Aesthetics in Marketing

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aesthetics

in marketing

aesthetics

in marketing Rajat K. Baisya G. Ganesh Das

Copyright © Rajat K. Baisya, G. Ganesh Das, 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in 2008 by Response Books Business books from SAGE B1/I-1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044, India SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320, USA SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP, United Kingdom SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 33 Pekin Street #02-01 Far East Square Singapore 048763 Published by Vivek Mehra for Response Books, typeset in 10/13 pt Palatino by Excellent Laser Typesetters, Delhi and printed at Chaman Enterprises, New Delhi. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Baisya, Rajat K. Aesthetics in marketing/Rajat K. Baisya, G. Ganesh Das. p. cm. Includes index. 1. Market segmentation. 2. Consumers’ preferences. 3. New products. 4. Aesthetics. I. Das, G. Ganesh. II. Title. HF5415.127.B35

658.8001—dc22

ISBN: 978-0-7619-3595-7 (Pb)

2008

2007047145

978-81-7829-756-9 (India-Pb)

The SAGE Team: Sugata Ghosh, Meena Chakravorty, Rajib Chatterjee and Trinankur Banerjee

This book is dedicated to my parents Late Dr Rabindra Kumar Baisya and Mrs Vidyut Prova Baisya for the sacrifices that they have made in their life to ensure that I lead a better life. It is my misfortune that my father did not survive long to see that. Rajat K. Baisya I dedicate this book to my father Mr N. Gopala Krishnan Nair and mother Mrs Santha Nair who encouraged and provided the necessary foundation to understand and express. G. Ganesh Das

Contents

List of Exhibits List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations Foreword by M.B. Shin Preface Acknowledgements

11 13 17 19 21 23 27

01. Introduction to Aesthetics

29

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

Introduction Indian Automobile and Consumer Durable Industry Basic Questions Related to Aesthetics Chapter Summary

02. Aesthetics, Its Qualities and Attributes 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4

Evolution of Aesthetics and Its Definition Aesthetic Attributes and Qualities Analysis—Attributes and Qualities of Aesthetics Chapter Summary

03. Aesthetics and Design, and Its Role in Products 3.1 3.2 3.3

Aesthetics and Design in Product Data Analysis—Product and Aesthetics Chapter Summary

29 31 38 38 42 42 46 52 60 64 64 76 80

8

aesthetics in marketing

04. Aesthetics, Design and Consumer Behaviour 4.1 4.2 4.3

Factors Influencing Aesthetics, Design and Consumer Behaviour Attributes of Aesthetics Specific to Automobiles and Home Appliances Chapter Summary

05. Aesthetic Influence on Consumer Behaviour and Durables 5.1 5.2 5.3

Branding and Durables Role of Demographic Variables in Durables Effect of Demographic Variables on Aesthetics Chapter Summary

07. Total Aesthetic Experience—A Discussion 7.1 7.2

83 94 101 105

Durables and Consumer Behaviour 105 Relationship of Various Variables with Aesthetics 114 Chapter Summary 126

06. Demographic Variables and Branding in Consumer Durables 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4

83

Industry Perception Consumer Perception

130 130 135 138 148 152 152 155

08. The Aesthetic Framework—A Synthesis of Concepts 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Attributes and Qualities of Aesthetics 8.3 Product and Aesthetics 8.4 Attributes of Aesthetics Specific in Automobiles and Home Appliances 8.5 Relationship of Quality, Resources, Brand and Corporate Image with Aesthetics 8.6 Effect of Demographic Variables on Aesthetics 8.7 Chapter Summary

159 159 159 163

09. Companies’ Approach to Design and Aesthetics

177

9.1 9.2

Introduction Case Methodology for the Survey

167 171 172 175

177 178

contents

9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17

Industry Background—Passenger Car Major Players in the Passenger Car Segment Company Background of Maruti Udyog Limited Case Findings Automobile— Maruti Udyog Limited Industry Background—Home Appliances Company Background: Samsung Electronics India Limited Case Findings Home Appliance— Samsung Electronics India Limited Case Study: Tefal Aquaspeed Case Study: Virgin Trains—Pendolino Case Study: B&Q Power Tools Case Study: OXO International Case Study: British Sky Broadcasting— Remote Control Handset Case Study: Anglepoise Light Case Study: Usha Water Heater Chapter Summary and Conclusion

9 181 191 192 195 201 212 215 225 232 238 244 249 254 261 266

10. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing

276

10.1 Learnings 10.2 Looking Forward 10.3 Concluding Remarks

276 283 288

Discussion Questions Glossary Index About the Authors

289 293 303 312

List of Exhibits

01.1 01.2 01.3 01.4 01.5 01.6 01.7

Honda Hyundai Sonata Toyota Camry Audi Interiors I Mitsubishi Cedia Topography of a Washing Machine Toyota Prado

29 31 32 33 34 35 36

02.1 Ashok Leyland—Commercial Vehicle 02.2 Fiat Palio S10 02.3 BMW Interiors

44 51 52

03.1 03.2 03.3 03.4

66 66 67

03.5 03.6 03.7 03.8 03.9

LML Prithvi Scooter Mercedes M-Class Audi Interiors Tata Safari, Mercedes M-Class, Hyundai Terracan, Mitsubishi Pajero Escorts Construction Equipment Audi Silencer LG Refrigerator Mitsubishi Pajero BMW Interiors

04.1 Tata Indigo 04.2 Audi A4

69 70 70 72 73 75 86 89

12


04.3 04.4 04.5 04.6 04.7 04.8

Triumph and Yamaha Motorcycle Suzuki Motorcycle Audi A6 Audi Interiors II Mahindra & Mahindra Scorpio Audi Interior (Rear) and Hyundai Terracan Tail Lights 04.9 Tata Safari 4.10 LG Front Loading and Whirlpool Top Loading Washing Machine

90 90 92 92 93

05.1 Mitsubishi Cedia—Uniqueness in Styling 05.2 LG Refrigerator 05.3 Black & Decker Small Appliances

109 111 112

06.1 Mercedes and Audi Logo

132

09.1 09.2 09.3 09.4 09.5 09.6 09.7 09.8 09.9 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19 9.20

227 228 230 231 234 235 236 239 240 241 243 243 246 251 252 256 258 260 264 265

Previous Model Avantis Steam Iron Foam Model Programme 8 Model Pendolino Pendolino Interiors Pendolino—First Class Carriages DIY Enthusiast in Workshop User Testing on DIY Tools Cordless Screwdriver Gofer—Pebble-shaped Screwdriver Sandbug with Packaging Two Cup Angled Measuring Jug Foam Models Developed for User Testing Blindfolded User Testing Session Front View of the Anglepoise Arm of the Anglepoise Side View of the Anglepoise Stellar Water Heater—Cylindrical Shape New Usha-Lexus (Spectrum) Water Heater

97 97 99

List of Tables

02.1 02.2 02.3 02.4 02.5 02.6 02.7 02.8 02.9 2.10

Attributes of Aesthetics Qualities of Aesthetics Correlations between Attributes of Aesthetics Correlations between Qualities of Aesthetics Component Matrix—Attributes of Aesthetics Rotated Component Matrix—Attributes of Aesthetics Component Matrix—Qualities of Aesthetics Rotated Component Matrix—Qualities of Aesthetics Ranking Qualities of Aesthetics Ranking Qualities of Aesthetics (Consumer Survey)

03.1 Ranking Product Function (Industry Survey) 03.2 Ranking Product Function (Consumer Survey) 03.3 Correlation between Functional, Emotional and Social Aspects (Industry Survey) 03.4 Aesthetics Related to Function 03.5 The Importance of Aesthetics in Products with Different Lifespans 03.6 Important Variables in Purchase Behaviour (Industry Survey) 03.7 Ranking Aesthetics with Other Aspects of Purchase Behaviour 04.1 Importance of Various Parameters of Product—Industry

53 53 54 56 57 58 58 59 59 60 77 77 77 78 78 80 80

95

14


04.2 04.3 04.4 04.5

Attributes of Aesthetics by Type—Automobile Attributes of Aesthetics by Type—Home Appliance Attributes of Aesthetics—Automobile Attributes of Aesthetics—Home Appliance

05.1 Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Automobile)—Industry Survey 05.2 Relation of Aesthetics with Resources (Automobile)—Industry Survey 05.3 Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Expert Survey 05.4 Relation of Aesthetics with Resources (Home Appliances)—Expert Survey 05.5 Correlations Other Aspects (Automobile)— Industry Survey 05.6 Correlations Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Industry Survey 05.7 Factor Loading for Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles—Industry Survey 05.8 Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Automobile)—Consumer Survey 05.9 Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Consumer Survey 5.10 Correlations Other Aspects (Automobile)— Consumer Survey 5.11 Correlations Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Consumer Survey 5.12 Factor Loading for Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles—Consumer Survey 6.1 6.2 6.3

Importance of Aesthetics Income Class for Automobile (Industry Survey) Importance of Aesthetics Income Class for Home Appliance (Expert Survey) Descriptive Statistics Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey)

95 98 100 100

115 115 116 116 117 119 120 121 122 123 124 126

138 139

141

list of tables

Correlations Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey) 6.5 Coefficients Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey) 6.6 Descriptive Statistics Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) 6.7 Correlations Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) 6.8 Coefficients—Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) 6.9 Correlations—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey) 6.10 Coefficients—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey) 6.11 Correlations—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) 6.12 Coefficients—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey)

15

6.4

8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4

9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5

141 142

143

143

145 146 147

148

149

Ranking of Qualities of Aesthetics Ranking Aesthetics with Other Aspects of Purchase Behaviour Ranking Attribute of Aesthetics (Automobiles) Ranking Attribute of Aesthetics (Home Appliances)

162

169

Passenger Car Production in Top 12 Countries, 2004 (in Numbers) Total Automobile Production of India Total Automobile Domestic Sales of India Total Automobile Export Trends in India Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile

184 188 189 190 195

166 167

16


9.6

Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile (Aesthetic Elements—Aesthetic Mix) Changes in Aesthetic Features of the Product—Automobile Index Value of Aesthetic Change (Automobile) Effect of Aesthetic Changes—Automobile Cumulative Index Value and Scores—Automobile Average Price Drop in the Past 3 Years (INR) Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance (Aesthetic Elements—Aesthetic Mix) Changes in Aesthetic Features of the Product—Home Appliance Index Value of Aesthetic Changes (Home Appliance) Effect of Aesthetic Changes—Home Appliance Cumulative Index Value and Scores— Home Appliance

9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17

10.1 Summary of Hypotheses and Propositions

196 198 199 200 201 206 216 216 218 219 220 221 278

List of Figures

02.1 Conceptual Illustration of Design for Attractive Products 02.2 Means of Attributes 02.3 Means of Qualities of Aesthetics

50 55 55

03.1 The Importance of Aesthetics in Products with Different Lifespans

79

08.1 Attributes and Qualities of Aesthetics 08.2 Qualities of Aesthetics in a Product (Aesthetic Elements of a Product) 08.3 Product and Aesthetics 08.4 Important Variables in Purchase Behaviour 08.5 Importance of Various Parameters 08.6 Attributes and Aesthetics Specific to Automobiles 08.7 Attributes of Aesthetics Specific to Home Appliances 08.8 Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects 08.9 Relation of Resources with Aesthetics 8.10 Effect of Demographic Variables 09.1 09.2 09.3 09.4

Passenger Vehicle Penetration Finance Penetration in India Passenger Vehicle Production in India Passenger Car Segmentwise Production in India

160 161 163 165 168 169 170 172 173 175 183 184 186 187

18


09.5 Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile (Aesthetic Elements) 09.6 Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile 09.7 Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—WagonR 09.8 Trend of Washing Machine 09.9 Growth in Washing Machine Market over Previous Year in the Same Month (in Percentage) 9.10 Industry Trend Refrigerator 9.11 Refrigerator Direct Cool Trend 9.12 Refrigerator Trend Frost-Free 9.13 Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance 9.14 Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance (Aesthetic Elements) 9.15 Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—AWT18 9.16 Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—RT40 FF 9.17 Market/Product response to Aesthetic Changes—SR34 FF 10.1 Using Aesthetic Elements to Create Superior Product Design in Automobiles and Home Appliances 10.2 Aesthetic Influence on Product

196 197 202 204 205 208 209 209 217 217 222 223 224

277 281

List of Abbreviations

AC ACMA AIAM ANOVA ASCON CAGR CAL CII COO CRISIL CTV DA FY GDP GM GNP INR IT MISH MNC MUL MUV NCAER

Air Conditioner Automotive Components Manufacturer’s Association Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Analysis of Variance Association Council of Confederation of Indian Industries Compounded Annual Growth Rate Carrier Aircon Limited Confederation of Indian Industries Chief Operating Officer Credit Rating Information Services of India Colour Television Differentiating Attribute For Year Gross Domestic Product General Motors Gross National Product Indian Rupees Information Technology Market Information Survey of Households Multi National Companies Maruti Udyog Limited Multi Utility Vehicle National Council of Applied Economics and Research

20


NCR PAC PCI R&D RAMA SEIL SIAM SPSS SUV TR U.S.A. UV VCR WTO YOY

National Capital Region Split Air-Conditioners Per Capita Income Research and Development Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Manufacturers Association Samsung Electronics India Limited Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Statistical Tools for Social Sciences Sport Utility Vehicle Ton (refrigeration) Utility Symbolism and Aesthetics Utility Vehicles Video Cassette Recorder World Trade Organisation Year on Year

Foreword

Any business ultimately is evaluated by its sales and profit figures. Yet these figures are not indicators of ‘total customer satisfaction’. Companies and marketers have evolved strategies over a period of time to bring about this ‘total satisfaction’. These in turn help companies to enhance brand and company image, and as a catalytic effect, increase brand loyalty of customers during repeat purchases. This is essentially true for most of the cases, be it a service or a product, an FMCG or a durable. One of the factors which ensures customer satisfaction is the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of the product or in other words the ‘design’ of the product. This is particularly true for a product like a consumer durable or an automobile, which supports various dimensions of social and emotional requirements other than only functional. One of the aspects of design is the ‘look’—acceptance of shape or colour of the product, and its ‘user friendly’ nature. These aspects have always posed a challenge for companies to arrive at the right design or aesthetics, determining success or failure in the market. Understanding aesthetics and the factors associated with it would certainly help companies to a large extent in designing a product before launching it, since evaluation of product success or failure is determined over a period of time, which is to be supported by regular research, consuming time and money besides other resources. A book on the subject of ‘Aesthetics’ from the marketing standpoint, that too with a combination of experience and research work

22


of the two authors, is certainly welcome considering the present competitive market. Today the points of differentiation between products are diminishing and pressure on the companies to deliver different and customised products are increasing. Understanding ‘Aesthetics’ and using it to create products with a subtle understanding of what customers need is perhaps one of the important requirements of the day. New Delhi

M.B. Shin President (South West Asia) LG Electronics

Preface

The automotive and the consumer durable industry has always been considered as the barometer of the nation’s economy, and in that the automobile industry worldwide is considered as one of the key economic drivers. The growth and the performance of these industries are always talked about, and rarely do they fail to find a mention while discussing economics. Indian automobile and home appliance industries have been facing stiff competition from the global players in the post-liberalised era. In the past few years, these industries have been enjoying the kind of growth witnessed rarely in other parts of the world. The introduction of new models with a variety of features and competitive pricing has opened a new understanding in product acceptance. The basic design elements and the key aesthetic features of a product has emerged as one of the most talked about attributes in the marketing circles, which has helped the products go up in quality dimension and have higher perceived value benefits. The book attempts to look into the role aesthetic elements play in purchase decision of products in the Indian industry, having a high degree of association with aesthetics including products like automobiles and home appliances. Aesthetics has always been understood as the finer aspect of a product or service. It goes beyond the basic functional elements of the product, which are offered in addition to the product’s utility for which it is generally purchased. Although literature exists on aesthetics and its meanings and implications, however, nothing significant is written on how it influences the purchase decision.

24


The book primarily deals with understanding aesthetics beyond its artistic association to make it relevant to the marketers when they formulate the marketing strategies and product design. Although aesthetic elements cover all aspects of a product which the five senses can capture, the aesthetic quality differs in its perception from person to person. One person’s aesthetic senses will not necessarily match with those of others. Marketers will have to understand these perceptions in relation to their target segments in order to exploit the aesthetic association for branding and brand promotion. The subject ‘aesthetics’ is so complex that corporations have taken years to standardise the design elements with aesthetic considerations. Through case studies, interviews, and company and consumer surveys we have tried to capture those approaches in order to know what elements of aesthetics can be exploited for marketing success. We have attempted to understand whether we can have a price premium for aesthetically better designed products. Aesthetics is basically in the eyes, and the perception formed is based on the senses of the beholder. Therefore, if a person appreciates the aesthetic value of the products and if the products have longer useful life, he or she will be willing to pay much higher for the same. Marketers have to generalise these aspects of consumer behaviour to decide about the typical marketing mix decisions like pricing. The purpose here is to study a company’s approach towards design and aesthetics to correlate those with the marketing aspects. The issues addressed in the book includes the perception of the companies and the consumers on aesthetics, the attributes and qualities of aesthetics as perceived by the marketers and consumers, and the role aesthetics plays in different stages of purchase. The relations of aesthetics to various aspects of marketing like the brand image, corporate image, and so forth, and the role played by demographic variables in influencing product-buying decision considering aesthetic attributes have also been investigated. These were also looked into through a primary survey of companies as well as consumers. Based on these inputs certain hypotheses and propositions were formulated and tested. The case studies mentioned here attempt to understand the approach of the superior performing companies to aesthetics.

preface

25

The findings presented in this book are based on our research work among the automobile and consumer durable industries and consumers in India. While industry response is expected to remain same across countries, consumer response to various aesthetic issues, as revealed in the survey, might differ in other markets and, therefore, may require revalidation by the marketers in the specific markets. However, we expect that these issues can be generalised as have been done in this book. In that respect, it is our expectation that marketers would find this book very useful. India is fast emerging as a major hub for design outsourcing in spite of the fact that we have only about 1,500–2,000 skilled designers as against UK, which boasts of over 150,000 designers, or China and Taiwan, which have a population of over 100,000 skilled designers each. The design outsourcing business is already growing at a good pace, and once the industry manages to tide over this issue of low number of skilled designers, it will only grow at a much faster pace. The benefits of shifting product design to India are manifold—the time difference with the Western world, which ensures a 24 × 7 work schedule for MNCs; the high level of engineering skill in India; and the low cost which companies can leverage to bring new products or add new features and functionality to the existing one, at a faster pace. Outsourcing design jobs to India started in a small way, but it is going to be big soon. This is the latest trend in manufacturing. We can now find that in a small basement office in south Delhi, some 20 designers are busy sketching the outlines of new product lines for some of the global giants like LG, Whirlpool, Reckitt Benckiser, and so on. Although they are busy creating designs for the domestic market in India, some of these designs are also for the global market. As manufacturers look at reducing costs and product development cycles, India is fast emerging as the new-age design board for MNCs. As a result, MNCs like Whirlpool, GE, LG, Philips and Bosch are setting up research and design centres in India and still others like Reckitt are offshoring design work to Indian design houses. The expertise of Indian designers in 3D modelling and plant engineering in sectors like aerospace, automotive and industrial design has already caught the attention of leading

26


companies from both Europe and America. A product these days is conceived in US, designed in India, manufactured in China and sold across countries. The study on how aesthetics play a role in marketing and how these elements can be captured in the product, which is the basic objective of this book, should therefore serve a very useful purpose for the Indian designers in creating new product designs. The case studies, one each of Maruti Udyog Limited and Samsung India Limited, were undertaken to understand the basis of design approach of very large and reputed companies, so that the key aesthetic elements in creating product designs can be captured to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. We have also incorporated six remarkable success stories as case studies of leading international brands of durables, which can be attributed also to their aesthetics, with the permission of ‘Design Council, UK’. The cases clearly describe how these products have been successful in integrating various aesthetic elements in product design. The study uncovered that by working on the various identified attributes and qualities of aesthetics one can design products with better market acceptability and reduce the failure rate, which is very high in the context of the highly competitive global business environment. This study also opens up some of the areas for future research for academicians and has significant practical implications for the industry. When all other variables are similar, aesthetic elements can make a difference to a product’s performance in the marketplace and, therefore, can provide that competitive edge. New Delhi

Rajat K. Baisya G. Ganesh Das

Acknowledgements

This book is the outcome of the research work that authors have carried out at the Department of Management Studies (DMS) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. We would like to thank all faculty members at DMS, IIT Delhi for encouraging us while carrying out this piece of research work. We would also like to acknowledge the encouragement that we received from Dr Harsh Verma, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi to write this book. We especially would like to thank Professor B. Chandra of the Department of Mathematics at IIT Delhi for giving us guidance in doing some of the statistical analysis for the study. We would also like to gratefully acknowledge the moral support and encouragement and constant guidance that we received from Professor K.L. Chopra, former Director of IIT Kharagpur. This book carries a number of photographs of the products and designs incorporated to explain the basic concepts and aesthetic elements of product designs. We would like to thank Mr Rajesh Sukumaran, Mr Swapnil Rohankar and Mr Jeetendra Jagtap for providing some of these photographs. In order to ensure that some of the core concepts as well as parameters of aesthetic elements as revealed from our study are more clearly understood, it was necessary that we incorporate some real life cases. A number of case studies are included in this book so that the concepts discussed and understood could be easily related to some experiences in the marketplace. We thank

28


Design Council, UK for giving us permission to use some of their case studies. We thank Mr Ajay Tank of Usha International for providing the case study of ‘Usha’. Also we thank Mr Avik Chattopadhyay of M/s Maruti Udyog Limited and Mr Sameer Malhotra of M/s Samsung India Limited for giving necessary support for developing case studies for their respective companies, which are included in this book with permission. We would also like to acknowledge the help from Mr Murad Ali Baig, Mr Tilak Mukherjee and Dr S.K. Laroiya during the course of this work. We thank various officials of the industry and academia for providing feedback, input and support during the process, without which getting insight into the subject would have been extremely difficult. To name them individually would be difficult as the list is very long. We thank SAGE Publications for publishing this book in the present form. We finally thank our respective spouses, children, relatives and friends for their strong moral and emotional support while working on the manuscript of this book. New Delhi

Rajat K. Baisya G. Ganesh Das

Chapter 1 Introduction to Aesthetics

1.1 INTRODUCTION The 1960s saw international markets shifting from sales-driven concepts to those led and directed by marketing. Marketers, post this shift, started thinking in terms of the amorphous mass of market and not of a particular market segment (Lorenz, 1986); they were keen to develop products for the mass market. In the

EXHIBIT 1.1: Honda

30


early 1980s things changed, competition began to hot up and ‘the new era of marketing’ began. Product design began to be used as a key competitive weapon. As Philip Kotler and Alexander G. Rath (1984) had summarised it ‘One of the few hopes, Companies have to “stand out in a crowd”.’ Products have undergone a change moving from only a functional piece of instrument to the issues which are important to create an acceptable design to make the product more competitive. External appearance has become a key selling concept. The design of the model from Honda illustrates this (Exhibit 1.1). Apart from the regular aerodynamic features, aesthetic consideration has played a key role. In today’s world where we are bombarded with communications with more and more products and services, and where tradition-based differentiation becomes less and less useful (Peters, 1994), design is perhaps one of the most important elements of the product. Peters defines design as something which ‘runs from aesthetics to utility’ (ibid.: 9). We have always found some changes in products in terms of their outward appearance; however, there are few designs which never changed—Prestone Anti-Freeze Bottle being one of them. It is still one of the objects which is distinctly ‘ubiquitous and recognisable’ (Abrams, 1998; Noe, 1998). It is an example of a ‘design that emerged from this same era that has remained virtually unchanged for more than 25 years. Its longevity testifies that innovative design is long lasting and a design well thought out is dynamic and can thus defy time’ (ibid.). The word ‘aesthetics’ is widely used in the present-day market scenario, through FMCG, consumer durables or automobiles. Today, the difference between similar products is reducing and they have been classified in different product categories and subcategories. Take cars, for example, we have the small car, ‘B’ segment, ‘C’ segment, ‘D’ segment, and so on. In the same categories, function and size are almost the same, yet manufacturers try to create a difference. Therefore, the question is how much do these options thus used to create these differences, ultimately contribute to enhance the brand image, corporate image and brand equity thereby resulting in increased sales of the product.

introduction to aesthetics

31

1.2 INDIAN AUTOMOBILE AND CONSUMER DURABLE INDUSTRY The growth in the Indian market for automobiles and home appliances has been significant for the past few years (NCAER 1998, 2002). The entrance of major global players, introduction of new models, availability of easy finance and lowering of the rate of interest (Bijapurkar, 2003; Das et al., 2002) are the factors that catalyse this growth. Even though the growth in the market and introduction of new models are taking place which is indicative of the kind of potential the market has, however, India has yet to see the kind of penetration as compared to many other developing and developed economies. Automobiles and home appliances are sold by highlighting the product attributes like the price, features, looks, capacity, fuel efficiency, and so on. Recently a study by CRISIL used hedonic analysis to identify the contribution of different features to the final price of the car (Barua and Verma, 2004). In many contexts, aesthetics of a product often mentioned as style or looks or appearance is identified as one of the features, which is most of the times highlighted as a selling feature of a product (Das et al., 2002; Road Test 2004; Autocar Road Test, 2004).

