity demonstrates how concepts inspiring research interests, along with ideas emerging from within research experiences, in addition to philosophical standpoints embedded in the ethnographic methodologies chosen to conduct research, weave into the entire project of Entangled/Embraced to unite the phases of research and performance, ethnography and artistry.Dissertation/ThesisM.F.A. Dance 201