The underlying factors dominating categorical perception of product form of mobile phones

The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanisms that dominate the users' mental models for product form classification. A think aloud hierarchical grouping test and a semantic differential experiment were conducted to analyze the way subjects classified the real product samples of mobile phones. From the database of similarity and image test as well as the morphological analysis of product form, cluster analyses were used to analyze the procedure of product form classification and the effects of total images and local form features on product form classification. The result of cluster analyses indicated that local features were the dominant mechanisms that the study subjects used for the classification of a large number of similar products. Moreover, results of the think aloud task demonstrated that in the process of product form classification, subjects would first employ local features and later total images step by step in the hierarchical grouping task. The mental models the participants employed in processing product form classification confirmed the cognitive models preliminarily proposed by other scholars. An overlapping phenomenon could be found in the classification based on image perceptions and similarity data. At early stages, product form classification was mainly dominated by local features, and at later stages, total images would gradually take over the dominance position. These two processing models interacted with each other during the classification procedure. The classification based upon the real product samples in clustering schedule and distribution can help explore the effects of varying form factors on people's visual perceptions. Designers can subtly take the dominant form features under control so as to work out new products that stand out among competitors. Relevance to industry: The exploration of the mental model the users apply in product form classification can help clarify the roles total images and local features play in specific visual perceptions, which can further offer hints to designers in new product design and development. The creative manipulation of specific images and form features will add emergent attraction to new product form. This not only reduces the risk in new product design and development but also helps guarantee that the new product draws user's attention in the market. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.