EXHIBIT 1.2: Hyundai Sonata

32


EXHIBIT 1.3: Toyota Camry

Earlier, the focus of many companies was on the functional aspects of the product. In the case of cars, the power or the features related to the engine were the key factors in the 1960s to the 1980s. Fiena Ford, descendant of the company founder Henry Ford said for the Mercury model (launched by Ford), ‘We could spend all our money on power trains, but without a different exterior appearance, people are just going to call it a “rebadged Ford”’ (Rechtin, 2002). Exhibits 1.2 and 1.3 show a Hyundai Sonata model and Toyota Camry model designed by two different companies targeting the same consumer segment. The customers are not only looking for changes in the performance of the engine but also in other aesthetic aspects like shape and colour, and external features such as lights, tyres, hub, and so on. The instrument panel of a car other than the functional role also plays an aesthetic role. The look, feel and even the smell of an instrument panel can affect the appeal of the car and can make it distinctly different from another. It is often experienced that product variety is valuable in the marketplace. ‘Customers use differentiating attributes (DAs) to denote a characteristic that the customers deems important in distinguishing between products’.


33

EXHIBIT 1.4: Audi Interiors I

For example, the noise level of the interior of a car could be a differentiating attribute (Robertson and Ulrich, 1998). The evolution of plastics and the flexibility of using leather in various products have opened up scores of opportunity to design the interior of a car (Exhibit 1.4). The aesthetic appeal of the interior of a car is exhibited by the shape of the instrument cluster, steering wheel, gear lever, controls and placement of various ventilating ducts, and so on. These, apart from being ergonomically (including how you feel while gripping these parts) designed, also take the visual aspect of aesthetics into consideration. Mitsubishi COO, Rolf Eckrodt said, ‘Design is extremely vital’ to the Mitsubishi turnaround plan. Traditionally, the company was into engineering devices; design was just an add-on then. The entry of the company into automobile totally changed the way they looked at design. It is therefore said, ‘You cannot excite people only by engines’ (Treece, 2001). The outward appearance of a product induces humans to explore and subsequently use the product (Exhibit 1.5). Before anyone sits in a car and starts the engine, one is attracted by the external appearance of the

34


EXHIBIT 1.5: Mitsubishi Cedia

product; Mitsubishi has been regularly producing designs which create excitement in the marketplace. This is now applicable in the case of home appliances too in a different way; they have also made a mark in sporting different and unique designs. ‘Appliances tend to be grudge purchases where many people are not interested as one does not get attached with home appliances, whereas in the case of a car the experience is more pleasurable,’ says Todd Carrigan, Director Sales and Marketing for home appliances at LG Electronics, Mississanga, Out (Smith, 2001). ‘The issue of adding more function and keeping a low price point is different, so the fashion aspect gives us a niche in which to position our products uniquely,’ says Robert Donnelly, Marketing Manager at LG. Home appliance has been always seen as a utilitarian product, it is not exhibited like a car and does not attract a large number of eyes. However, as the points of difference between products offered by various companies are decreasing, the external appearance has started making a big difference (Exhbit 1.6). Home appliances are a constant reminder of cooking and cleaning tasks, and compared to automobiles have a low-ticket value. Some of the home appliances are replaced frequently and seldom looked at as design elements in the home. Appliances are now


35

EXHIBIT 1.6: Topography of a Washing Machine

becoming fashionable accessories at home and starting to represent status. Consumers’ attitudes and buying behaviour have played a vital part in the classification of goods, which has been devised to influence marketing strategy. In a study on the country of Nova Scotia, the penetration of refrigerators was found to be highest at 99 per cent, then for automobile, followed by washing machines, dishwashers, air conditioners (Mitchell, 1983). In India too, the penetration of refrigerators is the highest; however, the penetration compared to other developed countries is very low (NCAER, 2002). In the case of passenger cars, India has an average of 4 per 1,000 people against the Triad Nations’ average of 448 and a world average of 90, whereas Malaysia and Indonesia have figures of 139 and 12 respectively. In the case of two wheelers, India averages 25 per 1,000, against 121 for Japan, 187 for Malaysia and

36


174 for Thailand and 51 for Indonesia (International Conference on World Class Technologies in Automotive Manufacturing organised by CII, 2004). The watchword for new and old organisations today is flexibility. The challenge faced by the management under the circumstances begins to resemble the challenge that the manager of new-product development has always confronted (Lester et al., 1998). Working on the aesthetic aspects of the products provides flexibility for a manufacturer in terms of costs and time. One such example is the usage of graphics on automobiles, that is, on the motorcycles and four wheelers; on the same body a marketer can create different looks for a customer (Das, 2000). Toyota Prado offers many distinct aesthetically different features for each of their models when compared to other similar products (Exhibit 1.7). Apart from different colour combinations, it also offers attractive graphic designs on the vehicle. One can choose different kinds of graphics and create differentiation. The graphics also send out a message about the owner and the vehicle characteristics. Moreover, one has the option of changing the graphics after some time.

EXHIBIT 1.7: Toyota Prado


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The design of a product inherently involves aesthetics. Moreover, the aesthetic aspects of a product are a potential source of pleasure for the consumer (Holbrook and Zirlin, 1985). As a result, the influence of aesthetics is increasingly being acknowledged as an important part of new-product development (Whitney, 1988), marketing strategy (Kotler and Rath, 1984), product quality (Garvin, 1984; Zeithaml, 1988), product differentiation (Dickson and Ginter, 1987) and competitive advantage (Holt, 1985; Kotler and Rath, 1984). Personal and varied choice at all product level is increasing. At Nike’s site, one can choose from a handful of upper and a handful of soles to make one’s own personal combination. One may even have the brand logo embroidered. In independent sites of customatrix, one can completely design his own shoes with over million different permutations and combinations of logo, graphics, and so on (Chanover). It is important to know and understand aesthetics and clarify the meaning of the word and its evolution in its totality. The available literature on the subjects uncovered various attributes and characteristics of aesthetics, thereby establishing a relation of the same with objects and their functions at various levels. Apart from the visual sense, aesthetics is also linked to other sensory perceptions, which need to be considered while understanding it. Product form and design have always been considered significant in the marketplace. Various studies have dealt with factors pertaining and attributing to their significance. Consumers ultimately look for quality in a product. Some studies even show that physical appearance, as a product attribute, is placed in the mind of the consumer as a signal of product quality. We can say that, when a consumer likes or attaches himself to a product by virtue of his perceptions of the product on various parameters he considers important, he attaches the brand to his liking thus establishing an indirect or direct association of aesthetics with the brand. The growth of consumer durables in India has been very significant in the last few years. In comparison to the developed economies, the penetration levels of these products are still low in

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India, and aesthetics is expected to play a significant role in the growth of durable categories.

1.3 BASIC QUESTIONS RELATED TO AESTHETICS Aesthetics basically connotes different things to different people. It is therefore important to know what are the attributes of aesthetics as perceived by the marketers and consumers, what role it plays at different stages of purchase and how aesthetics is related to various aspects of marketing like brand identity, brand image, brand equity, corporate image, and so on. The book also includes a survey for which the primary data was collected from the Indian market (Das, 2005). Apart from the general category of products, non-commercial two-wheelers, cars, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) from the automobile industry; refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners, among home appliances; and microwave ovens, dishwashers and other electrically operated kitchen appliances were the products considered to understand the implications of aesthetics in purchase decision and consumer buying behaviour related to aesthetics.

1.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter provides a basic understanding of aesthetics giving many examples of different products including consumer durables and automobiles. This illustrates how marketers have used simple elements of design and material to improve the product appeal to ensure greater acceptability of products in a competitive marketplace. It introduces the concept of design and aesthetics in marketing. It emerges that many companies are moving towards improving design and aesthetics of a product as a key factor to differentiate their products. They have been realising


39

that product design can be used as a tool and potent weapon, as design ultimately contributes in enhancing the brand image, corporate image and brand equity, helping the product to sell more. It has been a constant human endeavour to create product designs which are more customer friendly with increased features which are more attractive to look at. In a category like durables which are there to last for longer periods, it is important for the buyers that others also appreciate the product’s design and looks. When other parameters, which are more functional in nature, match with the customer’s expectations, the issues related to aesthetics in terms of its various manifestations are likely to impact purchase decisions. An attempt was made to understand aesthetics from the point of view of the consumers and the role it plays or can play in the purchase behaviour of the products selected. Apart from defining aesthetics and its importance about the key attributes related to aesthetics for automobile and home appliances, an attempt was also made to establish a relationship between aesthetics and other marketing aspects. We have seen that scope of product penetration in India is quite high compared to other developed and developing nations, making India a very high potential market to enter. India is a very typical market, and even though the potential is high, the exposure of Indians to good designs is limited when compared to other parts of the world. Indians, however, are now getting exposed to various designs which are launched in other parts. In many cases, there is a lag between the latest versions launched in other developed or developing countries like Indonesia or China with respect to India. Therefore, there exists opportunities for marketers to offer better designs to the Indian market. This chapter also reflects on how companies have started customising the products to suit the requirements of a specific section of customers or at times customising even for an individual customer. Many a times the design or aesthetics of a product is an indicator of the product quality, and a customer perceives the quality of the product as good based on the external appearance of the product.

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The aesthetics of a product is a total experience which includes the external appearance as well as the internal appearance of any product (in the cases of automobiles and so on).

REFERENCES Abrams, Benard. 1998. ‘Structure Counts in Design Appeal’, Packaging Digest, 35(8), July: 68–70. Autocar Road Test No. 210. 2004. Autocar, 5(10), June: 34–9. Barua, Abheek and Sonal Verma. 2004. ‘What Drives Car Demand?’, Business Standard, April, New Delhi. Bijapurkar, Rama. 2003. ‘…But are Marketers Ready, Asks Rama Bijapurkar’, Business World, December: 29–36. Chanover, Michael. ‘Mass Customizi-Who?—What Dell, Nike & Others Have in Store for You’, available at http://www.core77.com/reactor/mass_ customization.html. CII. 2004. ‘International Conference on World Class Technologies in Automotive Manufacturing’, January, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), New Delhi. Das, Ganesh G. 2000. ‘Flexibility in Marketing on Usage of Graphics on Products’, New Business Paradigm: Global, Virtual and Flexible, NewDelhi: Thompson Learning. —————. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat Baisya, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. Das, S., D. Mukhopadhyah and R. Sunder. 2002. Demand Projection for Automobile and Automobile Tyre in India, New Delhi: NCAER. Dickson, Peter R. and James L. Ginter. 1987. ‘Market Segmentation, Product Differentiation and Marketing Strategy’, Journal of Marketing, 51(April): 1–10. Garvin, David A. 1984. ‘What Does “Product Quality” Really Mean?’, Sloan Management Review, 26 (Fall): 25–43. Hoffer, George E. and Robert J. Reilly. 1984. ‘Automobile Styling as a Shift Variable: An Investigation by Firm and by Industry’, Applied Economics, 16: 291– 97. Holbrook, Morris B. 1980. ‘Some Preliminary Notes on Research in Consumer Esthetics’, Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1): 104–8. Holbrook, Morris B. and Robert B. Zirlin. 1985. ‘Artistic Creation, Artworks, and Aesthetic Appreciation’, Advances in Non-Profit Marketing, 1: 1–54. Holt, Steven. 1985. ‘Design, the Ninth Principle of Excellence: The Product Half of the Business Equation’, Innovation, 4(Fall): 2–4. Kotler, Philip and Alexander G. Rath. 1984 ‘Design—A Powerful but Neglected Strategic Tool’, Journal of Business Strategy, 5(Fall): 16–21.


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Lester, Richard K., Michael J. Piose and Kamal M. Malek. 1998. ‘What General Managers Can Learn from Design’, Harvard Business Review, 76(2), March–April: 86–96. Lorenz, Christopher. 1986. The Design Dimension Product Strategy and Challenge of Global Marketing, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Mitchell, Lionel A. 1983. ‘Selected Durable Consumer Products and Marketing Management in the 1980s’, European Journal of Marketing, 17(6): 34–45. NCAER. 1998. India Market Demographic Report 1998, NCAER: New Delhi. —————. 2002. India Market Demographic Report 2002, NCAER: New Delhi. Noe, Rain N. 1998. ‘Prestone Anti-Freeze Bottle, “Good to the Last Drop: Design that Keep Working”’, available at www.core77.com/reactor/presone/frame/html. Peters, Tom. 1994. ‘The Right Brained Stuff’, Design, February: 9. Prince, Dan. 1995. ‘Avoid “Top Box Problem” by Using Another Box’, Marketing News, 29(12): 32. Read, Herbert. 1965. The Origin of Form in Art, in Gyorgy Kepes (ed.), Module Symmetry Proportion, New York: George Braziller. Rechtin, Mark. 2002. ‘Mercury’s Job Distinct Look’, Automotive News, 76(5991): 8. Road Test No. 335. 2004. Overdrive, 7(1), September: 80–96. Robertson, David and Karl Ulrich. 1998. ‘Planning for Product Platform’, Sloan Management Review, 39(4), Summer: 19–31. Scaper, E. 1968. Prelude to Aesthetics, London: George Allen & Unwin Limited. Serbenski, Andrew. Sometimes, You Just Have to Take Matter Into Your Own Hands!, available at http://www.core77.com/reactor/mk9/normalindex.html. Smith, Sarah. 2001. ‘New Colours in White Goods’, Marketing Magazine, 106(21): 12–14. SPSS 7.5. 1997. SPSS ® 7.5, Base Application Guide, USA: SPSS. SPSS Base 11.0. 1997. SPSS ® 11.0, Base User’s Guide, USA: SPSS. Treece, James B. 2001. ‘Mitsubishi Woos Mercedes Maybach Designer’, Automotive News, 75(5926): 8. Whitney, David E. 1988. ‘Manufacturing by Design’, Harvard Business Review, July– August: 83–90. Zeithaml, Valarie A. 1988. ‘Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence’, Journal of Marketing, 52(July): 2–22.

Chapter 2 Aesthetics, Its Qualities and Attributes

2.1 EVOLUTION OF AESTHETICS AND ITS DEFINITION The literal meaning of ‘aesthetics’ as per The Oxford Dictionary is ‘a branch of philosophy which tries to make clear laws and principles of beauty (contrasted with morality and utility)’. To understand aesthetics further, one has to go back and try to look into the evolution of aesthetics and how it really crept into the humanitarian world. It is seen that aesthetics has got its roots in the word form, which has been referred in art, ‘as the shape imparted to an artifact by human intentions and action’ (Dorfles, 1965). According to Herbert Read (1965), for all the early human artifacts, there is an evolutionary sequence, consisting of three stages: 1. Conception of objects as tools. 2. Making and refining of the tool to a point of maximum efficiency. 3. Refinement of the tool beyond the point of maximum efficiency towards a conception of form-in-itself.

aesthetics, its qualities and attributes

43

Therefore, having become divorced from function, form was free to develop according to new principles or laws—those laws and principles, which are now called aesthetics. From this, it is clear that the evolution of aesthetics really came about when man, after making sure that objects created by him had served their functional purpose, looked for further use of his artifacts, and in the process made them more and more beautiful. This, at one stage leads to a separation of form from utility, and then it is positioned for a different application. As man is a product of nature and nature itself tries to make all its creations beautiful, this inherent tendency perhaps has a very strong impact on him (French, 1988). The word ‘art’ simply means a way of doing things (Osborne, 1972). Gradually, it implied that there was more than one way of obtaining a desired result and it presupposed some sort of preparation, training, or at least concentrated attention. ‘Medicine may be considered as art, and so can be other skills like hunting, horsemanship, reasoning, or the conduct of life’. We generally recognise a work of art by the fact that no utilitarian function can be associated with it. It is only meant to trigger the senses and nothing can put an end to it. However long we may breathe the scent of a flower that accords with our sense of smell, is never surfeited; the enjoyment of perfume revives our needs for it. There is no memory, no thought, no action that can annul its effect and wholly free us from its power; it is everlasting. That is what man, who set out to make a work of art, is striving for. (Valery, 1972)

When one looks at a product, one finds that it has two characteristics which are exogenous variables—one, the hedonic value of a product, which is defined as ‘the level of pleasure that the product or service is capable of giving to the average consumer’, and the other, the utilitarian value of a product, which is defined as the level of usefulness of a product involving the everyday problems faced by the average consumer (Chauduri, 2002). These always make the product get liked or disliked from two different points, that is, its functional and non-functional aspects.

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If one studies the definition of aesthetics in the marketplace, then aesthetics, to some extent, may be defined as the study of the buyer’s cognition, affective and behavioural response to media, entertainment and arts. The aesthetic experience involves attending to, perceiving and appreciating an object with regard to whatever utilitarian function it might perform. Starting from the Greek ideas of structural order to the Gestalt psychology of the principle of unity, many functional products have gained competitive advantage by satisfying aesthetic as well as utilitarian needs, which are functional and non-functional (Holbrook and Schindler, 1994).

EXHIBIT 2.1: Ashok Leyland—Commercial Vehicle

A product is first purely designed from the functional point of view. Once the utility aspect is taken care of, the aesthetic aspect is taken into


45

consideration. The photograph (Exhibit 2.1) exhibits a product in which every aspect of the non-functional parts is considered, taking care of the hedonic value as well. This becomes evident through the sheer pleasure one experiences while using the product. Two qualities of aesthetic response—the first called ‘hedonic value’ refers to the diffuse sense of pleasure or generalised enjoyment that one feels by looking at a beautiful or attractive object; and the second is the profound experience, which deals with the feeling of being deeply moved. This points to the fact that aesthetics can be broadly looked upon as the sense of pleasure one achieves by mere physical attraction related to any of the faculties. This means that the aesthetics of a product affects us in a complete sense and not only in the visual sense. It is said that ‘over the time various expressions of beauty have been made and beauty that inspires desire, passion, and pleasure— the beauty of people, clothes, popular act was correlated with fashion, marketing and advertising’ (Nehamas, 2000). This again focuses on the hedonic value of the product. ‘Experience is important for aesthetics, partly because pleasure (and more generally intensified feeling) is important and that such feelings are inherently experiential.’ Shusterman (1998) says ‘If aesthetic value cannot be separated from understanding, and understanding requires interpretation, and interpretation cannot be separated from experience, then it follows that aesthetic value cannot be separated from experience either.’ All this makes it difficult to explain aesthetics and define its characteristics. If one looks at the aesthetic concepts one will find that: (a) Aesthetic concepts are primarily descriptive, though some of them may also have an evaluation of components. (b) Aesthetic concepts are not condition governed/have no application condition. (c) Aesthetic concepts refer to qualities that are perceivable (ibid.). Vaida (1998) further says that ‘as far as aesthetics is concerned, perceptual relativism can be classified into two forms—environmental relativism and relativism of interpretation which leads to

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various perceptions’. Some work has been done based on aesthetic principles and response to these principles, as the importance of aesthetics has increased over time (Veryzer, 1995a, 1995b). The criteria of aesthetics remain relevant to many marketing decisions. All products inherently have aesthetic components, most often by conscious designs and in certain cases otherwise. At times many products are differentiated from others only on the basis of the aesthetic criteria. Therefore, working on these aesthetic elements can subsequently affect evaluation and attitude formation. The word ‘aesthetics’ is not to be taken in isolation, but the entire realm which includes the emotions one experiences by the presence of beauty and the subsequent feeling of pleasure. Many times while referring to aesthetics, the term, fashion or style is frequently used (Levy and Czepiel, 1974). Many a times a fashion or style is a particular combination of attributes possessed by an aesthetic object (Wallendorf, 1980). Therefore, one can say that style is used for combining attributes of aesthetics. Initially, aesthetics was more associated with art and it was a term that was used more from the philosophical point of view, but later it got related to a product from the emotional point of view. Hence, experience is an important component for appreciating aesthetics and is a result of the effect on all the senses rather than one or two.

