BRAND AFFILIATION THROUGH CURVED AND ANGULAR SURFACES USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE VEHICLE FRONT

摘要

With visual similarity products can be assigned to a brand. The brand assignment based on shapes has only examined the contours (orientation, proportion and position) of selected elements so far. This paper investigates whether brand affiliation is also related to different surface types (curved and angular). For the investigation the vehicle front was selected. Distinguishable contours and surfaces were selected according to their semantic effect (friendliness, aggressiveness and perceived gender). The contours of the headlights and the lower air intake were determined based on anthropometric investigations (smiling and frowning faces) and were selected to be neutral to existing brands. Comparable semantic effects were found for curved and angular surfaces. Self-made vehicle fronts were designed with these parameters. An online survey was conducted with 150 users. First of all. the effects of the stimulus patterns generated for the factors contour (face) and surface were confirmed in the survey. Then the stimulus patterns were evaluated in pairs regarding their brand affiliation. The results show that brand affiliation can be implemented with contours and surfaces. Furthermore, it was determined that there are two user groups which differ in the evaluation of the brand affiliation.