2.2 AESTHETIC ATTRIBUTES AND QUALITIES Starting from the basic definition of aesthetics as a first step, one has to differentiate between a work of art and an aesthetic object, and the next is the differentiation of artistically valuable from aesthetically valuable qualities. To classify a work of art with artistic value, it must conform to certain requirements (Ingarden, 1964). Any object, which lacks the artistic value, ceases in consequence, to be a work of art. We can simply state that artistic value is something, which arises in the work of art itself and has its existential ground in


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that. Aesthetic value is something, which manifests itself only in the aesthetic object, and at a particular moment, which determines the character of the whole. The ground of aesthetic value consists of a certain aggregation of aesthetically valuable qualities, and they in turn rest upon the basis of certain aggregate of properties, which render possible their emergence in an object. (Elliott, 1972)

Unity and proto-typicality are important visual aspects of product design (Veryzer and Hutchinson, 1998). These design principles were operationalised by modifying line drawings of existing products. The results of some experiments provide evidence that these two factors positively affect the aesthetic response. These effects were strongest when visual properties were the sole basis of judgement and when design variations were easily compared. It would be certainly interesting to see results of the responses to aesthetics when apart from visual aspects, other aspects of aesthetics are also considered. If one tries and sees what the characteristics of art are, one has to go back in time (Valery, 1972). As per Aristotle, ‘The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness or proportion.’ In the 17th century, the Earl of Shaftesbury declared that ‘beauty is truth’. If one keeps on looking for the way beauty can be defined, one will keep on producing objects of beauty. Beauty can be considered in terms of objective qualities like size, proportion, smoothness and lightness in objects. Thereafter, one can get down to look for beauty within, that is, the feelings, and finally to the experience of using beautiful things. Once one gets down to look at beauty connected with feeling, it becomes subjective. What is beautiful for one, may not be so for another be it in music or taste. As Hulme (1924) and Santayana (1896) say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. Hulme has mentioned another way of defining beauty by reference to feeling. He wrote: …is such an order and construction of parts, as…is fitted to give a pleasure and satisfaction to the soul…beauty is nothing but a form, which produces pleasure, as deformity is a structure of parts, which conveys pain; and…the power of producing pain and pleasure make in this manner, the essence of beauty and deformity.

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It was noted earlier that there is limited experimental research testing specific hypotheses on how aesthetics responses are related to product design. Most of the works were focused initially on the basic definition and the scope of consumer aesthetics that actually determines specific concepts, which again defines aesthetic responses. Few more dimensions were added to aesthetics and aesthetic responses subsequently. Some of these defined the aspect of unity where ‘unity refers to a congruity among the elements of a design such that they look as though they belong together as or as though there is some visual connection beyond mere chance that has caused them to come together’ (Lauer, 1979; Veryzer, 1993, 1995a, 1995b). The original word aisthetika meant ‘that which is perceptible through the senses’. Many a times the usage of the term aesthetics is devalued. When looked into deeply, aesthetics is concerned not just with the visual form, colour or texture, but also with the understanding and anticipation of the effects of sensory stimulation on human perceptions and cognition. ‘It is concerned with “beauty”. A combination of all the qualities of a person or object that delights his senses and pleases the mind, and “taste” (the ability to make judgements according to a generally accepted standard) is termed as beauty’ (Lauer, 1979). One aesthetically appreciates an object or an environment when it touches one’s physical faculties, which arouses sensations like sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing, balance, movement and muscular effort. All these help one to aesthetically appreciate a particular object or environment. Macdonald (1993) says: It is not only a sense of awe that one may feel at the extent of space and magnificence of the architecture of a beautiful creation (like Taj Mahal), but also an experience which embraces all our senses. This experience embraces all our senses, our responses to light, colour, sound, smell, and temperature constitutes a total aesthetic sensation.

For a marketer, understanding beauty is crucial and the first step. It is the conversion of this understanding to an object, that spurs the consumer to ultimately buy the product the marketer wishes to sell. The consumer buys an object primarily to satisfy a functional


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requirement. Good aesthetics spur that buying decision. The more specific the object’s function, the more ambiguous is the difference between one (e.g., refrigerator or television) set from another, the more difficult it is to classify because the user focuses more on the functional aspects (Baudrillard, 1996). Therefore, one moves from the primary level of functioning of the object to the secondary level and one makes it a more ‘personalised object’ or customised object. While personalising design, some of the aesthetic features are customised to suit an individual or a set of individuals. David Riesman (ibid.) defines very interesting differences called ‘marginal differences or inessential differences’. When we consider a product at the level of the industrial object and its technological coherence, the demand for personalisation can be met only in essentials. Any individual object is first evaluated on the basis of the functional aspect. If one wants to personalise a car, the focus will shift from the functional aspects to the non-functional aspects. Therefore, the manufacturer changes few external characteristics or adds few accessory features and personalises the car. He personalises with the inessential aspects and not the essential aspects. The fact remains that the more an object responds to the demands of personalisation, the more its essential characteristics are burdened by extrinsic requirements. It also gives the manufacturer flexibility in terms of the product (Gupta et al., 2000). Olfactory factors can affect purchase behaviour. It is seen that the presence of a nice smelling scent in a store is an inexpensive and effective way to enhance consumer reaction to the store and its merchandise (Spangenberg and Crowley, 1996). Aesthetic factors in a product have started gaining importance and are mentioned as an important factor in product designing (Cushman and Rosenberg, 1991; Lee, 1993). As the competition is heating up in the market and product differentiation is reducing, companies are constantly trying to increase their market share by offering more functional, mental and emotional satisfaction as a result of high performance, better quality and successful product designs. The design elements in a product are also now constantly broken down into various dimensions, aesthetic factors being one of them. This has become increasingly important as an additional

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dimension of the product design attributes, and is now considered integrated into the product design (Yamakawa et al., 1997; Furuta et al., 1996). Competition in the market, education of the consumer and awareness of the consumers regarding various products available in the market are forcing the present-day purchaser to consider the relationship between price and utility closely. In other words, he is trying to evaluate the value for the money he spends. To a large extent now, the consumer weighs the price with the product attributes. The product attribute can be split into two—objective and aesthetic attribute. Figure 2.1 (Yashimura et al., 2001) first looks at the ‘conventional product design’ which relates the price of the FIGURE 2.1: Conceptual Illustration of Design for Attractive Products

Price

Price

Conventional Product Design

Design for Attractive Products

Aesthetic Attributes

Source: Yashimura et al., 2001.

Objective Attributes

Objective Attributes


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product solely to the objective attributes of the product or the utility or the functional aspects it is supposed to deliver, and then later looks at the aspect of aesthetic attribute. Aesthetic attribute can be defined here as one whose evaluation is based on human aesthetic senses, essentially the outward appearance of the product, feeling of comfort (ergonomics), utility, style, and the like (Yashimura et al., 2001), as well as factors such as shape, dimensions, propositions, colour and finish of the product. Looking at Figure 2.1, one can say that not only is it possible to justify a particular price for a product better when one weighs it against aesthetic attributes along with the objective attributes, but it may also give one a competitive edge subsequently. That aesthetics is concerned with all the sensory perceptions is evident from the fact that the qualities and attributes of aesthetics relate itself to all the senses. Apart from purely sensing a product, the experience of using the product and the feeling one attaches with a product has also emerged as important.

EXHIBIT 2.2: Fiat Palio S10

The aesthetic quality of products covers all sensory perceptions, starting from the visual aspects and subsequently getting completed with the feel and experience of using the product (Exhibit 2.2).

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EXHIBIT 2.3: BMW Interiors

The shape of the car is the first point of attraction; then one moves into the next level that is the interiors of the car (Exhibit 2.3), the shape of various parts, colour combinations and, finally, the feel of each part that completes the aesthetic experience of the product.

2.3 ANALYSIS—ATTRIBUTES AND QUALITIES OF AESTHETICS The attributes and qualities of aesthetics basically form the foundation to understand aesthetics. After identifying the various attributes and qualities of aesthetics, it is important to understand the degree of influence of individual attributes on the overall aesthetics of the object. This aspect was studied through a survey.

Importance of Attributes of Aesthetics by Ranking A study (Das, 2005), where respondents (Das et al., 2003) were asked to rate each attribute on a scale of 1 to 10 (sample size 50, where the


53

sample represented the industry), and where a score above 7 and frequency above 60 per cent were considered as important, revealed that certain attributes are considered more important than others (see Table 2.1). The responses of over 7 on the scale were considered and the frequency and percentage were looked into. TABLE 2.1: Attributes of Aesthetics Attributes N=50

Frequency

Percentage

43 16 32 21 39

86 32 64 42 78

Beauty Smell Feel Sound Experience Source: Das, 2005.

The entire score of all the attributes, which got a score of more than 7 are considered as important. From this survey it was evident that compared to the other mentioned attributes, beauty, feel and experience can be considered as important attributes for these product categories. This lowers the importance of smell and sound compared to the other three attributes. In this case however, smell ranks lower than sound.

Importance of Qualities of Aesthetics by Ranking A method similar to identifying attributes was also followed for identifying qualities of aesthetics. It was found that qualities of aesthetics like order and symmetry, definiteness, form, proportion, finishing and unity of various parts were important (see Table 2.2). TABLE 2.2: Qualities of Aesthetics Qualities N=50 Order and symmetry Definiteness Form Proportion Finishing Unity of various parts Source: Das, 2005.

Frequency

Percentage

44 36 44 48 47 50

88 72 88 96 94 100

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Correlation between Attributes of Aesthetics and Correlation between Qualities of Aesthetics It was important also to see whether the chosen attributes and qualities correlated with each other. It was found that at 95 per cent confidence level, beauty is not correlated with any attribute (see Table 2.3). Smell correlates with feel and experience. With respect to feel it correlates with smell, sound and experience, whereas sound correlates with feel and experience, and experience with everything other than beauty. TABLE 2.3: Correlations between Attributes of Aesthetics (Correlation Coefficients N=50) Attributes

Beauty

Beauty Smell Feel Sound Experience

1.000 0.056 0.276 0.265 –070

Smell

Feel

Sound

Experience

1.000 0.376** 0.195 0.413*

1.000 0.317* 0.320*

1.000 0.308*

1.000

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level. Source: Das, 2005.

Amongst all the attributes, beauty has correlated with none. However, beauty has the highest mean amongst all (see Figure 2.2). This could mean that the respondents identify beauty as a separate entity and may consider it synonymous with aesthetics. The attribute feel and experience has the maximum correlation, which indicates the interrelation between each of them. This reinforces the fact that aesthetics not only relates to the visual aspects, but also considers the other sensory perceptions. Correlation was done for aesthetic qualities amongst six identified qualities (see Table 2.4). The result showed that not a single one has correlated with less than four qualities. Out of six, form and unity of various parts correlate with all the qualities, and unity of various parts also enjoys the highest mean amongst all the qualities of aesthetics (see Figure 2.3). This brings out the importance of form in designing and harmony in a product design.


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Values

FIGURE 2.2: Means of Attributes 8.5 8.0 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0

Statistics Mean Beauty

Smell

Feel

Sound Experience

Attributes of aesthetics Source: Das, 2005.

FIGURE 2.3: Mean of Qualities of Aesthetics 10.0

Mean values

8.0

6.0

4.0

2.0 Statistics Mean

Qualities of aesthetics Source: Das, 2005.

Harmony

Finishing

Proportion

Form

Definiteness

Balance

0

1.000 0.570** 0.376** 0.417** 0.265 0.321*

Order and Symmetry (Balance)

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level. Source: Das, 2005.

Order and symmetry (Balance) Definiteness Form Proportion Finishing Unity of various parts

Qualities of Aesthetics

1.000 0.511** 0.217 0.382** 0.382**

Definiteness

1.000 0.538** 0.439** 0.550**

Form

1.000 0.599** 0.595**

Proportion

TABLE 2.4: Correlations between Qualities of Aesthetics (Correlation Coefficients N=50)

.675**

Finishing

1.000

Unity of Various Parts (Harmony)

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Factor Analysis of Attributes of Aesthetics It is evident from the interpretations in the previous section that a correlation exists between each aesthetic attribute. The factor analysis was considered without rotation and with rotation by Principal Component Analysis. In this, value of variables less than 0.20 was suppressed and Eigenvalues greater than 1 was considered. This is as per the SPSS 7.5 Base Application Guide. The factor analysis in these cases reveals that the significance of both the factors in the unrotated case F1(U) (Table 2.5) has a high correlation with feel, sound, smell and experience and low correlation with beauty. Comparatively, therefore, it can be assumed that this factor has more correlation with feel and experience than with beauty. In the case of the other factor F2(U), it has high correlation with beauty only and no correlation with other factors and has some negative correlation with experience and smell. Therefore, F1(U) may be considered having all associations related to experience and F2(U) to beauty. TABLE 2.5: Component Matrix—Attributes of Aestheticsa Attributes of Aesthetics Concerned Concerned Concerned Concerned Concerned

with beauty with smell with feel with sound with experience

Factors 1

2

0.358 0.683 0.751 0.650 0.674

0.827 –0.354 0.271 –0.499

Extraction method: Principal component analysis. 2 components extracted. Source: Das, 2005. a

Considering the rotated component matrix, experience has the highest correlation value with factor 1 that is F1(R) (Table 2.6), followed by smell, feel and sound. The other rotated factor, that is, F2(R) is highly correlated with beauty followed by sound. However, in the case of feel, even though it has a slightly higher correlation with F2(R), one can still put it alongside experience in F1(R). Only sound shows reasonably higher correlation with F2(R). Here, in the case of rotated factors also, one can conclude that F1(R) is based on variable experience and F2(R) on beauty.

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TABLE 2.6: Rotated Component Matrix—Attributes of Aestheticsa Attributes of Aesthetics

Factors 1

Concerned Concerned Concerned Concerned Concerned

with beauty with smell with feel with sound with experience

2 0.880

0.761 0.525 0.367 0.838

0.555 0.602

Extraction method: Principal component analysis. Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser normalisation. a Rotation converged in 3 iterations. Source: Das, 2005.

Factor Analysis of Qualities of Aesthetics In the case of qualities of aesthetics, the significance of both the factors in the unrotated case, factor 1, that is, F1(U) (see Table 2.7) has a high correlation with almost all the factors, whereas F2(U) has high correlation with definiteness followed by order and symmetry (balance). However, we find that even for definiteness and order and symmetry, the correlation is higher in factor 1, that is, for F1(U). Therefore, we can say that qualities of aesthetics can be represented by a single factor in the case of the unrotated case. However, a point to be noted here is that though order and symmetry and definiteness enjoy high correlation, they have the lowest correlation amongst all, with the factor. TABLE 2.7: Component Matrix—Qualities of Aestheticsa Qualities of Aesthetics

What are aesthetics quality; order and symmetry (Balance) What are aesthetics quality; definiteness What are aesthetics quality; form What are aesthetics quality; proportion What are aesthetics quality; finishing What are aesthetics quality; unity of various parts (Harmony) Extraction method: Principal component analysis. a 2 components extracted. Source: Das, 2005.

Factors 1

2

0.635 0.666 0.775 0.771 0.772 0.838

0.573 0.594 –0.339 –0.370 –0.314

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The rotated component results in eliminating order and symmetry and definiteness from factor 1, that is, F1(R) (see Table 2.8) and shows a stronger correlation with factor 2, that is, F2(R). We can say that F1(R) is more related to finishing quality of aesthetics and F2(R) to definiteness. Even though the score of harmony in F1(R) is high (as high as finishing), we have considered finishing because the correlation of finishing with component 2 is lower than that of harmony. TABLE 2.8: Rotated Component Matrix—Qualities of Aestheticsa Factors 1 What are aesthetics quality; order and symmetry (Balance) What are aesthetics quality; definiteness What are aesthetics quality; form What are aesthetics quality; proportion What are aesthetics quality; finishing What are aesthetics quality; unity of various parts (Harmony)

0.596 0.823 0.842 0.842

2 0.836 0.872 0.498

0.221

Extraction method: Principal component analysis. Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser normalisation. a Rotation converged in 3 iterations. Source: Das, 2005.

Qualities of Aesthetics in the Product On the basis of the aesthetic qualities expected from a product, the respondents ranked the qualities between 1 and 4 (1 for highest and 4 for lowest). This was designed specifically to understand the ranking in the mind of the respondents on various sensory perceptions related to aesthetics like olfactory, auditory, visual and ergonomics (feel). The summary of the responses is mentioned in Table 2.9. TABLE 2.9: Ranking Qualities of Aesthetics S.No.

Qualities

1 2 3 4

Visual Ergonomics Auditory Olfactory

Source: Das, 2005.

Per cent 88 84 76 80

Ranking Highest Second highest Second lowest Lowest

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The analysis indicates that the visual aspect ranks first followed by ergonomics, auditory and olfactory. For consumer survey, the summary of responses is mentioned in Table 2.10. TABLE 2.10: Ranking Qualities of Aesthetics (Consumer Survey) S.

Qualities

No. 1 2 3 4

Automobiles Per cent


67.5 60.6 78.1 91.1

Rank Highest Second highest Second lowest Lowest

Home Appliances Per cent 65.0 70.6 71.9 90.0

Rank Second highest Highest Second lowest Lowest

Source: Das, 2005.

The response for automobiles is different from that of home appliances. In automobiles, visual quality ranks first but in home appliances, ergonomics ranks first.

2.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY The qualities describing aesthetics can differ with the product types as has been seen with automobiles and consumer durables in respect to the perception of consumers. The aesthetic quality, thus, needs to be understood in the light of the consumer’s expectations from a product category. In the case of aesthetics, different target consumers for a product category can give emphasis on certain aspects of aesthetics that may not necessarily match with the expectation of another target segment. The term ‘aesthetics’, has evolved philosophically, and in earlier times was largely used in the context of art. Subsequently, the scope of the word has enlarged to include utilitarian products as well. The evolution also indicates that beyond a particular level, the functional aspect of a product could not be improved, and then, the focus had to shift to the non-functional aspect of the products, that is, the aesthetic aspects. This further can be related to the fact that man never seems to be satisfied and he goes on improving a product which leads him to produce a work of art.


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It was seen that every product satisfies a customer in two aspects—one is the pleasure he derives by owning the product and two the satisfaction he gets by using the product, that is, the functional aspects. Therefore, one can say that a product satisfies its owner taking all perspectives—social, emotional and functional—into consideration. Aesthetics of the product is limited not only to the visual aspects of the product but also includes all the aspects of the product, which stimulates all the sensory perceptions of the human being. In this chapter, the attributes and qualities of the product were identified and customers’ and companies’ perceptions were mapped. Subsequently, the correlation of attributes and qualities amongst themselves was looked into. The factor analysis in the case of attributes revealed that two factors based on ‘beauty’ and ‘experience’ emerged. It has emerged that aesthetics has four critical elements called ‘Aesthetic Elements’, which are the visual, auditory, olfactory and ergonomics.

REFERENCES Baudrillard, J. 1996. The System of Objects, London: Verso. Brothwell, D. 1976. Beyond Aesthetics, London: Thames and Hudson. Chauduri, Arjun. 2002. ‘A Study of Emotion and Reason in Products and Services’, Journal of Consumer Behavior, 1(3), February: 267–79. Cushman, W.H. and D.J. Rosenberg. 1991. ‘Human Factors in Product Design’, Elsevier Science: 1–32. Das, G. Ganesh. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. Das, G. Ganesh, Rajat K. Baisya and B. Chandra. 2003. ‘Aesthetic Evolution and its Infusion in Consumer Durable’, Advances in Management Research, 1(1), October: 69–73. Dorfles, Gillo. 1965. ‘The Man-Made Object’, in Gyorgy Kepes (ed.), Module Symmetry Proportion, New York: George Brazilles. Elliott, R.K. 1972. ‘Aesthetic Theory and the Experience of Art’, in O. Hanfling (ed.), Philosophical Aesthetics: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. French, M.J. 1988. Invention and Evolution—Design in Nature and Engineering, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Furuta, H., H. Hase, E. Watanabe, T. Tonegawa and H. Morimoto. 1996. ‘Applications of Genetic Algorithm to Aesthetic Design of Dam Structure’, Advances in Engineering Software, 25: 185–95. Gupta, A., T.B. Singh and Sushil. 2000. ‘Manufacturing Flexibility for Productivity in Engineering Industry’, in Sushil (ed.), Cornerstones of Enterprise Flexibility, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. Hanfling, O. 1992. Philosophical Aesthetics: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Hirschman, Elizabeth C. 1983. ‘Aesthetics, Ideologies and the Limits of Marketing Concepts’, Journal of Marketing, Summer: 45–55. Holbrook, Morris B. 1980. ‘Some Preliminary notes on Research in Consumer Esthetics’, Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1): 104–8. Holbrook, Morris B. and Robert M. Schindler. 1994. ‘Age, Sex, and Attitudes towards the Past as Predictors of Consumers Aesthetic Tastes for Cultural Products’, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 3(3), August: 12–24. Hulme, T.E. 1924. Speculations: Essays on the Humanism and Philosophy of Art, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. Ingarden, Roman. 1964. ‘Artistic and Aesthetic Values’, The British Journal of Aesthetics, 4(3), July: 198–213. Lauer, David A. 1979. Design Basics, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Lee, S.Y. 1993. ‘A Study on the Product Design Considering the Human’s Emotion as a Part of the Human Interface Technology’, SICE ’93, Proceedings of the 32nd SICE Annual Conference: 1091–93. Levy, Sidney J. and John Czepiel. 1974. ‘Marketing and Aesthetics’, Proceedings of the American Marketing Association Educator’s Conference: 386–91. Macculloch, Robert. 2002. ‘The Loss of Happiness in Market Demographics’, Journal of Economic Literature, 40(March): 183–85. Macdonald, A.S. 1993. ‘Developing a Qualitative Sense, In: Aesthetics in Design’, Colloquium, Institution of Electrical Engineers, Digest No. 1993/153 (29 June), 5/1–5/4, London: IEE. Nehamas, Alexander. 2000. ‘The Return of Beautiful, Morality, Pleasure and Value of Uncertainty’, Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, 58(4), Fall: 293–303. Noe, Rain N. ‘Prestone Anti-Freeze Bottle, “Good to the Last Drop: Design that Keep Working”’, available at www.core77.com/reactor/presone/frame/html. Osborne, H. 1972. Aesthetics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read, Herbert. 1965. ‘The Origin of Form in Art’, in Gyorgy Kepes (ed.), Module Symmetry Proportion, New York: George Brazilles. Riesman, David, Rewl Denny and Nathan Glazer. 1950. The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Charter, New Haven: Yale University Press/London: Geoffrey Cumberledge, Oxford University Press. Santayana, George. 1896. The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outline of Aesthetic Theory, New York: Dover Publications. Shusterman, Richard. 1998. ‘Interpretation, Pleasure, and Value in Aesthetic Experience’, Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, 56(1), Winter: 51–53.


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Spangenberg, Eric and Ayn E. Crowley. 1996. ‘Improving the Store Environment; Do Olfactory Cues Affect Evaluation and Behaviour?’, Journal of Marketing, 60(2), April: 67–80. Sushil. 2000. Cornerstones of Enterprise Flexibility, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. Vaida, Iualiana Lorina. 1998. ‘The Quest of Objectivity: Secondary Qualities and Aesthetic Qualities’, Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, 56(3), Summer: 283–97. Valery, Paul. 1972. ‘The Idea of Art; Aesthetics An Introduction’, in O. Hanfling (ed.), Aesthetics, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Veryzer, Robert, Jr. 1993. ‘Aesthetics Response and Its Influence of Design Principles on Product Preferences’, Advances in Consumer Research, 20: 224–31. —————. 1995a. ‘Product Design, Aesthetics, and Consumer Research’, Advances in Consumer Research, 22: 640. —————. 1995b, ‘The Place of Product Design and Aesthetics in Consumer Research’, Advances in Consumer Research, 22: 641–45. Veryzer, Robert W., Jr. and Wesley J. Hutchinson. 1998. ‘The Influence of Unity and Prototypicality on Aesthetic Responses to New Product Design’, Journal of Consumer Research, 24(March): 374–94. Wallendorf, Malanie. 1980. ‘The Formation of Aesthetics Criteria through Social Structures and Social Institution,’ Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1): 3–6. Yamakawa, H., N. Katsutyama, M. Ohga and T. Hiroyasu. 1997. ‘A Study on Heredity and Evolution of Designs Considering Kansei by Using Genetic Algorithms’, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Optimizatioin and Innovative Design (OPID97), Tokyo, Paper No. 194: 1–9. Yamomota, Mel and David R. Lambert. 1994. ‘The Impact of Product Aesthetics on the Evaluation of Industrial Products’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 11(September): 309–24. Yashimura,Yanagi, Masataka and Hisaichi. 2001. ‘Strategies for Implementing Aesthetic Factor in Product Design’, International Journal of Production Research, 39(5): 1031–49.

Chapter 3 Aesthetics and Design, and Its Role in Products

3.1 AESTHETICS AND DESIGN IN PRODUCT ‘The term “design” may be used to refer to a process or to a particular product composition’ (Norman, 1988; Veryzer, 1995a). Design can be considered as the configuration of different parts of a product, or the complete arrangement of these parts or elements. The designing of a product is done by considering various factors. A design can be termed successful when it performs the desired function, it is supposed to give value for money, and is aesthetically appreciated by the beholder. While designing a product, one considers all aspects which determine the basic design standard of the product—aesthetics, quality and engineering. While quality and engineering are related to the functional aspects of the product, aesthetics may relate to the non-functional aspect. Whenever one intends to design products considering the aesthetic aspect, one certainly has to look into the product’s structure, its components and the ultimate function it needs to perform. This is mostly true for cases where the function of the product is emphasised and is communicated strongly. In such cases, the aesthetic features, which could be the shape of the product, become

aesthetics and design, and its role in products

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an important attribute by which one can convey the utility and function of the object (Veryzer, 1993, 1995a, 1995b). Product design, particularly aesthetic attributes, can be used to influence consumer behaviour in a big way (Veryzer, 1993). An influential product design and appearance can be helpful in projecting a premium image and a highly perceived product performance. Aesthetic features in a product can certainly be considered as a central component to design (ibid.). In many cases, branding of the product is based on names synonymous with aesthetics. The importance given to styling is indicated by the fact that a car was named ‘Stillo’, which means style in Italian and close to ‘style’ in French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese, to appeal to the young, influential and mobile Europeans (Normen, 2001). From a practical or a marketer’s point of view, one has to see aesthetics as a function of utility. Many, therefore, use the term aesthetics, not in the classical or philosophical sense of beauty, but to refer to the visual appearance of an object. Aesthetics, in this sense, is inherently linked to a product’s function. ‘Aesthetics that address the physical and psychological relationship between utility and visual form are called functional aesthetics’ (Young, 1996). Using the aesthetic aspects of a product as key functional features, manufacturers very often have tried to relate aesthetic initiative to some kind of utility and vice versa. In case of cars, brake lights play a key role from the functional as well as aesthetic points of view. Since brake lights form a very important part of the complete visual look, they are highlighted in most of the advertisements of the product, as in Fiat, Mitsubishi, and so on. A study by Sivak and Flannagan (1993) substantiates how fast rise brake lamps are helpful as collision prevention devices. Apart from this, one cannot undermine their aesthetic value contributing to the complete look of a car. Exhibit 3.1 demonstrates how the safety aspect (functional) of a product is improved by working on its aesthetic aspect. By incorporating the brake light in the centre of the spare wheel, which was an unutilised area, not only did the look of the scooter dramatically improve, but also the visibility of the same to vehicles following also increased.

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EXHIBIT 3.1: LML Prithvi Scooter

EXHIBIT 3.2: Mercedes M-Class


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In the Mercedes model (Exhibit 3.2), an additional brake light is provided at the top of the spare wheel cover, thus utilising the space, improving aesthetic and safety aspects. When one talks about aesthetics of a product, one has to look at all the parts, which make the product. Engineering is concerned with improving products from the point of view of its mechanical and electrical designing, while psychology deals with the study of the mind and behaviour of people (Stanton, 1998). Human factors and ergonomics are concerned with adapting products to people, based upon their physiological and psychological capacities and limitations. Whenever a product is designed, one needs to consider the human factors and ergonomics because an inconvenient and uncomfortable design leaves an unpleasant feeling.

EXHIBIT 3.3: Audi Interiors

A design has to be developed based on human convenience and should provide with adequate flexibility. Exhibit 3.3 displays how various levels of human requirements have been taken into consideration in the same

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car. Although the visual aspect is important to attract one to the product, it is the ergonomic aspect and the ultimate feel and experience of the usage that attaches the user to the product. Often an ergonomic feature has a tangible aesthetic quality. Designers refine the aesthetic quality taking ergonomics into consideration. Therefore, one needs to interpret the common language between ergonomics and aesthetics, and bring ergonomics under the umbrella of aesthetics. Perceptions are found on past experiences and understanding, which again are based on certain simulations. Design and aesthetics involve sensorial experiences, which not only include the visual aspects, but also all other perceptions with man-made objects. This takes into consideration the philosophical sense of aesthetics as well as the learned and experienced aesthetics, which help to build up the perception about products. Rotte (Stanton, 1998) says, ‘if we use aesthetics in relation to perception and not in the philosophical senses as the study of beauty, then new terrain can be explored’. If one looks at successful product designs, the design tries to control the sensory signal emitted by the product; in other words, it wants the beholder to see the product in one particular way. The sensory signal evolved could pertain to the product’s shape, texture, colour and so on. The designer tries to create discrimination by distinguishing these subtle details. When one gets attached to the appearance of a product or these subtle details, one can even detect the slightest change in the visual features, as demonstrated by Seymour (1996). Different colours and shapes trigger different responses from customers. At one point of time, Henry Ford announced that Ford will make only black cars. Presently, they have more than a hundred colours for a single car model. Exhibit 3.4 displays the variety offered by SUVs today. The design of a product determines its success or failure. A report published by Business Week, in 1993, mentions of a 35–45 per cent product failure in the last 25 years. Product launch is a commercially expensive activity and if the same results into a failure, the effect is compounded further. In order to reduce the rate of failure, visual and mental imagery are used in designing new


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EXHIBIT 3.4: Tata Safari, Mercedes M-Class, Hyundai Terracan, Mitsubishi Pajero

products (Dahl et al., 1999). Hence, designers use cognitive processes and try to design products by giving shape to the customer’s perception of the product. The manufacturer also tries to work further on the features in the product that the customer looks forward to and incorporates them in the product. This method reduces investment required in initial stages of the development of the product. In 1945 when Joe Bramford designed his first self-tipping tractor-trailer, aesthetics was the last thing on his mind. Today, the company, JC Bramford (JCB), is a commercial success story. The only difference between now and then is that today, aesthetics is not the last thing on the mind of JCB (Darwent, 1997). The success of JCB highlights the importance of product designing. The equipments used for heavy industrial and rough usage are also now designed giving adequate importance to all the aspects of aesthetic elements (Exhibit 3.5).

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EXHIBIT 3.5: Escorts Construction Equipment

As explained earlier, design standards include three key elements—aesthetics, quality and engineering. In the past, several companies seem to have overlooked the importance of maintaining design standards. This has been particularly true with American companies who ignored the engineering standards (Sobek et al., 1998). Toyota, till date, maintains a completely documented historical record of its designs, and refers to them from

EXHIBIT 3.6: Audi Silencer


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time to time. For example, the styling department, has a separate checklist for an item as trivial as a licence plate. Exhibit 3.6 shows the silencer of the car. If one studies minutely, one can see and appreciate the input which has gone in to create the design, the quality of the material, colour, texture, shape and integration of the part with the overall shape of the vehicle. Aesthetics is a dynamic discipline. When the product design is static, the importance of aesthetics increases (Hollins and Pugh, 1990). When a new product is launched, there is comparatively less competition and consumers may purchase the same for its novelty, improved performance or new technical features. As the product gets older in the market, the product becomes static, competition increases and more and more look-alike products, using the same technology, appear in the market. In order to gain the competitive edge, one of the options available to the company is to go in for better aesthetics. Aesthetics are more important in highly visible products, as in the case of a car body than compared to shock absorbers of the same car. The importance of aesthetics will also increase over time in products where looks are at present less important. This means that aesthetics promise to become increasingly more decisive as a static discipline. Product form can be dynamic and can have long-lasting impact on the user. Some of the products are quickly discarded at times but the aesthetic characters of more durable products can have an impact for years on users and non-users alike. Some products, many a time, remain a part of the sensory environment, good or bad (Pye, 1978; Jones, 1991). Companies like Honda and Toyota use design as a key element and use unconventional styling in the marketplace to create a new perception in the market (Stewart and Floss, 2003). The Honda Model (SUV) Element looks ugly but with a distinctive feature and space, it looks like a box on wheels, yet it has style. It offers 60 more extra features beginning with fog lights to customised roof rail, and includes various other options like interior fabrics, trims, and so on (Armstrong, 2003). The present designs of refrigerators are classic examples of making a utility box beautiful. LG Electronics worked on the external features,

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EXHIBIT 3.7: LG Refrigerator

developed good colour combinations, and made appropriate use of metal and plastics to make this utilitarian product project beautiful (Exhibit 3.7). Earlier, the process of designing used to be an individual activity, which reflected the creative impulse of the designer. The design traditionally behaved as representative of the consumer; this trend is gradually changing. Now, interactive designing is in vogue whereby the consumers are also involved in designing. The designers also take into consideration the needs of the consumer and try to incorporate them while designing the product (Bennett, 2002). If one sees the aesthetic aspects and the various non-visual factors, one will find that the latter has been affecting man since long (Bruner II, 1990). Non-visual elements are perhaps more evident at places/occasions where environment elements and olfactory cues are used to influence the consumer’s purchasing decisions (Eroglu et al., 1993). In case of the automobile industry, styling research is an important element of new product planning. Industry developments however, are adding new dimensions to the styling task. While conducting these automotive styling research, it is not only the exterior appearance (the shape of the sheet metal), which are


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considered but also the functional shape and styling relationship to roominess, comfort, ease of entry and exit. These styling research properties can be the exterior features, interior features or the combination of exterior or interior of a car or a truck (Wolpert, 1980). The consumer may also have different kinds of perception regarding product styling. We can possibly classify consumers into two. The first type of buyers may opt for conservative functional styling with minimum change, while the second may like nonfunctional styling with more emphasis on style. This indicates that the first class of consumers wants to go with the changes in the marketplace, where as the second one is possibly looking for revolutionary changes. In a changing competitive environment, the desires and preferences of consumers are fast changing. Nowadays, consumers want products, which are socially attractive, functionally sound and convenient to use. Ergonomics in product designing helps to develop user-friendly, customer-oriented products. Mazda, which exhaustively used the concepts of Kaiser engineering in designing the Maita, demonstrates an example of using various concepts in product designing. Mazda tested 150 potential

EXHIBIT 3.8: Mitsubishi Pajero

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timings for the Maita’s exhaust system. This was done to match the sound of the Maita to the consumer’s perceived idea of what a roadster (a classification of car) should sound like. Japanese products excel because they provide consumers with unexpected touches of quality that go beyond the obvious. They even give the customers what they could not imagine. Pajero (Exhibit 3.8) was designed keeping in view the auditory element of aesthetics, apart from other elements. The sound produced by the SUV was given high importance. The customer does not judge a new product in isolation; many factors affect his judgement. One could be the products available from competition; another might be that the features of the product reflecting the gap between the design standard set by the designers and the manufacturing process; and the third might be the inability of the product to outperform the competitor’s product or design. Therefore, while designing the product one has to take into consideration all the qualifying product characteristics like noise, vibration and aesthetics—these are a function of the product as a whole (Heany and Vinson, 1984). The design of a product is now looked into at every stage of the design process and has become an integral part of the corporate culture. Marketing and branding are intertwined with the creation of individual products. Thus, the product not only exhibits the design aspect, but also the other factors mentioned earlier. A company’s brand positioning strategy affects the design of the product today. Corporate identity of a product design is considered as an important element. Nowadays companies, small and big, use the design aspect and exhibit it through their offices, stores and restaurants to convey a positive image, which they communicate to their employees, customers and peers (Jamel, 2003). ‘Design is a potent strategic tool that companies can use to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. However, most companies neglect design as a strategy tool. What they do not realise is that a “good design” can change products, environment, communication and corporate identity’ (Kotler and Rath, 1984). Meeting the customers’ needs can many times be challenging, and empathic designing can resolve the problem. Considering the fact that smell and sound are subtle preferences, car manufacturers


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catering to US buyers are even able to design automobile interiors to evolve the specific scent of expensive leather that the customers expect in a luxury vehicle. For example, for designing the interior of Infinity J-30, Nissan tested more than 90 samples of leather and selected three to cater to the US market. Similarly, manufacturers are adept at fine-tuning engines so that preferred sounds associated with surging power and swift acceleration are made available to customers. Harley Davidson has sued companies for copying their sound. Each and every part of the car, such as the handles or knobs, are seen, observations drawn and improved upon, and empathic designing concepts used at many instances (Leonard and Rayport, 1998).

EXHIBIT 3.9: BMW Interiors

Exhibit 3.9 shows the interior of the car, which has been designed using leather. The right colour combination of leather and other materials makes the interior appealing and the experience of driving a car unique. Perceptions of a product’s form evoke several effective responses from consumers. John Zoccai, of Reebok, explains that good design ‘makes you fall in love with the product’ (Dumaine 1991).

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Holbrook and Zirlin (1985) have defined aesthetic response as a ‘deeply felt experience that is enjoyed purely for its own sake without regard for other more practical considerations’. ‘Generally aesthetic responses are intrinsic in nature; they result from strong emotional involvement’ (Lewalski, 1988; Veryzer, 1993). Hence, it is clear that both aesthetics and design are important for a product as they complement each other. While designing a product, attention is given to other aspects apart from the visual. In aesthetics, however, function of the product is also taken into consideration. The human aspect plays an important role in design. Ergonomics, which includes the usage (feel) and experience aspect of the product, may also be considered as a part of aesthetics. It is seen that successful companies give a lot of importance to the design aspect of the product. Aesthetics is dynamic and important for durable products. Some of the analyses based on the survey conducted to understand aesthetics is detailed out in the next section.

3.2 DATA ANALYSIS—PRODUCT AND AESTHETICS In this section, before moving to the role aesthetics play in purchase behaviour of the product in the related category, an attempt has been made to understand what a product means and the function it is perceived to be performing to meet the expectations of its buyers (Das, 2005). This section also deals with the question of whether a product is supposed to take care of the functional aspect only or should it also factor in the consumers’ expectations of the other aspects. This is followed by an analysis of the importance of aesthetics in a product, related to its lifespan and in its various stages of purchase.

Product Function The utility of the product to the consumer was considered to satisfy three aspects, namely, functional, social and emotional.


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The responses were sought from the industry (50 companies), as well as from the consumers. Observations are mentioned in Tables 3.1 and 3.2. TABLE 3.1: Ranking Product Function (Industry Survey) Product

Industry Mean

Rank

8.82 7.36 6.84

1 2 3

Functional Emotional Social Source: Das, 2005.

TABLE 3.2: Ranking Product Function (Consumer Survey) Product

Functional Emotional Social

Automobile

Home Appliances

Mean

Rank

Mean

Rank

2.86 2.72 2.15

1 2 3

2.87 2.42 1.98

1 2 3

Source: Das, 2005.

These findings indicate that the functional aspect remains foremost as far as the product is concerned. However, the industry feels that consumers also attach importance to the emotional aspect, which is an important component of satisfaction. This seems to be applicable for both categories of products, that is, automobiles and home appliances. When the functional aspect of the product is separated from the emotional and social aspects, a strong correlation between the latter two is indicated (Table 3.3). TABLE 3.3: Correlation between Functional, Emotional and Social Aspects (Industry Survey) Expectation from a Product Perform a function Indication of status Satisfy inner psychic necessity

Expectation from a Product Perform a Functon

Indication of Status

Satisfy Inner Psychic Necessity

1.000 0.144 0.041

1.000 0.378*

1.000

* Corelation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Source: Das, 2005.

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Further when we try to understand whether aesthetic quality of a product should be connected to its function, majority of the responses to the same (see Table 3.4) is in the affirmative. TABLE 3.4: Aesthetics Related to Function Should Aesthetics Quality be Connected to the Function

Industry (Frequency)

Yes No

28 22

Source: Das, 2005.

Looking at a product and the importance consumers attach to its non-functional aspects confirms that the non-functional aspect in a product is important. Correlating this with the fact that the consumer wants the aesthetic qualities of the product to be attached to the function of the product, signifies that the aesthetic aspect of a product should also consider the utility of the same.

Aesthetics in Relation to Product’s Lifespan Different products fulfil different functions—some are fast moving durable goods having a short lifespan and some have a longer one. If one looks at the lifespan of products to see if there is a difference in the perception of aesthetics between products of different product lives (see Table 3.5 and Figure 3.1), one will find that a product with a lifespan of more than five years ranks highest, followed by those having three to five years. This means that aesthetics is more important in durable than non-durable products, as far as consumers are concerned. TABLE 3.5: The Importance of Aesthetics in Products with Different Lifespans Statistics

Less than 6 months

6 months to 1 year

1–3 years

3–5 years

More than 5 years

Mean Mode Percentage

4.14 5 66

3.34 4 64

2.64 3 72

2.14 2 58

2.56 1 48

Source: Das, 2005.


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FIGURE 3.1: The Importance of Aesthetics in Products with Different Lifespans 5.00

Value

4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 Statistics

More than 5 years

3 years– 5 years

1 year– 3 years

6 months to 1 year

Less than 6 months

0

Variables Mean

Mode

Source: Das, 2005.

Aesthetics in Consumer Purchase Behaviour After seeing what the expectations of the consumers are from the product they buy, we move to the purchase behaviour of the consumers, and try and compare aesthetics with other important aspects of purchase decision-making like the functional aspect of the product, price and quality for the pre-purchase and the purchase stages, and so on (see Tables 3.6 and 3.7). These figures show that aesthetics does not have the lowest rank in any of the stages, and ranks above ‘price’ in all the three stages. For the other two stages—‘product failure’ and ‘product re-launch’—it is ranked second and third respectively. The ranking is done based on the mean, mode and frequency of the response. This indicates that aesthetics does not figure as the last variable in various purchase stages, and thus the role it plays is important. Similarly, if one looks at the response of consumers to

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TABLE 3.6: Important Variables in Purchase Behaviour (Industry Survey) Variables Price Quality Aesthetics Functional Competition New technical features Novelty Improved performance

Purchase

Postpurchase

Product Failure

Product Re-launch

4 2 3 1

4 2 3 1

3 1 2

3

4 2 4 1

Source: Das, 2005. TABLE 3.7: Ranking Aesthetics with Other Aspects of Purchase Behaviour Variables

Price Quality Aesthetics Functional Competition New technical features Novelty Improved performance

Purchase

Postpurchase

Product Failure

Product Launch

A

H

A

H

A

H

A

H

4 2 3 1

4 2 3 1

4 2 3 1

4 2 3 1

4 3 2

4 2 3

3

3

1

1 2 4 1

2 4 1

A-Automobile, H-Home appliance. Source: Das, 2005.

these variables, one will find that consumer response is in line with the industry’s response.

3.3 CHAPTER SUMMARY A product is appreciated when it functionally performs to the satisfaction of the user and aesthetically appeals to him and it can be said that the design of the product is good. Generally, the functional aesthetics of the product is more related to the quality and engineering aspect of the product. Aesthetics features with the nonfunctional aspect of the product. Nowadays, products are designed by integrating the aesthetic and the functional aspects together, giving rise to the concept of functional aesthetics.


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Over the years, ergonomics of the product, that is, the human interface with the product has gained importance. Now ergonomics has emerged as one of the important components of the product as all products ultimately are used by humans. It is also evident that liking a product and attaching oneself with the product not only depends on the look and the feel of it, but is also influenced by the overall experience of using the product. Companies now have started looking into all the subtle aspects of a product; they now work on the auditory, olfactory, visual and ergonomics aspects of the product to make the same appealing to the user. It has also been discussed in this chapter that a product satisfies its user in three ways—functionally, socially and emotionally. Thus, once satisfied on all these fronts, one has a satisfied loyal customer for that particular product. The importance given to the aesthetics of a product is more applicable to one with a longer product life, specifically, for a durable rather than a non-durable one. Therefore, the design or aesthetics of a product has to be dynamic so that the owner of the product continues liking the product throughout its useful life. When compared with important variables like price, quality, functional aspects, competition, new features, novelty and improved performance, aesthetics is ranked above price at all stages of purchase, thus emphasising that there is a possibility to price the product a little higher for being aesthetically better designed.

REFERENCES Armstrong, Larry. 2003. ‘One Beautiful Ugly Duckling’, Business Week, No. 3816, January: 84. Bennett, Audrey. 2002. ‘Interactive Aesthetics’, Design Issues, 18(3), Summer: 62–69. Bruner II, G.C. 1990. ‘Music, Mood, and Marketing,’ Journal of Marketing, 54(4), October: 94–104. Dahl, Darren W., Amitava Chattopadhyay and Gerald J. Gorn. 1999. ‘The Use of Visual Mental Imagery in New Product Design’, Journal of Marketing Research, 36(February): 18–28. Darwent, Charles. 1997. ‘The Rulers of the Earth’, The Journal of the Design Council, Winter. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G.Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology.

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Dumaine, Brian. 1991. ‘Design That Sells and Sells and . . . ’, Fortune (11 March): 86–94. Eroglu, Sergin A. and Forging Karen A. Machceit. 1993. ‘Atmosphere Faction in the Retail Environment; Fights, Founds and Smells’, Advances in Consumer Research, 20(34). Heany, Donald F. and William D. Vinson. 1984. ‘A Fresh Look at New Product Development’, The Journal of Business Strategy, 5(2), Fall: 22–31. Hollbrook, Morris B. and Robert B. Zerlin. 1985. ‘Artistic Creation, Artworks and Aesthetic Appreciation’, Advances in Non-Profit Marketing, 1: 1–54. Hollins, Bill and Stuart Pugh. 1990. Successful Product Design: What to Do and When, London: Butterworths & Co. Jamel, Mathew B. 2003. ‘How Corporate Identity Influence Design’, Brand Week, 44(4), January: 20. Jones, Peter L. 1991. Taste Today, New York: Pergamon Press. Kotler, Philip and Alexander G. Rath. 1984. ‘Design—A Powerful but Neglected Strategic Tool’, Journal of Business Strategy, 5, Fall: 16–21. Leonard, Dorothy and Jeffery F. Rayport. 1998. ‘Spark Innovation through Emphatic Design’, Harvard Business Review, 75(6), November/December: 102–13. Lewalski, Zdzislaw M. 1988. Product Esthetics: An Interpretation for Designers, Carson City, NV: Design and Development Engineering Press. Norman, Donald A. 1988. The Design of Everyday Things, New York: Basic Books Inc. Normen, Paul. 2001. ‘Stylish Italic Seeks Auto Ego (Case Study),’ Brand Strategy, December: 11. Pye, David. 1978. The Nature and Aesthetics of Design, New York: Van Nostrand. Seymour, R. 1996. Business Masterclass, Glasgow International Festival of Design. Sivak, Micheal and Michael Flannagan. 1993. ‘Fast-Rise Brake Lamp as a CollisionPrevention Devise’, Ergonomics, 36(4): 3915. Sobek, Durward K., Jaffery K. Liker and Allen C. Ward. 1998. ‘Another Look at How Toyota Integrates Product Development’, Harvard Business Review, July– August: 36–49. Stanton, N. 1998. Human Factors in Consumer Products, London: Taylor & Francis. Stewart, Al and Rebecca Floss. 2003. ‘Battle of Boxcars’, Adweek (New England Edition), 40(4), January. Veryzer, Robert Jr. 1993. ‘Aesthetics Response and Its Influence of Design Principles on Product Preferences’, Advances in Consumer Research, 20: 224 –31. —————. 1995a. ‘Product Design, Aesthetics, and Consumer Research’, Advances in Consumer Research, 22: 640. —————. 1995b. ‘The Place of Product Design and Aesthetics in Consumer Research’, Advances in Consumer Research, 22: 641–45. Wolpert, Henry W. 1980. ‘Why Conventional Automobile Styling Research May become Obsolete’, Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1): 22–24. Young, Frank M. 1996. Visual Studies—A Foundation for Artists and Designers, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Chapter 4 Aesthetics, Design and Consumer Behaviour

4.1 FACTORS INFLUENCING AESTHETICS, DESIGN AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR One of the factors, which influences our aesthetic consideration is one’s frame of reference, that is, age, sex, race, religion, social and economic status, family traditions, environment and, most importantly, past experiences. Other factors include one’s psychological, physiological, conscious and subconscious needs and wants. The Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, identifies three major factors in the evaluation of a product—utility, symbolism and aesthetics. ‘The physical form or design of a product is certainly one of the key factors which ensures product success in the market’ (Bloch, 1995). It initially attracts the consumers, communicates with them, and enhances their perceptions about the product quality and usage experiences. History has always tried to produce objects of beauty. In every culture and country, people have always found pleasure and meaning in the use of their eyes. Therefore, beautiful and attractive designs have always been successful in the marketplace (Csikszentmihalyi and Robinson, 1990).

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A successful product is one of the ‘P’s of the marketing mix,* and the product should take care of all the characteristics. Out of all these characteristics of a product, its exterior form or design is perhaps most fundamental. If the design is creative and strategically used, it can help to gain advantage in the global marketplace (Berkowitz, 1987; Nussbaum, 1988). In a marketing survey of senior marketing managers, design was mentioned as the most important factor (Bruce and Whitehead, 1988). Similarly, an analysis of the performance of 203 new products revealed that product design was the most important determinant of sales success (Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 1987). Very often, we are confronted with a situation in the market, where two products equal in price and function are offered to the target customers. It is seen that the consumer buys the one which is more attractive (Kotler and Rath, 1984; Nussbaum 1988). Hence, form or design of the product can help significantly to create a separate identity and make it noticeable in a cluttered, competitive market (Berkowitz, 1987; Dumaine, 1991; Jones, 1991). The product design and external appearance or form of the product can be an important and successful means of communication with the target customers (Nussbaum, 1993). Product design or form can be used to create an initial impression and can help to create an interest or curiosity in the consumer to look into the other product attributes, perhaps in the same manner as price does (Berkowitz, 1987). It is seen that product form also helps to develop corporate and brand identities. Many companies have distinct design philosophies—Braun, Smith & Wesson and Ralph Lauren being few of them. This helps them to develop and reinforce corporate character (Forty, 1986). If one goes to ‘Hannover Messe’ there is a hall dedicated to good designs; some of the best designs over the years are displayed. These reflect the design philosophies of various companies. Product form can affect the quality of our lives. It is seen that an aesthetically likeable product can excite all our sensory perceptions and give pleasure, while at the same time, an aesthetically inferior product can evoke distaste (Lawson, 1983). *Marketing Mix is the combination of four elements Product, Place, Price and Promotion which a marketer uses to market the product.

aesthetics, design and consumer behaviour

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Understanding the perception of the consumer related to various aspects of consumer aesthetics is important (Holbrook and Huber, 1979). It is seen that many products which were considered to be purely functional like automobiles, consumer durables, furniture, clothing, and so on, have been able to gain a competitive advantage by virtue of their design, which caters to the aesthetic requirement along with the functional one. It is also seen in advertising that by using substance with aesthetic value can affect the perception of the consumer, even to the promotional message to a great extent (Holbrook and Schindler, 1994). A study has indicated that styling changes have been shifting automobile demands. Using paired difference design, it examined if the degree of styling change a model incurs from the previous year has a significant impact on that model’s sales as compared to the previous year. The evidence obtained indicates that major styling changes are significant determinants of demand (Hoffer and Reilly, 1984). The market classes are influenced to different degrees by these styling changes. Styling changes are also a significant demand determinant for each domestic manufacturer and the market is highly responsive to major changes in styling. Regular changes in automobile styling have huge financial implications as reported by Fisher et al. (1962). Styling changes have also resulted into significant increase in sales (Sherman and Hoffer, 1971; Hoffer and Reilly, 1984), and possibly increase in the product life cycle. It is observed that there are significant differences in sales volume between major style changes and new engineering of a particular car model, and between major and lesser degrees of style changes among different models in the market segment and among the major auto companies. A detailed data set on most US car models over a 22-yearperiod to determine the impact of advertising and product styling indicates that though advertising and style change increase a model’s sale, yet advertising has a short-lived impact while style leaves a much longer impression in the consumer’s mind (Kwaka, 1993). This indicates that design is dynamic in nature and can be a very important factor in influencing purchase decisions, especially in products like automobiles and durables.

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There are procedures for taking into account human sensibility while designing a product (Kwon, 1999). While designing a product, if one understands the consumer’s feelings and perceptions towards the product and his expectations from the product, one can translate the same into design elements of that product. Such a product when launched may have better acceptability in the market and can be a success. Style or design has been a dominating factor influencing major purchase decisions for automobiles and durables. However, shape or design of a product does not influence the decision in isolation. It mostly combines with function, quality, price and availability to effectively sell a product (Moulson and Sproles, 2000).

EXHIBIT 4.1: Tata Indigo

Tata Motors launched ‘Indigo’ in petrol and diesel versions (Exhibit 4.1). The product positioning was large space and good looks at the right price. There are various kinds of theories associated with styling and acceptance of various styles in the society. ‘The Class Theory of Style Acceptance’ believes that the upper class and the wealthy lead new trends and tastes. It argues that first it requires money to buy a new style of automobile. Soon after this, the upper strata sets a trend and the next lower level tries to emulate this style, and


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slowly this percolates further down the level. As soon as the style becomes common, the upper strata again looks for a new style to be different. ‘The Mass Theory of Style Acceptance’ believes that early adopters among each class set the trend, which is among all social strata, lifestyles, ages and income group. ‘The Declasse Theory’ of style acceptance suggests that style starts from a subculture and spreads to the population, whereas ‘The Collective Theory of Style’ attributes the spreading of a style to the masses, and to the evolution of design (Moulson and Sproles, 2000). The importance of product design and aesthetics in products is evident from the fact that more and more companies are using the same as the differentiating factor in the competitive market. It is seen that product design and aesthetics have emerged as key factors in creating customer satisfaction and gaining competitive advantage and thus bringing back the importance of ‘Product’ to the marketing mix. Over a period of time, despite periodical researches in consumer research and other areas, the importance of product as a marketing mix element had come down to some extent. The re-emergence of the importance attached to product design has also brought back ‘Product’ as an important element of marketing mix (Veryzer, 1995). Though the studies in this area are still at an infant stage, product design is slowly emerging as a key marketing element (Kotler and Rath, 1984; Wallendorf, 1980; Holbrook and Zirlin, 1985; Veryzer, 1995). ‘Design, which refers to the organisation of elements of an object, and aesthetics are inherently linked since the design or physical form of a product encompasses the aesthetic aspects of the product (e.g., shape, colour, texture, and so on)’ (Veryzer, 1995). The availability of technology has decreased the technology gap between companies, and manufacturers are finding it difficult to differentiate between products on factors like features, quality and price. At a point like this, a good product design is emerging as a key determinant in consumer buying intentions (ibid.). Style change in the automobile industry also triggers certain economic issues, and there has been a time when a moratorium was considered for style change. According to Snell (1971), ‘style changes

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have required that the auto firms: (a) increase vertical integration of manufacturing facilities; (b) establish franchised dealers; and (c) increase advertising expenditure.’ He also adds ‘style changes are dictated by consumer preference and assumes implicitly’. Menge (1962) says, ‘The consumer apparently does place a value for style change.’ The result of these style changes also have an implication for the market and result into a somewhat advantageous situation to the consumer as they now have a choice to buy the same model, differentiated by styling at a different price (Roo, 1972). Earlier, product design and aesthetics predominantly focused on generating positive responses and how that response is converted into a sale. Less attention was given to the aesthetic aspects of the product, its function and the brand strength. These two factors are considered to have a strong influence on consumer’s perception on evaluating a product and its ultimate success. It is seen that product aesthetics has greater impact on consumer liking than brand strength. Also, product aesthetics influences the judgement on product quality and brand strengths (Page and Hen, 2002). In other words, product aesthetics, to an extent, influences the consumer’s perception about product quality and the brand. In a survey of product designs in five developed countries of Europe and North America, aesthetics was declared as a key aspect of design by more than 75 per cent of the respondents (Walker, 1995). The visual appearance of a product is considered as a key factor in initiating consumer attention and interest (Berkowitz, 1987; Bloch, 1995; Dumaine, 1991), and subsequently generating positive response from the consumer towards a product (Veryzer, 1993, 1995; Holbrook and Zirlin, 1985). The aesthetics of a product also exhibits some of the characteristics of the product like price, technological superiority and image (Bloch, 1995; Nussbaum, 1993; Walker, 1995). The result of using aesthetics of a product as the key factor in influencing sales can be demonstrated when one takes a look at the new Volkswagen Beetle. It was a success, which focused on the symmetrical design with rounded fender and oversized oval headlights, projecting a happy face (Vlassic, 1998). Later, Volkswagen reported a sales increase of 54 per cent over the previous year (Strategy, 1999).


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EXHIBIT 4.2: Audi A4

Exhibit 4.2 is a classic example of symmetrical design, and unity and harmony between each part. The design is also an example of a dynamic design. Over the years, whatever modification was done, the basic shape of the vehicle has remained the same. The importance given to design is evident from the fact that for designing a new US directed SUV, Honda takes into account such factors as the actual ground conditions and even finds out what the customer wants. These kinds of research are often termed as ‘Lifestyle Research’ (Kohn, 2001). Buying a motorcycle is an emotional act and appearance plays a very important role in inflating our expectations of experience. Automotive/motorcycle writer Peter Egan (Serbenski, www.core.77.com) calls this the ‘garage factor’. For instance, buying a motorcycle is considered to be an emotional act. Egan observes, ‘the experience, after the thrill of a ride, back in the garage, admiring the shapes, the surfaces, proportions, materials and mechanical details, the visual experiences…continues to provide the rest.’ Italian Ducats, BMW and Harley have ‘garage factor’ because they have either evolved an aesthetic built as years of tradition, or

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they reflect the vision of a single designer. For example, Andrew Serbenski designed MACHINEART MK9 with these things in mind (Serbenski, www.core77.com).

EXHIBIT 4.3: Triumph and Yamaha Motorcycle

In many designs of motorcycles (Exhibits 4.3 and 4.4), one would find that the basic flow of design is same, emphasising, hence, on the ‘garage factor’.

EXHIBIT 4.4: Suzuki Motorcycle

A study (Moore and James, 1978) has indicated that only a small amount of halo was found in attribute judgements of automobiles. Out of the two types of attributes, affective attribute, which


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indicates style and appearance, gives excessive halo. As per Wikipedia, in the Free Encyclopaedia, ‘Halo Effect occurs when a person’s positive or negative traits seems to “spill over” from one area of their personality to another in others’ perception of them.’ The amount of halo is measured by the correlation between trait ratings and measuring the variance of ratings across traits for a given object (Keaveny and McGann, 1975; Wilkie et al., 1973). Even though results indicate that there may be only a small danger of positioning automobile in the halo spaces, yet excessive halo in attributes like style and appearance can be used to work on the perception of the consumer to create positive influence about the product. In products not only the functional aspect, but also aspects like aesthetics, emotional appeal, ergonomics, usability, sense of quality, and so on, are emphasised. Here, by aesthetics one means not merely the product appearance, but also other aspects. The other aspects here would be appealing to the senses, such as touch, sound, and so on, and to one’s emotions evoking thereby the right feeling. Emotions become anaesthetic if it generates no feeling (Jones, 1991). Aesthetics is important in creating successful products, and at times is more influential than some of the attributes like product performance or price (Yamamoto and Lambat, 1994). It is quite different to have an approach, which is reliable and acceptable to design, and develops successful products considering the aesthetics context (Srinivasan and Lovejoy, 1997). Therefore, one may conclude that development of good design has to evolve from the basic methodology or approach to the entire process. ‘Luxury is a state of mind as much as it is leather interior.’ Lexus and Infinity have learned that battle for customers is being fought at the customer’s total experience level, and aesthetics is one of the aspects which is experienced by the customer. The companies have worked on the aesthetic aspects of these models to such an extent that even choosing the leather interior has become a major exercise (Fagiaro, 1994). To add further, ‘GM Corporation revitalised Buick by having more powerful engines, than the current models, with more elegant interiors, and gorgeous inspired exterior styling’ (Halliday, 2002).

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EXHIBIT 4.5: Audi A6

Every car maker has moved to a luxury segment, and created a separate brand name for their luxury model. Nissan has created Infinity and Toyota, Lexus. Audi as a brand has positioned itself in the luxury segment (Exhibit 4.5).

EXHIBIT 4.6: Audi Interiors II


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Exhibit 4.6 shows the inside of the car, which reveals the quality of the interior, and the use of expensive leather to appeal to the customers.

EXHIBIT 4.7: Mahindra & Mahindra Scorpio

The car in Exhibit 4.7 has been redesigned right from the exterior to the interiors recently. In this section, it has been explained that physical form of a product affects consumer behaviour. Good design of the product has resulted in marketplace success. Aesthetics or design can be taken as an important variable in the buying behaviour for a product, and they also can play a role in shifting demand, and could be a determining factor. The aesthetics or design of a product can also possibly impact the quality judgement in a product.

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4.2 ATTRIBUTES OF AESTHETICS SPECIFIC TO AUTOMOBILES AND HOME APPLIANCES In a product there are attributes which also can be classified as playing an aesthetic role along with the functional contribution it makes. This section will look into the primary survey (Das, 2005), which uncovers the parameters a consumer considers important in an automobile and for a home appliance. We also look into the importance the consumer attaches to specific attributes in these product categories. These are normally the features highlighted by companies during the sale and promotion of the products. Eight features which were considered important were given to the respondents and they were asked to distribute a score of 100 amongst these eight features. From these, average scores were taken and ranking of the same was done from 1 to 8. Apart from the above, responses were taken for each aesthetic attribute (for automobile and home appliance) in the specific element of aesthetics, that is, in the visual, ergonomics, auditory and olfactory aspects respectively. In this, a list of attributes were given and respondents were asked to give an option of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by ticking that option as appropriate. The total number of responses under ‘yes’ or ‘no’ determined the importance of each attribute. ‘Yes’ indicated the importance and ‘no’ vice versa.

Features of Product Considered Important Table 4.1 exhibits the summary of the ranking in automobiles and home appliances in the industry level survey. As per the industry, styling ranks second for automobiles and fourth for home appliances, whereas reliability is considered second in terms of importance for home appliances and fourth for automobiles. This shows that styling is ranked quite high in both cases.

Attributes of Product Considered Important The attributes which are considered important from the consumer’s point of view by the industry are mentioned in Table 4.2. These

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aesthetics, design and consumer behaviour TABLE 4.1: Importance of Various Parameters of Product—Industry S. Parameter No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Performance Fuel efficiency/power consumption Reliability After sales service Space/capacity Features Styling Ergonomics

Automobile

Home Appliance

Score

Rank

Score

Rank

17.61 13.78 11.98 11.00 08.43 11.35 16.17 09.87

1 3 4 6 8 5 2 7

19.56 08.74 14.63 14.41 08.52 12.63 12.63 09.15

1 7 2 3 8 4 4 6

Source: Das, 2005. TABLE 4.2: Attributes of Aesthetics by Type—Automobile Attributes Shape of automobile External visible parts like lights, etc. Interior design and colours Wheels and tyres Colour of automobile Comfortable seats Comfortable handling of controls Visibility of roads Good comfortable room for movement Comfortable grip of controls Sound of the engine Sound of the horn The quietness inside Rattles and squeaks

Type

Importance

V V V V V E E E E E A A A A

Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes

V-Visual, E-Ergonomics, A-Auditory. Source: Das, 2005.

attributes are specific to the visual, auditory and ergonomics aspects in automobiles and home appliances. In these, olfactory aspects were not considered because it was felt that in the present market condition the same will not be relevant as the concept lacks mature understanding. There were 14 attributes in all identified for automobiles, as well as for home appliances in which five were in visual, five in ergonomics and four in auditory. Subsequently, responses to questions

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mixing all the attributes were sought from the consumers to gauge the importance of each attribute and associated aesthetic element. There were three questions in which one contained a mix of visual and ergonomics attributes, the second a mix of ergonomics and auditory attributes and the third a combination of visual and auditory attributes. The response from the consumer was sought in a different way. The respondents were asked to rank five attributes in the order of 1 to 5, 1 being the highest and 5 the lowest. This gave the ranking of each attribute for the respective questions. Further, specific score was then allotted to the assigned rank with reference to these attributes in a manner given below (Das et al., 2002; NCAER, 2002). Rank 1: 9, Rank 2: 5, Rank 3: 3, Rank 4: 2 and Rank 5: 1. In this manner, based on the feedback from each respondent, the attributes were quantified on the basis of the assigned score. Total score (gross score) assigned to a particular attribute was computed by summing up the scores assigned to this attribute based on the feedback from all the respondents. In a similar fashion, total score was computed for all the identified variables. Therefore, the total score for a particular attribute will be the score it had collected for all the three questions mentioned earlier or the total score would be the sum of all the scores scored by the particular attribute in all the three questions. The same approach was followed for home appliances as well as for automobiles. The attribute score and total score were generated for each attribute. The steps involved are: Let the list of ‘n’ identified attributes with reference to the selected category of product be denoted by f(1), f(2),…, f(n), and the total score assigned to these variables be X(1), X(2),…, X(n), where X(n) denoted the sum total score of attributes scored under all the three questions. X = X(1) + X(2) + . . . + X(n) is the gross score with reference to the total score of all the attributes under the three questions.


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Then, the following statistics was computed. [X(1)|X] × 100 = p(1), [X(2)|X] × 100 = p(2),…, [X(n)|X] × 100 = p(n) p(1), p(2) + …p(n) are the respective indicators which give percentages of score assigned to a particular attribute. The total of p(1) + p(2) + . . . + p(n) = 100. These percentages are indicative of the relative importance of different attributes with reference to each aspect. Higher value of ‘p’ indicates better ranking.

EXHIBIT 4.8: Audi Interior (Rear) and Hyundai Terracan Tail Lights

EXHIBIT 4.9: Tata Safari

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The visual aspects of aesthetics are demonstrated in Exhibit 4.8. One of the pictures demonstrates the interior side, whereas the other projects the exterior. In interiors, frequently, leather is used as a symbol of superior styling. While choosing the quality of leather, the smell it gives (olfactory) is a major deciding factor. The space inside is also a crucial ergonomic factor. The visual element of aesthetics includes all external parts including tyres and the tread of tyres (Exhibit 4.9). All functional parts can be aesthetically designed. As per the industry response, in the case of automobiles, all the attributes are important except for: wheels and tyres; comfortable grip on controls; and sound of the horn. The analysis uncovered one from each of the categories, that is, visual, ergonomics and auditory. The summary of the responses for the home appliances is mentioned in Table 4.3. TABLE 4.3: Attributes of Aesthetics by Type—Home Appliance Attributes Shape of product External visible parts like knobs, handle, console, logos, etc. Interior design and colours Packaging of the product Colour of product Space occupied by the product Comfortable handling of controls Comfort during shifting Good comfortable room for movement during usage Physical effort required in using the product The sound of the motor/compressor The sound made while giving warnings The sound of closing the door and lids Rattles and squeaks

Type Importance V V V V V E E E E E A A A A

Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No Yes

V-Visual, E-Ergonomics, A-Auditory. Source: Das, 2005.

In the case of home appliances all the attributes were important except (a) packaging of the product; (b) comfort during shifting (moving the product from one place to another);


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(c) comfortable room for movement; (d) the sound made while giving warning; and (e) the sound of closing of doors and lids. In this appraisal, one attribute from visual and two each from ergonomics and auditory were identified.

EXHIBIT 4.10: LG Front Loading and Whirlpool Top Loading Washing Machine

The aesthetic attributes include shape, colour and external visible parts of the appliance, as well as the space it would occupy, the convenience it would offer while shifting, the various sounds it would produce and the convenient controls it would possess (Exhibit 4.10). The summary of the responses of consumer survey for automobile and home appliances is mentioned in Tables 4.4 and 4.5. The ranking of the attributes indicates that comfortable handling of controls, which is an ergonomic attribute is ranked 1, followed by shape of the automobile which is ranked 2. However, the difference between the score of these two is marginal. The sound of the engine, which is an auditory attribute, is ranked 3. Comfortable seats are ranked 4 and the quietness inside the cabin is ranked 5. If one looks at the top five ranking of the attributes, one will find that three attributes are from the ergonomic aspect and one each from visual and auditory.

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TABLE 4.4: Attributes of Aesthetics—Automobile S. Attributes (Automobile) No.

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

Shape of automobile External visible parts like lights, etc. Interior design and colours Wheels and tyres Colour of automobile Comfortable seats Comfortable handling of controls Visibility of roads Sufficient room for movement Comfortable grip of controls Sound of the engine Sound of the horn The quietness inside Rattles and squeaks

Total Scored

Percentage of Grand Total

Ranking

1,180 430 592 495 451 888 1,200 577 341 602 999 235 684 408

12.99 4.73 6.52 5.45 4.97 9.78 13.21 6.35 3.75 6.63 11.00 2.59 7.53 4.49

2 11 7 9 10 4 1 8 13 6 3 14 5 12

Source: Das, 2005. TABLE 4.5: Attributes of Aesthetics—Home Appliance S. Attributes (Home Appliance) No.

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

Shape of product External visible parts like knobs, handle, console, logos, etc. Interior design and colours Packaging of the product Colour of product Space occupied by the product Comfortable handling of controls Comfort during shifting Sufficient room for movement during usage Physical effort required in using the product The sound of the motor/compressor The sound made while giving warnings The sound of closing the door and lids Rattles and squeaks

Source: Das, 2005.

Total Scored

Percentage of Grand Total

Ranking

881

9.82

4

722 406 228 423 1,146 1,205 447

8.05 4.53 2.54 4.72 12.78 13.43 4.98

5 11 14 10 2 1 9

464

5.17

8

684 1,064

7.63 11.86

6 3

387 271 642

4.31 3.02 7.16

12 13 7


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For home appliances, the indications are that comfortable handling of controls, which is an ergonomic attribute, is ranked 1, followed by space occupied by the product, which again is an ergonomic attribute, followed by sound of the motor/compressor, which is an auditory quality. Shape of the product, a visual attribute, is ranked 4 and external visible parts like knobs, handle, console, logos, and so on, are ranked 5. It may be borne in mind that the ranking with respect to various attributes for product categories as illustrated here, is based on the research data obtained from Indian environment and the same may vary, when the context in terms of consumers and country is different. Therefore, we find that as in the case of automobiles, top five ranked attributes are from all the aspects that is visual, ergonomics and auditory.

4.3 CHAPTER SUMMARY Aesthetics of a product can be termed as one of the important factors for product success, and the customer perceives that good aesthetics is linked to good quality of the product. The external form or shape of the product has resulted in product success many a times, and the same is very much applicable for a product like an automobile. As there has been regular and large-scale improvement on the technology front, the points of differentiation between similar category products has been reducing. Differentiating on the basis of product aesthetics is a good option available to the marketer rather than only depending on variables like features, quality and price of the product. It is seen the styling changes in a product that has resulted in better market results for the product. Hence, many automobile companies have dedicated departments working on the styling or the external form of the product. Over the years, companies have started being known for the kind of design they produce. Some companies like Braun are traditionally known to produce great designs and their vision directs them to achieve success. Some

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external forms of the products are typical to a particular company so much so that simply by looking at the product one can name the company. By looking at any model of motorcycle that Harley Davidson makes, one can immediately draw a relation. It was seen that when the styling aspect of the product was compared with other different important parameters, automobiles ranked quite high while home appliances had a reasonable ranking. Amongst the aesthetic attributes, ergonomics and visual elements ranked higher compared to other elements of aesthetics.

REFERENCES Amstrong, Larry. 2003. ‘One Beautiful Ugly Duckling’, Business Week, no. 3816, January: 84. Berkowitz, Marvin. 1987. ‘Product Shape as a Design Innovation Strategy’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 4(December): 274–83. Bloch, Peter H. 1995. ‘Seeking the Ideal Form: Product Design and Consumer Response’, Journal of Marketing, 59(July): 16–29. Bruce, Margaret and Maureen Whitehead. 1988. ‘Putting Design into the Picture: The Role of Product Design in Consumer Purchase Behaviour’, Journal of the Market Research Society, 30(2): 147–62. Cooper, Robert G. and Elko Kleinschmidt. 1987. ‘New Products: What Separates Winners from Losers?’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 4(September): 169–84. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly and Rick E. Robinson. 1990. The Art of Seeing, Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum. Dahl, Darren W., Amitava Chattopaddhyay and Gerald J. Gorn. 1999. ‘The Use of Visual Mental Imagery in New Product Design’, Journal of Marketing Research, 36(February): 18–28. Darwent, Charles. 1997. ‘The Rulers of the Earth’, ‘Design’: The Journal of the Design Council, Winter. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology. Das, S., D. Mukhopadhyah and R. Sunder (2002), Demand Projection for Automobile and Automobile Tyre in India, NCAER, New Delhi. Dumaine, Brian. 1991. ‘Design That Sells and Sells and….’, Fortune (11 March): 86–94. Fagiaro, David. 1994. ‘Marketing by Design—Luxury is a State of Mind’, Management Review, 83(11), November: 4.


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Fisher, F.M., Zvi Griliches and Carl Kaysen. 1962. ‘The Costs of Automobile Style Change Since 1949,’ Journal of Political Economy, 70: 433–51. Forty, Adrian. 1986. Objects of Desire, New York: Pantheon Books. Halliday, Jean. 2002. ‘New Models, New Campaign for Buick’, Advertising Age, 73(23): 22. Hoffer, George E. and Robert J. Reilly. 1984. ‘Automobile Styling as a Shift Variable: An Investigation by Firm and by Industry’, Applied Economics, 16: 2917. Holbrook, Morris B. 1980. ‘Some Preliminary Notes on Research in Consumer Esthetics’, Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1): 104–8. Holbrook, Morris B. and Joel Huber. 1979. ‘Separating Perceptual Dimensions from Affective Overtones: An Application to Consumer Aesthetics’, Journal of Consumer Research, 5(March): 272–83. Holbrook, Morris B. and Robert B. Zirlin. 1985. ‘Artistic Creation, Artworks and Aesthetic Appreciation’, Advances in Non-Profit Marketing, 1: 1–54. Holbrook, Morris B. and Robert M. Schindler. 1994. ‘Age, Sex, and Attitudes towards the Past as Predictors of Consumers Aesthetic Tastes for Cultural Products’, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 3(3), August: 12–24. Jones, Peter L. 1991, Taste Today, New York: Pergamon Press. Keaveny, Timothy and Anthony McGann. 1975. ‘A Comparision of Behavioural Expectation Scales and Graphic Rating Scales’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 60(December): 695–703. Kohn, Joe. 2001, ‘R&D Mission; Find the Heart of the Dude’, Automotive News, 75(5924), March: 16. Kotler, Philip and Alexander G. Rath. 1984. ‘Design—A Powerful but Neglected Strategic Tool,’ Journal of Business Strategy, 5(Fall): 16–21. Kwaka, John E. Jr. 1993. ‘The Sales and Competitive Effects of Styling and Adverting Practice in the US Auto Industry’, The Review of Economics and Statistics, January: 649–56. Kwon, Kyu Sik. 1999. ‘Human Sensitivity Ergonomics in Product Design’, International Journal of Cognitive Ergonomics, 3(1): 51–62. Lawson, Bryan. 1983. How Design Think, Westfield, NJ: Eastview Editions. Menge, John A. 1962. ‘Style Change Costs as Market Weapon’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 76: 643–47. Moulson, Ton and George Sproles. 2000. ‘Styling Strategy’, Business Horizons, 43(5), September/October: 45–52. Moore, William L. and James L. William. 1978. ‘A Study of the Amount in the Perception of Automobiles’, Advances in Consumer Research, 5(1): 481–84. NCAER. 2002. India Market Demographic Report 2002, New Delhi: NCAER. Nussbaum, Bruce. 1988. ‘Smart Design,’ Business Week (11 April): 102–17. —————. 1993. ‘Hot Product,’ Business Week (7 June): 54–57. Page, Christina and Paul M. Hen. 2002. ‘An Investigation of the Processes by Which Product Design and Brand Strength Interact to Determine Initial Affect and Quality Judgements’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 12(2): 133–47.

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Roo, Paul H. 1972. ‘Should Product Differentiation be Restricted?’, Journal of Marketing, 36(July): 3–9. Serbinski, Andrew. ‘Sometime you take the matter in your hand!’, available at http://www.core77.com/reactor/mk9/normalindex.html. Sherman, Roger and George Hoffer. 1971. ‘Does Style Change Pay Off?’, Applied Economics, 3: 153–65. Snell, Bradford C. 1971. ‘Annual Style Change in the Automobile Industry as an Unfair Method of Competition?’, Yale Law Journal, 8: 567–613. Srinivasan, V. and Willian S. Lovejoy. 1997. ‘Integrated Product Design for Marketability and Manufacturing’, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 34(1), February: 154–63. Strategy. 1999. ‘Beetle Drives Sales with Aggressive Launch’, Strategy, 29 March: 19–20. Veryzer, Robert Jr. 1993. ‘Aesthetics Response and Its Influence of Design Principles on Product Preferences’, Advances in Consumer Research, 20: 224–31. —————. 1995. ‘The Place of Product Design and Aesthetics in Consumer Research’, Advances in Consumer Research, 22: 641–45. Veryzer, Robert W. Jr. and Wesley J. Hutchinson. 1998. ‘The Influence of Unity and Prototypicallity on Aesthetic Responses to New Product Design’, Journal of Consumer Research, 24(March): 374–94. Vlassic, Bill. 1998. ‘Bug-Eyed over the New Beetle’, Business Week, 25 May: 88. Walker, Stuart. 1995. ‘The Environment, Product Aesthetics and Surface’, Design Issues, 11(3): 15–27. Wallendorf, Malanie. 1980. ‘The Formation of Aesthetics Criteria through Social Structures and Social Institution,’ Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1): 3–6. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, www.wikipedia.org. Wilkie, W.L., J.M. McCann and D.J. Reibstein. 1973. ‘Halo Effects in Brand Belief Measurement: Implication for Attitude Model Development’, paper presented at the Annual Association for Consumer Research Conference, October. Yamomoto, Mel and David R. Lambert. 1994. ‘The Impact of Product Aesthetics on the Evaluation of Industrial Products,’ Journal of Product Innovation Management, 11 (September): 309–24.

Chapter 5 Aesthetic Influence on Consumer Behaviour and Durables

5.1 DURABLES AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR The penetration of consumer durables in India is low as compared to the developed countries (NCAER, 2002). In developed countries like the US expenditure on consumer durables is high, which influence manufacturers to build-up the stock of goods and get the advantage of economy of scale. The overall expenditure on consumer durables in the US is 9 per cent of GNP, while the nonauto expenditure is about 75 per cent of the total. The contribution of consumer durables to economic activity has increased considerably over time. The expenditure on consumer durables is often affected by the volatility of economic activity. The uncertainty of real per capita disposable income and the user cost of durables have a negative effect on consumer durables (Barret and Slovin, 1988). Considering the difference in the socio-economic scenario when compared with the developed countries, the Indian market reflects a different type of behaviour towards durables. Therefore, perhaps one finds that the importance of aesthetic features, as a strong influence for purchase decision, has not yet emerged. Consumer’s attitudes and buying behaviour have played a vital part in the classification of goods, which has been devised to influence marketing strategy. In a study it was found that in a

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country of Nova Scotia the penetration of refrigerators was highest (99 per cent) followed by automobiles, and then followed by washing machines, dishwashers and air conditioners (Mitchell, 1983). The importance given by various manufacturers to understand the behaviour of consumers of home appliances is evident from the gathering of 300 appliances by industry experts at Indianapolis, in September 1994, to attend the First Annual Appliance Manufacturer Conference and Exhibition. As per Chude Miller, V.P. Marketing, North American Appliance Group, Whirlpool Corporation, ‘A fear for an appliance manufacturer is a barrier arising out of fear of failure; therefore, understanding the direction of technologies and keeping a close link between marketing, design and R&D can help lower the barrier’ (Babyak and Jancsurak, 1994). Earlier, durables were considered only to be a functional product. If we take the case of home appliances, it is required to deliver different varieties of functions which are constantly revisited as there may be a change required in the functional aspect of the product due to, may be, the lifestyle of the consumer. The manufacturer pursues various differentiation strategies based primarily on speed, style and comfort as working on these variables perhaps help him to position the product better (Wood, 1972). Out of this, working on the style or aesthetic aspect of the product can provide him with an edge that the marketer is looking for. Most of the market leaders in their respective product categories have made a mark in creating a differentiation with the external styling. A consumer after experiencing a product can always change his behaviour towards it. ‘If a consumer purchases a particular brand of automobile and then experiences dissonance, he may change the dissonant beliefs, add new dissonant information, or actually change the behaviour’ (Fredrerick, 1976). Earlier studies revealed that most consumers undertake relatively little pre-purchase search for consumer goods and do even less price comparison (Grewal and Marmorsteinm, 1994). However, in the case of durables, with the arrival of electronics and microprocessors, the features made available in each product have increased considerably, forcing the consumer to make high pre-purchase search and price comparisons.

aesthetic influence on consumer behaviour and durables

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Companies always attempted to create a space in the mind of the consumer for their products. They use advertisement and other promotional methods to gain this space. The positive effect towards an object is enhanced as the result of repeated stimulus as demonstrated by the ‘length of time research’ (Katona and Mueller, 1954). Subsequently, researches have also shown that affection (styling, brand name/image perception) and cognition (objective attributes like costs, physical size, and so on) are important in development and maintenance of positive reference in the mind of the consumer (Zajonc and Markus, 1982). This frame of positive reference, which a marketer attempts to create is, at times, based on his perception, and may sometimes lead to product failure as there is a mismatch between his perception and the consumer’s. In a study, comparison was made between the perceptions of consumers and the understanding of company managers in defining market positioning in the automobile industry. One of the hypotheses in the study was; ‘The Competitive Groups identified by company managers are different from the competition group identified by consumers’ (Bigne and Lopez, 2002). Companies are working to bridge the understanding which may subsequently lead to less product failure. This failure could sometimes be caused by lack of understanding of the consumers’ perception on the aesthetic aspect of the product. In a research when the consumers were asked as to what do they have in mind while shopping for a durable, appearance stood ahead of performance, price under brand, capacity and the degree of spontaneity while buying. This was 25 per cent for major item and 31 per cent for minor items. Where purchasing is concerned, the satisfaction for inside design stood at 48 per cent, outside design 26 per cent and colour 12 per cent. In the consumer durable category, brand switching is quite common which means that brand loyalty is lower in comparison to non-durables. This has been substantiated in an earlier research as well (Smith, 1970). In consumer durables, purchase quality has always played an important role and is one of the key purchase decision variables. A study was conducted to understand how customers perceive quality when brand name, price, physical appearance and retailer

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reputation is attached to a consumer electronic product. This was for a selected sample representing consumers from 30 nationalities (Dawar and Parker, 1994), who have considered physical appearance only next to price as a signal to the quality of the product. Thus maintaining good physical appearance makes the consumer perceive quality to be good which helps the companies to sell more. The price of a product has played an important role in creating perception about the product. The price of a product like automobile suggests the quality of some of the attributes of the product. However, many a time price is not a significant determinant of overall attributes. At times, price becomes a negative factor when behavioural intentions are involved (Erickson and Johansson, 1985). In these circumstances aesthetic factors of a product may influence positively. It is seen that the high valued buyers always purchase earlier when compared with the lower valued buyers. The consumer always assumes different values for a product from time to time. When a product is sold at a price, a segment of consumers buy the product at a particular period. When the seller wants to make additional sale, he is forced to lower the price in the next period. This indicates the dynamic quality of price related to the same product. The marketer can overcome this by working on product aesthetics. By keeping the price same, the marketer can introduce new features (Biehl, 2001). Variety in products play a vital role in creating acceptance of the product in the market. Henry Ford sold cars that came only in one colour; black, fifty years later, the Mazda 323 is produced worldwide, marketed in 180 colours including four shades of black. Many people believe that today’s demand for increased product variety is threatening productivity. However, the product variety is also posing a challenge on the supply chain; also it is seen that the product variety does not have significant impact on the consumer as quality. (Perkins, 1994)

Still we have different variety of durables. ‘Variety can be free to companies in same sense that quality can be free’, says Marshall L. Fisher (ibid.).


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After and before launches companies do market research. In the case of Volvo it was seen that more buyers are returning to Volvo after having left the brand. The findings indicate that due to the earlier styling of Volvo, consumers left them and then they came back to try the product again due to the new styling. Volvo owner’s rating on styling was taken as an input to understand the importance they attach to styling and thus to the brand (Rechtin, 2002).

EXHIBIT 5.1: Mistubishi Cedia—Uniqueness in Styling

Redesigning a car for launch is a major managerial issue. For many car models ‘Clinic Design’ is done to understand consumer response (Pre-launch Forecasting Clinic Design). After the clinical study, the car is successfully launched and sales increases 25 per cent above the old level as predicted by the model. The clinical research includes working on all product attributes including the aesthetic aspects. It is seen that durable goods present pre-forecasting problems (Urban et al., 1990). There are proposals for a model and measurement methodology, which can apply to the pre-market forecasting of a new automobile (Urban and Hulland, 1993).

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Introducing a new product at frequent intervals is not a good business solution, as it requires investments. Toyota reduced the development time from 24 to 18 months. One of the elements of automobile which was considered, was the outside body, the styling of which is done with aesthetic consideration (Prasad, 1998). The importance of different attributes for purchase has been changing dynamically from before the World War II. When GM Corporation used to conduct routine research at that point of time, dependability and safety ranked high whereas style ranked low and price in-between. Style at that point of time may not have been treated as very important as most refrigerators looked similar and the focus was predominantly on the function. However, when some manufacturers come out with a different look, style becomes a question worth seeking an answer for, and then subsequently, extra gadgets with different style become important (Semon, 1969). It is seen in the purchase of durable goods that a prospective consumer, who expects decreasing price offers over time, would be willing to wait to purchase as long as the expected gain from the price decrease exceeds the opportunity cost of waiting to purchase (Reynolds, 2000). Therefore, it becomes important to offer something different and encourage the consumer to buy in the early stages or come up with a new design. As the durable gets older in the market, price decreases over the product’s life cycle, which is fairly common among durable products (Balachander and Srinivasan, 1998). In such situations, one may find products in the market with similar design and function and the novelty factor also comes down. Therefore, choosing a product with dynamic aesthetic quality is important, and this may help in maintaining the current price structure considering the competitive factors. Aesthetics and perceived overall value are critical to sales success in competitive commercial-range market models. IR-6 of imperial cooling is a good example (Remich and Norman, 1997). The aesthetic value of the oven was improved by giving the contract to La France Corp., a design firm, who by changing the colour, the handles, and the logo plate with highly textured chrome plating, helped the oven to look better and improve its value, and increase its sales.


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EXHIBIT 5.2: LG Refrigerator

Exhibit 5.2 presents the interior of the freezer compartment in the refrigerator. In the present scenario, the good functional performance and quality of the product is taken as granted and imperative. The uniqueness of the product lies in its design or aesthetic features. ‘Most companies today are inching towards becoming customer driven. Focusing on the customer has become imperative and tough for the companies to maintain’ (Gilmore and Joseph Pine II, 1997). Customising aesthetics to suit the consumer is used in selected product categories like cars. Every Japanese automaker has set up a design studio in southern California because car owners want to modify their cars at the time of purchase or later, to meet their desire, which could be either functional or aesthetic (Leonard and Rayport, 1997). Observing this, designers at Nissan and Toyota have anticipated a potential evolution of future models and have tried to incorporate the modification or even create new products.

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Auto companies such as BMW, Ford Motor and General Motors (GM) have high hopes for the build-to-order (BTO) approach. Ford and GM have already launched experiments with full-fledged BTO for customers in a couple of cities (Agarwal et al., 2001). Aesthetic features of the product can be a very versatile factor in the BTO approach to manufacturing. There is an attempt by companies in every sector to give the consumer more choices (Pine II et al., 1995). They are becoming mass customisers who efficiently provide individually customised goods and services, and product aesthetics could play a major role here. If we look at the durable purchase of home appliances and automobiles, product styling for function and brand image plays a more important role in purchasing for automobiles than they do for home appliances or any other products (Bayus, 1991).

EXHIBIT 5.3: Black & Decker Small Appliances

Though home appliances are utility oriented, these are available now in different shapes and colour combinations (Exhibit 5.3).


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In the buying of consumer durables the choice of sales between purchase and rental also plays a role. Studies were conducted to analyse the choice of contract (sales or rental) of a durable goods monopolist facing a threat of future entry (Bucovetsky and Chilton, 1996). This is particularly interesting in the Indian context, the lowering of the interest cost has played a major role in increase of sales of durable goods (Bijapurkar, 2003). In Israel, the order of acquisition of all durables starts with the refrigerator and stove/range, and was first followed by washing machines, mixers and vacuum cleaners. It is seen that significant socio-economic-demographic variables are found to affect all durables in the same direction, though the order of magnitude does differ from that exhibited by percentage of ownership (Fishelson, 1970). The durable goods generally have a long repurchase cycle. One consequence of relatively long repurchase cycles for appliances is that the potential market for any one appliance at a point of time is extremely small in relation to the total population. When this happens there is a possibility that brand awareness is not retained (Day and Pratt, 1971) during the entire cycle. Automobiles are an important consumption system for consumers and entail multiattribute products and services whose consumption occurs over time (Mittal and Kumar, 1999). This throws up the importance of having a dynamic attribute like aesthetics in a static product. The question is which durable to buy first, as it is not possible to acquire all the goods at the same time. The acquisition is decided given the knowledge of future prices, consumer incomes, and the utility aspect (Kasulis et al., 1979). Study has been done analysing the durable goods replacement decision of the consumer using hazardous models (Raymond et al., 1999). The results indicate that overall replacement declines over a period of time, and that the probabilities of replacement for specific households depend negatively on the age of the head of the households and the availability of natural gas, and positively on system age and higher household. It is seen that aesthetics does influence the choice in case of consumer durables and is one of the important variables. It is also

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at times an indicator of perceived quality. However, its importance may be different for home appliances and automobiles. The component of style in a product is slowly emerging as important compared to earlier times. Here the dynamic nature of aesthetics has come to the forefront.

5.2 RELATIONSHIP OF VARIOUS VARIABLES WITH AESTHETICS Here we would be summarising the findings of the survey focused on gauging the importance of aesthetics in the specific product category, whether it influences the sales of the product (Das, 2005), and whether aesthetics can be considered as a surrogate for quality, brand image, corporate image, and reflect on the user personality. The section also explores if aesthetics can be used as a tool for differentiating and customising a product in the selected category. There were also a set of questions in the survey seeking responses on the resources required to develop good aesthetics from the expert’s point of view and from the consumer’s point of view and on their reaction on extra price payable for good aesthetics.

Relationship of Quality, Resources, Brand and Corporate Image with Aesthetics It was seen in the case of automobiles, that the mean score of quality and customisation is less than three, otherwise all the scores are more than three (see Table 5.1). As far as the relation of aesthetics with resources are concerned, all the scores are above three which indicates that developing good aesthetics in terms of time, resources and money is more than reasonable and it could be expensive for the manufacturers. The chances that consumers will pay more for good aesthetics is also high. However, the extra price payable will be only to the tune of 5–10 per cent (see Table 5.2).


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TABLE 5.1: Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Automobile)—Industry Survey Other Aspects

How will you rank the importance in a automobile (of aesthetics) Do aesthetics influence sales performance Do aesthetics determine quality How much aesthetics help develop corporate image How much aesthetics help develop brand identity Can aesthetics be customised Can one create differentiation in particular segment What extent aesthetics help in building user’s personality/style/image Consumers associate aesthetics with brand

Mean

Std. Deviation

4.22 3.61 2.78 3.65 4.04 2.91 4.17

0.67 0.99 0.85 0.71 0.64 0.90 0.72

4.17 3.91

0.58 0.51

Mean

Std. Deviation

3.17 3.48 3.61

0.83 0.85 0.72

3.91

0.90

1.61

0.66

Source: Das, 2005.

TABLE 5.2: Relation of Aesthetics with Resources (Automobile)—Industry Survey Variables Related to Resources

Is developing good aesthetics expensive Time taken for developing goods aesthetics Resources required to develop good aesthetics Consumer will pay more when aesthetics of existing automobile is improved How much extra price chargeable on the improved aesthetics Source: Das, 2005.

In the case of home appliances, except in the case of quality, all the scores are above three and have good scores (see Table 5.3). As in the case of automobiles, the industry feels that developing good aesthetics would need more than reasonable input in terms of time, resources and money. For home appliances also, the responses related to resources are more than three and the extra price payable is also between 5 and 10 per cent. However, the mean is less than that for automobiles (see Table 5.4).

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TABLE 5.3: Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Expert Survey Other Aspects

How will you rank the importance in a home appliance (of aesthetics) Do aesthetics influence sales performance Do aesthetics determine quality How much aesthetics help develop corporate image How much aesthetics help develop brand identity Can aesthetics be customised Can one create differentiation in particular segment What extent aesthetics help in building user’s personality/style/image Consumers associate aesthetics with brand

Mean

Std. Deviation

3.96 3.63 2.96 4.11 4.19 3.04 3.70

0.90 1.01 0.94 0.75 0.88 1.09 0.78

3.81 3.78

0.56 0.75

Mean

Std. Deviation

3.04 3.37 3.37

0.52 0.74 0.79

3.63

1.11

1.52

0.75

Source: Das, 2005.

TABLE 5.4: Relation of Aesthetics with Resources (Home Appliance)—Expert Survey Variables Related to Resources

Is developing good aesthetics expensive Time taken for developing goods aesthetics Resources required to develop good aesthetics Consumer will pay more when aesthetics of existing automobile is improved How much extra price chargeable on the improved aesthetics Source: Das, 2005.

Correlation between Aesthetics and Other Aspects The results for automobile suggest that there is a strong correlation between (see Table 5.5) (a) aesthetics and brand identity, and quality; (b) corporate image and brand identity; and (c) quality and brand identity.

1.000 –0.003 0.485* 0.070 0.508* 0.250 0.057 –0.043 0.296

Importance Aesthetics

1.000 0.002 –0.008 –0.260 –0.115 0.019 –0.296 0.486*

Sales Performance

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Source: Das, 2005.

Importance aesthetics Sales performance Determine quality Corporate image Brand identity User’s image Associate with brand Customised Differentiation

Other Aspects

1.000 0.319 0.437* –0.012 0.266 –0.323 0.139

Determine Quality

1.000 0.434* 0.043 0.161 0.022 0.035

Corporate Image

TABLE 5.5: Correlations Other Aspects (Automobile)—Industry Survey

1.000 0.473* 0.289 –0.072 0.082

Brand Identity

1.000 –0.100 0.206 0.364

User’s Image

1.000 –0.311 –0.204

Associate with Brand

1.000 0.165

1.000

Custom- Differentised iation

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The correlation from the industry survey for home appliances indicates that there is a strong correlation between (see Table 5.6): (a) Importance of aesthetics with sales performance, brand identity, quality, corporate image, brand image and differentiation. (b) Sales performance with importance of aesthetics, corporate image and brand identity. (c) Quality with importance of aesthetics, corporate image, brand identity and brand image. (d) User image, corporate image, brand identity and brand image have also got correlation with each other. (e) The correlation is less only in the case of differentiation and nil in the case of customisation. In the case of home appliances, the correlation between each variable is higher than in the case of automobiles as per the industry perception. Therefore, it would be interesting to see whether we can reduce these variables to some common factors.

Summary of Factor Analysis of Other Aspects for Home Appliances The summary of the factor analysis for home appliances is mentioned in the subsequent sections. The attempt here is to reduce some of the variables and have few factors to replace them. For factor analysis all the variables which will affect the product and the company are considered. These are: (a) Do aesthetics influence sales performance? (b) Good aesthetics indicates quality of the product. (c) Good aesthetics in a product indicates good corporate image. (d) Good aesthetics in a product indicates good brand image.

1.000 0.623** 0.591** 0.634** 0.691** 0.370 0.501** 0.119 0.426*

Importance Aesthetics

1.000 0.270 0.464* 0.472* 0.285 0.294 –0.057 0.298

Sales Performance

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Source: Das, 2005.

Importance aesthetics Sales performance Determine quality Corporate image Brand identity User’s image Associate with brand Customised Differentiation

Other Aspects

1.000 0.387* 0.474* –0.014 0.478* 0.001 0.248

Determine Quality

1.000 0.784** 0.602** 0.591** –0.005 0.257

Corporate Image

1.000 0.701** 0.414* 0.193 0.366

Brand Identity

TABLE 5.6: Correlations Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Industry Survey

1.000 0.082 0.201 0.313

User’s Image

1.000 0.057 –0.051

Associate with Brand

1.000 0.013

1.000

Custom- Differentised iation

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(e) Good aesthetics indicate that the product has good brand identity. The factor analysis was done without rotation and with rotation by using Principal Component Analysis. In this value of variables less than 0.20 was suppressed and eigen values greater than 1 was considered. After the factor analysis only one factor F1 is extracted and this factor is named as F1, that is, Aesthetics’ Influence on Sales and Intangibles or Aesthetic Image which influence quality, brand image, corporate image and so on. The correlation of the variables with the factors is also high. Here, a general common factor which has significant loading on each of the variables of the correlation matrix is given (see Table 5.7). TABLE 5.7: Factor Loading for Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles—Industry Survey Variables Do aesthetics influence sales performance Do aesthetics determine quality How much aesthetics help develop corporate image How much aesthetics help develop brand identity Consumers associate aesthetics with brand

Factor Other Aspects 0.639 0.671 0.877 0.853 0.731

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Source: Das, 2005.

Summary of Data Analysis (Consumer Survey) Here, like in the industry survey, a set of questions was designed asking directly the importance of aesthetics in the specific product category, and whether it influences the sales of the product. Questions were also directed to find whether aesthetics can be considered as a surrogate for quality, brand image, corporate image and reflect on the user personality. Here it is also argued whether aesthetics can be used as a tool for differentiating and customising a product in the selected category. There were also a set of questions seeking responses on the resources required to develop good aesthetics from the industry’s point of view and from the consumer’s point of view on their reaction on extra price payable for good aesthetics.


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Relationship of Quality, Resources, Brand and Corporate Image with Aesthetics The responses were captured in a three-point scale and all the scores are around two and above. Therefore one can say that for automobiles the scores are reasonable. As far as paying more for good aesthetics is concerned, the consumers can pay between 5 and 10 per cent (38 per cent of the respondents selected this choice) for improved aesthetics, and may pay even more between 10 and 20 per cent (36 per cent of the respondents selected this choice). Cumulatively, the percentage of consumers ready to pay between 5 and 20 per cent is 75.6 per cent (see Table 5.8). TABLE 5.8: Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Automobile)—Consumer Survey Other Aspects How will you rank the importance of aesthetics in an automobile While buying will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision Do you feel aesthetics indicate quality Good aesthetics good corporate image Good aesthetics good brand identity Customised Different aesthetics different products High brand image good aesthetics Good aesthetics image and personality enhanced Pay more for good aesthetics How much extra price chargeable on the improved aesthetics

Mean

Std. Deviation

2.42

0.54

2.33 2.22 2.14 2.42 2.35 2.48 2.35 2.31 2.12

0.55 0.64 0.66 0.57 0.66 0.57 0.60 0.63 0.60

1.99

1.08

Source: Das, 2005.

For home appliances similar questions were used. Here also all the scores are above two, which is reasonable. As far as paying more for improved aesthetics is concerned, like in the case of automobiles, the percentage of respondents who are willing to pay between 5 and 10 per cent is 36 per cent and between 10 and 20 per cent is 32.5 per cent. Cumulatively, we can say respondents willing to pay between 5 and 20 per cent come to 68.8 per cent (see Table 5.9).

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TABLE 5.9: Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Consumer Survey Other Aspects How will you rank the importance of aesthetics in a home appliance While buying will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision Do you feel aesthetics indicate quality Good aesthetics good corporate image Good aesthetics good brand identity Customised Different aesthetics different products High brand image good aesthetics Good aesthetics image and personality enhanced Pay more for good aesthetics How much extra price chargeable on the improved aesthetics

Mean

Std. Deviation

2.27

0.51

2.26 2.13 2.23 2.51 2.49 2.41 2.46 2.05 2.16

0.53 0.66 0.59 0.54 0.62 0.57 0.56 0.70 0.61

2.30

1.39

Source: Das, 2005.

Correlation between Aesthetics and Other Aspects As for the industry survey, the option to study the association between each of the variables in the set of questions was also looked at, and the results obtained indicate a strong correlation between: (a) Importance of aesthetics and all the variables; (b) User image and all the variables except differentiation; (c) Aesthetics as indication of quality and other aspects except differentiation and customisation; (d) Consumer buying product with better aesthetics and all the variables except customisation and differentiation; (e) Corporate image and all except customisation, differentiation and brand equity. For home appliances, in the case of the consumer survey, the correlation is excellent between all the variables even for differentiation and customisation. This is the best correlation compared to the automobile and industry survey (see Tables 5.10 and 5.11).

1.000 0.462** 0.440** 0.251** 0.203** 0.257** 0.064 0.224** 0.355**

1.000 0.672** 0.563** 0.281** 0.008 0.037 0.318** 0.450**

Influence Sales

1.000 0.429** 0.335** 0.011 0.092 0.358** 0.437**

Indicate Quality


Importance Influence sales Indicate quality Corporate image Brand identity Customised Differentiate Brand image Image enhanced

Importance

1.000 0.208** 0.028 0.051 0.127 0.359**

Corporate Image

1.000 0.179* 0.431** 0.402** 0.184*

Brand Identity

TABLE 5.10: Correlations Other Aspects (Automobile)—Consumer Survey

1.000 0.091 –0.026 0.285**

Customised

1.000 0.396** –0.057

Differentiate

1.000 0.181*

Brand Image

1.000

Image Enhanced

1.000 0.480** 0.458** 0.464** 0.349** 0.114 0.224** 0.509** 0.421**

1.000 0.623** 0.430** 0.390** 0.251** 0.454** 0.435** 0.337**

Influence Sales

1.000 0.377** 0.381** 0.179* 0.362** 0.382** 0.288**

Indicate Quality


Importance Influence sales Indicate quality Corporate Brand identity Customised Differentiate Brand image Image

Importance

1.000 0.291** 0.191* 0.303** 0.405** 0.261**

Corporate Image

1.000 0.356** 0.219** 0.555** 0.217**

Brand Identity

TABLE 5.11: Correlations Other Aspects (Home Appliance)—Consumer Survey

1.000 0.186* 0.134 0.102

Customised

1.000 0.348** 0.346**

Differentiate

1.000 0.439**

Brand Image

1.000

Image Enhanced


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It was found that in both the surveys, that is, expert and consumer related, the correlation between variables for home appliances in consumer survey enjoys the best correlation. As in the industry survey, in the consumer survey also the correlation among the variables is high. In the case of home appliances, therefore, the variables may get reduced into some common factors.

Summary of Factor Analysis of Other Aspects for Home Appliances As in the industry survey, the correlation for home appliances was excellent between variables, and this indicates a direct comparison with the industry survey. For factor analysis, all the variables which affect the product and the company were considered. These are as under: (a) While buying a home appliance, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision (Aesthetics influence Sales Performance). (b) Good aesthetics indicate quality of the product. (c) Good aesthetics in a product indicate good corporate image. (d) Good aesthetics help in developing brand image of the product. (e) Good aesthetics indicate good brand identity. The factor analysis was done without rotation and with rotation by using Principal Component Analysis. In this, value of variables less than 0.20 was suppressed and eigen values greater than 1 was considered, which is the same as done for the earlier factor analysis in previous sections. After factor analysis only one factor F1 is extracted and we can name the factor as F1—Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles. The correlation of the variables with the factors is also high and is more than 0.6 in all the cases. The value of rotated extraction is not given as only one factor is extracted, and here also, there is a general common factor, which has a significant loading on each of the variables of the correlation matrix. This is similar to the case of the industry survey (see Table 5.12).

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TABLE 5.12: Factor Loading for Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles—Consumer Surveya Variables

While buying, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision Do you feel aesthetics indicate quality Good aesthetics good corporate image Good aesthetics good brand identity High brand image good aesthetics

Factor Other Aspects 0.794 0.759 0.664 0.706 0.755

Extraction method: Principal component analysis. a 1 components extracted. Source: Das, 2005.

5.3 CHAPTER SUMMARY Physical appearance or aesthetics of a product influences the perception of the customer not only on the quality, but also helps to develop the brand image and the corporate image of the company. The competition in the marketplace always puts pressure on the price. After the initial launch, companies tend to reduce the price of the product or offer discounts due to competitive pressures. If a product has aesthetics which is dynamic, this can help the companies to maintain the price level even under strong competition. It is also seen that durables have relatively long repurchase cycle. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that brand loyalty to that particular product remains, when the customer goes for a repurchase or replacement. The overall experience of the product usage along with dynamic aesthetics of a product can help to build customer loyalty to the brand, and this subsequently may influence repeat purchases. Over time, variety has been the key to success for many products. Many companies have started offering many variables to a product. Apart from these, companies are also customising the product to suit a particular customer’s requirement. Working on the aesthetic aspects of the product is a flexible and cost effective way of offering variety to the customer.


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It is seen that aesthetics influence sales performance. Aesthetics is an indicator of product quality. Good aesthetics enhances corporate and brand image and results into better brand equity of the product. The factor analysis of the mentioned variables resulted into a single common factor which can be called as ‘aesthetic image’ of the product. Therefore, one can say that the ‘aesthetic image’ of the product affects all the variables mentioned in the study.

REFERENCES Agarwal, Mani, T.V. Kumaresh and Glenn A. Mercer. 2001. ‘The False Promise of Mass Customization’, The Mckinsey Quarterly, 3: 62–71. Babyak, Richard J. and Joe Jancsurak. 1994. ‘Product Design and Manufacturing Process for the 21st Century’, Appliance Manufacturer, 11, November: 58–61. Balachander Subramanian and Kannan Srinivasan. 1998. ‘Modifying Customer Expectation of Price Decreases for a Durable Product’, Management Science, 44(6), June: 776–886. Barret, Brian W. and Myron B. Slovin. 1988. ‘Economic Volatility and the Demand for Consumer Durables’, Applied Economics, 20: 731–38. Bayus, Barry L. 1991. ‘The Consumer Durable Replacement Buyer’, Journal of Marketing, 55(1), January: 42–51. Bayus, Barry L. and Carolyn C. Carlstom. 1990. ‘Grouping Durable Goods’, Applied Economics, 22: 759–73. Biehl, Andrew R. 2001. ‘Durable—Goods Monopoly with Stochastic Values’, RAND Journal of Economics, 32(3), Autumn: 565–77. Bigne, Enrique J. and Natalia Vila Lopez. 2002. ‘Competitive Groups in Automobile Industry: A Compared Supply–Demand Approach’, Journal of Strategic Marketing, 10: 21–45. Bijapurkar, Rama. 2003. ‘…But are Marketers Ready Asks Rama Bijapurkar’, Business World, December: 29–36. Bucovetsky, Sam and John Chilton. 1996. ‘Concurrrent Renting and Selling in a Durable-Goods Monopoly Threat of Entry’, RAND Journal of Economics, 17(2), Summer: 261–74. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology. Das, S., D. Mukhopadhyah and R. Sunder. 2002. Demand Projection for Automobile and Automobile Tyre in India, New Delhi: NCAER. Dawar, N. and Philip Parker. 1994. ‘Marketing Universals: Consumers’ Use of Brand Name, Price, Physical Appearance, and Retailer Reputation as Signals of Product Quality’, Journal of Marketing, 58(April): 81–95.

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Day, George S. and Robert W. Pratt, Jr. 1971. ‘Stability of Appliance Brand Awareness’, Journal of Marketing Research, 8 (February): 85–89. Erickson, Gary M. and Johny K. Johansson. 1985. ‘The Role of Price in MultiAttribute Product Evaluations’, Journal of Consumer Research, 12(September): 195–99. Fishelson, Gideon. 1970. ‘Durable Ownership—The Order of Acquisition’, Applied Economics, 2: 277–87. Fisher, F.M., Zvi Griliches and Carl Kaysen. 1962. ‘The Costs of Automobile Style Change Since 1949’, Journal of Political Economy, 70: 433–51. Frederick, W. Winder. 1976. ‘The Effect of Purchase Characteristics on Post Decision Product Revaluation’, Journal of Marketing Research, 11(May): 164–71. Gilmore, James H. and B. Joseph Pine II. 1997. ‘The Four Faces of Customization’, Harvard Business Review, January–February: 91–101. Grewal, Dhruv and Howard Marmorsteinm. 1994. ‘Market Price Variation, Perceived Price Variation, and Consumer’s Price Search Decisions for Durable Goods’, Journal of Consumer Research, 21(December): 453–60. Kasulis, Jack J., Robert F. Lusch and Edward F. Stafford. 1979. ‘Consumer Acquisition Patterns for Durable Goods’, Journal of Consumer Research, 6(June): 47–58. Katona, G.E. and E. Mueller. 1954. ‘A Study of Purchase Decisions’, Consumer Marketing Science, 7(Winter): 1–20. Leonard, Dorothy and Jeffery F. Rayport. 1997. ‘Spark Innovation through Emphatic Design’, Harvard Business Review, 75(6), November/December: 102–13. Mitchell, Lionel A. 1983. ‘Selected Durable Consumer Products and Marketing Management in the 1980s’, European Journal of Marketing, 17(6): 34–45. Mittal, Vicear and Pankaj Kumar. 1999. ‘Attribute Level Performance, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention over Time; A Consumption–System Approach’, Journal of Marketing, 63(2), April: 88–101. Moore, William L. and James L. William. 1978. ‘A Study of the Amount of Halo in the Perception of Automobiles’, Advances in Consumer Research, 5(1): 481–84. NCAER. 2002. India Market Demographic Report 2002, New Delhi: NCAER. Nussbaum, Bruce. 1988. ‘Smart Design’, Business Week, 11 April: 102–17. ———. 1993. ‘Hot Product’, Business Week, 7 June: 54–57. Perkins, Anne G. 1994. ‘Product Variety’, Harvard Business Review, 72(6), November/ December: 13–14. Pine II, B. Joseph, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers. 1995. ‘Do You Want to Keep Your Customers Forever?’, Harvard Business Review, March–April: 103–14. Prasad, Biren. 1998. ‘Designing Products for Variety and How to Manage Complexity’, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 7(3): 208–22. Raymond, Jennie E., T. Randolph Beard and Daniel M. Gropper. 1999. ‘Modeling the Consumer’s Decision to Replace Durable Goods; A Hazard Function Approach’, Applied Ergonomics, 25: 1287–92. Rechtin, Mark. 2002. ‘Consumer Design Surveys Yield Mixed Results’, Automotive News, 76(5987): 4.


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Remich, Jr. and C. Norman. 1997. ‘Aesthetics Sells’, Appliance Manufacturer, 45(3), March: 71. Reynolds, Stanley S. 2000. ‘Durable-Good Monopoly; Laboratory Market and Bargaining Experiments’, RAND Journal of Economics, 31(2), Summer: 375–95. Roo, Paul H. 1972. ‘Should Product Differentiation be Restricted?’, Journal of Marketing, 36(July): 3–9. Semon, Thomas T. 1969. ‘On the Perception of Appliance Attribute’, Journal of Marketing Research, 6(1), February: 101. Smith, Stewart A. 1970. ‘How Do Consumers Choose between Brands of Durable Goods?’, Journal of Retailing, 46(2), Summer: 18–27. Urban, Glen L., John R. Hanser and John H. Roberts. 1990. ‘Pre-launch Forecasting of New Automobiles’, Management Science, 36(4), April: 401–21. Urban, Glen L. and John S. Hulland. 1993. ‘Pre-market Forecasting for New Consumer Durable Goods: Modeling Categorization, Elimination, and Considerate Phenomena’, Journal of Marketing, 57(2), April: 47–63. Winder, Frederick W. 1976. ‘The Effect of Purchase Characteristics on Post Decision Product Reevaluation’, Journal of Marketing Research, 11(May): 164–71. Wood, D. 1972. ‘Consumer Durables; Differentiation Strategy and Consumer Response in Related to Real and Apparent Risk’, European Journal of Marketing, 6(4): 249–56. Zajonc, Robert B. and Hazel Markus. 1982. ‘Affective and Cognitive Factors in Preferences’, Journal of Consumer Research, 9: 123–31.

Chapter 6 Demographic Variables and Branding in Consumer Durables

6.1 BRANDING AND DURABLES Almost every product is associated with a brand. Many a time the brand plays such a vital role that it supersedes the company’s name in the minds of the consumers. Many companies are at times known as the owner of the brand and vice versa. Brand like aesthetics is an emotional concept. Therefore, the association of brand with aesthetics would have the making of an interesting proposition. The concept of ‘brand’, which is advertising’s prime concept, sums up the prospects for a ‘language’ of consumption rather well (Baudrillard, 1996). Almost all products are now offered under brand names. Every product ‘worthy of the name’ has a brand, which may sometimes even become a generic term (Dalda for hydrogenated vegetable oil, Bisleri for packaged water). ‘The brand’s primary function is to designate a product; its secondary function is to mobilise emotional connotations’ (ibid.). For any consumer durable purchase, brand has always played a major role. There is always a concern in the mind of the marketer that whether his customer would change his brand the next time he makes a purchase. There has been work done on the concepts like the brand switching model, where, for four major home

demographics and branding in durables

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appliances, analysis was done to understand their replacement cycle (Bayus, 1992) and the behaviour of the consumer when he makes a repurchase. This model tries to assess brand loyalty for consumer durable products and see to what extent it plays when the durables are replaced. Earlier, it was thought that awareness and attitudes towards major appliance brands were only weakly related to subsequent brand choices. Appliance brand attitudes are weak predictors of subsequent choices (Day and Deutscher, 1982). The concept is changing as the new technology supports delivering features, which earlier was not possible. One would now find unique features for different brands. If one takes the example of Braun, one would find design or aesthetics as this unique differentiator. Tefal has been able to sustain its existence with unique designs. It is now found the moment one mentions a brand name, one starts associating the shape, colour and packaging of the product with the same. The products have even started expressing the company values through their design and brands. Product differentiation stems from uniquely creating buyer value. ‘A firm can enhance its differentiation in two basic ways. It may become more unique in performing its existing value activities or it may reconfigure its value chain in some way that it enhances its uniqueness’ (Porter, 1988). Companies can focus on aesthetic elements of difficult products to create unique selling propositions and help to position in the products better to sell more. Products or services can be differentiated based on these unique selling propositions. Even commodities which are sold primarily on price can also be differentiated based on their characteristics and the way the product has been placed and merchandised in the marketplace. Products are always the combination of the tangible and the intangible attributes. An automobile is not simply a machine for movement but visibly or measurably differentiated by design, size, colour, option and power or fuel consumption. ‘It is also a complex symbol denoting status, taste, rank, achievement, aspirations and being smart (fuel economy), expected products, delivery, terms, support efforts, new ideas, and so on’ (Levitt, 1980).

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When a consumer starts using a branded product, he starts associating the attributes of the product with the brand, for example, the size, colour, texture, feel, odour, and so on, indicating different characteristics of the brand. Hence, size represents role, while colour indicates whether the brand exerts positive or negative influence on the customer’s buying decision (Lederer, 2001). Thus aesthetics of a product can be made to represent a brand. The brands also can be interweaved, that is, one brand can be promoted with another. While doing this, the role of both is to be considered, for example, Volkswagen with Trek (bicycle). Aesthetics of a product at times helps in positioning the brand in a cluttered market. Daimler-Chrysler’s smart car brand has driven beyond the traditional car market to position itself as a lifestyle brand. It has an ambition of fashion, technology and economy. It offers some fun features as interchangeable coloured body panels, which can be changed in less than two hours (Mortimer, 2002b).

Exhibit 6.1: Mercedes and Audi Logo

As various designs roll out of the stable of a company, people start associating certain features of the product with the brand, and the brand thus occupies a particular position in the prospective buyer’s mind. Mercedes Benz and Audi are strong examples of such premium positions (Exhibit 6.1). It is possible to associate a brand with certain emotions, and these emotions can influence brand and attitudes. It is seen that emotional attachments are long lasting. If one provides knowledge to the consumer about the brand’s emotional benefits, it can influence the consumer regarding perceptions of the brand and its


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attitude (Ruth, 2001). Therefore, it is possible to attach a brand with the aesthetic features of the product, which in turn can result into a strong emotional bond with the consumer. It is imperative for the companies today to build brand value based on some of the emotions a consumer attaches with the product. Aesthetics being dynamic in nature is a good tool to help in building this brand equity. Understanding consumer preference on regular basis through researches and other medium is an expensive process, if one is able to build a preference of the consumer for the brand. In due course, this can help in subsequent repurchases. Models are designed to estimate the level of preference consumers would exhibit towards a differentiated brand at a given price in a multi-brand durable goods market, and understand their behaviour in the competitive markets. The individual consumer purchase data is extremely difficult and expensive to gather for a durable good, because of the very low incidence of purchases of given durable goods. In this, a study was conducted with a paid convenience sample of 188 women. Amongst the attributes considered for the study included non-price scales (Ryans, 1974). This low incidence of purchase also makes it very important for the companies to ensure good brand retention for the future purchases. Making full use of brand loyalty is important (Gonier, 1990). Keeping in touch with the customer on regular basis and informing them about the regular update helps to win customer loyalty. Many organisations have realised that it costs less to keep or retain a customer than to attract a new one. There are various methods to retain the customers; few could be by offering a lesser price, or spending money in promotional campaign, or through product line extension or focusing on customer loyalty for existing customers. Along with this quality of the physical product, it is very important to gain brand loyalty and should therefore be strictly monitored by the manufacturers (Bloemer and Lemmink, 1992). For automobiles the mean aspect ratings across makes and brands, respectively, were significantly and positively correlated with cognitive complexity (Durand, 1979). The association of the brand with the customer and loyalty is a very old understanding. When a customer is brand loyal, many a

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time price is often not the first consideration. Industry experts say that customised models of Bentley go for more than half a million bucks whereas newer models are available at a lower price. In many cases, customers select the brand first and the car (Bentley) later (Donoho, 2001). Therefore, emphasis on building the brands as far as automobiles are concerned is important. Traditionally, the marketers responsible for positioning have been concentrating on the points of difference on the benefits, which set each brand apart from the competition. Every brand has its uniqueness described by some features, like Maytag is distinguished by dependability, Tide by whitening power, BMW by superior handling. Such points are used for the consumer to remember the brand. Consumer associates some unique features of a product with the brand. Therefore, the brand is positioned accordingly and starts with establishing a frame of reference. Choosing the proper frame is important because it dictates the type of association that will function as points of similarity and points of dissimilarity. (Keller et al., 2002)

Aesthetic attributes and qualities thus can be a frame of reference for associating with a brand. With competition, consumers are finding it hard to differentiate similar products. The marketers are diluting the brand rather than building it by not focusing on the brand or by not being able to create a character for the brand. Many a time the focus is primarily on the price rather than on other points of difference (Clancy and Trout, 2002). Focusing on the aesthetic aspects of the product can be a good option to differentiate, position and build brands. Sullivan (1998) has explained the effect of brand names on demand by examining the price ratio of used twin automobiles. Twins are those which are made in the same place and have essentially the same physical attributes, but brand names are different. If the price is kept the same, brand names can drive the demand of the twin model. The model with the more influential brand will sell more. Brand name can influence product demand by communicating to the consumer about the quality of the product and


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create an appealing image. However, practically it is difficult to analyse how brand names affect demand, as products with different brand names have different physical attributes, and once the brand gets established it becomes difficult to separate a brand from its attributes. Brand is used as an important variable in marketing a durable. The overall physical attribute of the product influences the consumer and they attach that attribute with the brand, and all the durables are branded. Aesthetics is one of the physical attributes, which can be used to have a positive consumer influence on the brand.

6.2 ROLE OF DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN DURABLES Positioning is one term which has become synonymous with market and product. Whenever one defines the marketing plan, one lists the market segment or target group. The segmentation of the product could be based on geography, demography, psychography, and so on. Several years earlier, Ude (1966), published results of a study of shopping behaviour in the selection of small electrical appliances. He observed that the most frequently mentioned and most useful non-controllable source of information was past experience with the product and this was true of purchases with higher levels of education and income. After this, Carman (1972) demonstrated that demographics do affect the sale of durables and estimated aggregate effects of prices, income, new housing and other non-price variables on retail sales of refrigerators, dishwashers, electric clothes dryer, electric ranges and washing machines. The perception of various demographic profiles of the consumer, that is, his age, gender, income and education has always played a vital role in product acceptance in the market. In the case of durables also, the demographics of the consumer play an important role. Durable is a product with relatively long repurchase cycle and they have high ticket value. Here the companies have to wait a

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long duration (three to five years at least) before the same consumer goes for a repurchase. Since the product has a high ticket value, the involvement of the customer in making the purchase is high. Earlier, Tippett et al. (1978) suggested that appliances are held for a shorter time period if the household is of higher income; the head of the household is younger in age; the children live in the household; or the family has recently moved. It was also observed that the existence of the long-run relationship between consumption and income has been one of the key features in the empirical analysis (Lee and Kong, 2000). While going in for repurchase, some of the customers may replace some items early (Bayus, 1991). The results based on univariate and multivariate analysis of replacement buyer of new automobiles indicate that ‘early’ replacement buyers are more concerned with styling and image and less concerned with costs than ‘late’ replacement buyers. Further, early replacers have higher income, but lower levels of education achievements and occupational status than late replacers. This kind of information is often important in determining the selling cycle at different segments. It is seen that demographic characteristics are also significantly related to the timing of appliance replacement purchasers (Bayus, 1992). It was also observed that identifying the different patterns of ownership is interesting as it is important to know how other considerations such as styling and new look model influence the buyers to own new items available in the market (Finve and Sinsiter, 1995). However, the level of income appears to be extremely important as a determination of household durable ownership. Subsequently, a segmentation model was developed by Bayus and Mehta (1995) in which data were collected from owners of several home appliances, including colour television, refrigerator, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and coffee makers from 389 households. Then the model was generated to identify household goods that are likely to make durable goods purchases. The model helped in identifying durable replacer segments on the basis of household characteristics and in determining which of the household characteristics are significant. By using this, a manufacturer


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or retailer can identify price segments of durable owners for which targeted marketing strategies can be developed. This model takes into account the timing of replacement purchases (that is, age of the current unit in use) as well as household information (Bayus and Mehta, 1995). Based on the demographics in which the market can be segmented, it was seen when the market is segmented, the likely variables for positioning in the case of automobiles were fuel economy, exciting style, luxury, dependability, spaciousness, friends’ ownership pattern and prestige (Pitts and Woodside, 1983). Consumer study has also been done to analyse whether car brands are appealing to women sitting behind wheels. It was found that women contribute 80 per cent of input for car purchases, and therefore, significantly influence the decision. Most important consideration was reliability followed by safety. There are designs in which certain elements of the product appeal to the female customer, for example, Beetle’s new design. (Mortimer, 2002a) The marketing of consumer durable has undergone change; the same was simple earlier. Segmenting the market always was a ploy adopted by the marketers but T-Model strategy formulated that segmentation based on demographics or company characteristics is at times not very actionable. More approaches don’t help you to get to your customers with right offer. (Forsyth et al., 1999)

All this exhibits that demographics have to be looked into with more seriousness and product attributes like aesthetic features should be used as a unique selling proposition for various segments as it is also seen that ‘conventional demographic variables, such as occupation, income and education and to less extent consumer modernism can be used to classify groups of consumers into potentially profitable market segments’ (Medina and Michaels, 1994). In this section it is seen that demographic variables to some extent affect the purchase of durables, at the same time as it affects the ownership pattern. It is also seen that there is a scope to differentiate the product to suit various segments by working on the key features of the products. Some of the points related to differentiation also emerged.

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6.3 EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ON AESTHETICS Demographic variables play a role in consumer behaviour and it affects aesthetic consideration in the buyer. In this section the effect of demographic variable is seen on aesthetics with respect to the survey conducted (Das, 2005).

The Effect of Income The industry survey explored to understand which income group and age group attached more importance to aesthetics, and the responses obtained were directed towards automobiles. In the case of automobiles, it is very clear that as the income increases the importance of aesthetics increases (see Table 6.1). TABLE 6.1: Importance of Aesthetics Income Class for Automobile (Industry Survey) Income Class Which income group Low Which income group Middle Which income group Upper middle Which income group High Which income group Very high

Statistics Mean

Mode

Percentage

4.70

5

91

3.65

4

78

2.57

3

74

2.00

2

70

1.78

1

75

attaches more importance; attaches more importance; attaches more importance; attaches more importance; attaches more importance;

Source: Das, 2005.

In the case of home appliances, since the mean of very high income is more than high, the modal value for ranking has been taken. The percentage for high is 40 compared to 37 of very high (see Table 6.2). This would mean that high is ranked 1. In this case also it can be said that as the income increases, the importance of aesthetics increases till it reaches the high level mark. This could be an interesting observation for comparison with the consumer survey.


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TABLE 6.2: Importance of Aesthetics Income Class for Home Appliance (Expert Survey) Income Class

Which income group Low Which income group Middle Which income group Upper middle Which income group High Which income group Very high

Statistics Mean

Mode

Percentage

4.81

5

92

3.48

4

74

2.52

3

63

1.85

1

40

2.26

1

37

attaches more importance; attaches more importance; attaches more importance; attaches more importance; attaches more importance;

Source: Das, 2005.

The Effect of Age The ranking based on the importance given to aesthetics is as under: – 26 to 35 years – 19 to 25 years – Teenagers (13 to 19 years) – Above 35 years

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4

For home appliances the ranking is: – 26 to 35 years – 19 to 25 years – Teenagers (13 to 19 years) – Above 35 years

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4

This ranking is same as that in the case of automobiles. It can be said that as far as age is concerned, the age group which gives importance to aesthetics is same for automobiles and home appliances.

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Summary of Data Analysis—Effect of Demographic Variables on Aesthetics The consumer survey was directed at understanding the relation of aesthetics with the background demographic information of the consumer. The questions similar to the industry survey were asked to respondents of the consumer survey. One of the questions asked was ‘While buying an automobile/a home appliance, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision?’ This question was directed to find out if aesthetics would play any part in purchase decision. This was considered to be a dependent variable whose response would depend upon independent demographic variables related to the respondents’ individual traits like age, income, educational qualifications and gender. Complete statistics was generated for the above and regression was done by using stepwise method for variable selection. The regression was done separately for automobiles and home appliances.

Effect of Demographics on Buying Product with Good Aesthetics Stepwise regression analysis was done taking buying automobile/ home appliance with good aesthetics as an independent variable and background information of the consumer related to the demographics as independent variables.

Effect of Demographics on Buying Automobile with Good Aesthetics On looking at the descriptive statistics it is found that the mean of the independent variable is 5.89, which would mean an income class of INR 30,000 to INR 40,000 per month and age 38.60 years (see Table 6.3).

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demographics and branding in durables TABLE 6.3: Descriptive Statistics Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey)

While buying, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision Monthly income of the household Age of the respondent Gender of the respondent Educational qualification

Mean

Std. Deviation

2.33 5.89 38.60 0.77 2.52

0.55 2.02 8.41 0.42 0.57

Source: Das, 2005.

The correlation between the income and dependent variable was negative and was the same for gender also. However, qualification has positive correlation, and age has no correlation with the dependent variable (see Table 6.4). TABLE 6.4: Correlations Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey) Variables

Dependent Variable While buying, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision


1.000 –0.172b –0.076 –0.184a 0.191a

a

Correlation significant at 99%. Correlation significant at 95%. Source: Das, 2005. b

The regression analysis in this indicated a significant one (see Table 6.5) with the estimated model as While buying an automobile, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision = 2.295 (Constant) + 0.205 (Qualification) –0.0535 (Income) –0.213 (Gender)

(Constant) Educational qualification (Constant) Educational qualification Monthly income of the household (Constant) Educational qualification Monthly income of the household Gender of the respondent

1.870 0.183 2.122 0.213 –5.59E-02 2.295 0.205 –5.36E-02 –0.213

B 0.193 0.075 0.212 0.074 0.021 0.224 0.073 0.021 0.098

Std. Error

Unstandardised Coefficients

Dependent variable: While buying, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision. Source: Das, 2005.

a

3

2

1

Model

0.214 –0.198 –0.165

0.223 –0.206

0.191

Beta

Standardised Coefficients

TABLE 6.5: Coefficients Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey)a

9.705 2.452 10.031 2.880 –2.658 10.262 2.792 –2.575 –2.173

0.000 0.015 0.000 0.005 0.009 0.000 0.006 0.011 0.031

143


Effect of Demographics on Buying Home Appliances with Good Aesthetics Same questions were asked to the respondents for the home appliances also, the dependent variable and independent variables being the same. The descriptive statistics indicate that mean of the dependent variable is 2.26 which is reasonable (see Table 6.6). TABLE 6.6: Descriptive Statistics Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) Variables

Statistics


Mean

Std. Deviation

2.26 5.89 38.60 0.77 2.52

0.53 2.02 8.41 0.42 0.57

Source: Das, 2005.

If we look at the correlation table, we find that there is a correlation between the dependent variable and the independent variable except in the case of qualification. Negative correlation is observed in the case of gender and the dependent variable (see Table 6.7). TABLE 6.7: Correlations Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) Variables

Dependent Variable While buying, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision

While buying, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision Monthly income of the household Age of the respondent Gender of the respondent Educational qualification a

Correlation is significant at 95% confidence level. Source: Das, 2005.

1.000 –0.145a –0.177a –0.148a 0.004

144


The regression model in this case estimates coefficients B0 (Intercept) and Slope B1 are 1.831 and 0.01118 (see Table 6.8) respectively. Thus the regression equation becomes While buying a home appliance, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision = 1.831 (Constant) + 0.01118 (Age) It is seen that one aspect of aesthetics by dependent variable is the effect of aesthetics on the sales of the product in the selected product category. Models are formulated with some of the demographic variables and independent variables. It would be also interesting to see if the demographic variables also play a role in influencing the consumers to pay more for good products in the selected category for good aesthetics. Attempt was made to generate models for the same. The findings are as under.

Effect of Demographics on Paying More for Good Aesthetics Regression analysis here was done with taking buying automobile/home appliance with good aesthetics as a dependent variable and background information of the consumer related to the demographics as independent variables.

Effect of Demographics on Consumer Paying More for Good Aesthetics— Automobiles The correlation exists between income, age and gender with the dependent variable and qualification misses the correlation at 95 per cent confidence level. The significant observation is that the relation of the dependent variable with the independent variables is negative (see Table 6.9).

(Constant) Age the respondent

1.831 1.118E-02

B 0.196 0.005

Std. Error


Dependent variable: While buying will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision. Source: Das, 2005.

a

1

Model

–0.177

Beta


9.365 2.258

t

TABLE 6.8: Coefficients—Aesthetic Influence on Sales with Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey)a

0.000 0.025

Sig.

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TABLE 6.9: Correlations—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey) Variables

Dependent Variable Pay more for Good Aesthetics

Pay more for good aesthetics Income: Monthly income of the household Age: Age of the respondent Gender: Gender of the respondent Qualification: Educational qualification

1.000 –0.182 a –0.157 b –0.140 c –0.126

a

Correlation is significant at 95% confidence level. Correlation is significant at 95% confidence level. c Correlation is significant at 95% confidence level. Source: Das, 2005. b

The estimates of the regression model coefficients are B0 (Intercept) and Slope B1, B2, are 2.878, –0.0546, –0.01134 (see Table 6.10). So the regression estimated model is: While buying will give more weightage to an automobile if it has good aesthetics = 2.878 (Constant) –0.0546 (Income) –0.01134 (Age).

Effect of Demographics on Consumer Paying More for Good Aesthetics—Home Appliances The same questions were asked to the respondents for home appliances also, with the dependent variable and independent variables remaining the same. In this case, there is no correlation between the dependent variable and the independent variable except in the case of income. But the correlation is positive unlike in the case of automobile (see Table 6.11). The estimates of the model coefficients B0 (Intercept) and Slope B1 are 1.844 and 0.05407 (see Table 6.12) respectively. So the regression equation is will you pay more for good aesthetics = 1.844 (Constant) + 0.05407 (Age) This is different from the model generated for automobile income and age figured there but here only income figures.

(Constant) Income: Monthly income of the household (Constant) Income: Monthly income of the household Age: Age of the respondent

Dependent variable: Pay more for good aesthetics. Source: Das, 2005.

a

2

1

Model

2.436 –5.40E-02 2.878 –5.47E-02 –1.13E-02

B 0.144 0.023 0.257 0.023 0.005

Std. Error


–0.184 –0.160

–0.182

Beta


TABLE 6.10: Coefficients—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Automobile (Consumer Survey)a

16.893 –2.328 11.179 –2.382 –2.062

t

0.000 0.021 0.000 0.018 0.041

Sigs.

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TABLE 6.11: Correlations—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey) Variables

Dependent Variable Pay more for Good Aesthetics

Pay more for good aesthetics Income: Monthly income of the household Age: Age of the Respondent Gender: Gender of the respondent Qualification: Educational qualification

1.000 0.178a 0.115 –0.097 –0.027

a

Correlation is significant at 95% confidence level. Source: Das, 2005.

6.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY Every product has a brand name associated with it. In most of the cases, a customer relates more to the brand name of the product than the name of the company making that product. Therefore, positioning of the brand is an important aspect. An aesthetically better designed product helps in brand building and positioning the brand well. In many cases, a customer selects the brand first and then the product, because he assumes that whatever is deliverable in the product he is looking for is present in the brand, as he associates that particular brand with those qualities which he is looking for. The brand loyalty one attaches with the brand many a time helps companies to charge a better price for a product. The demographic factors affect the influence aesthetics has on the buying behaviour in a particular individual. While purchasing a product, the demographic variables like income, age, gender and educational qualifications influence the perception of aesthetics while buying a product. It is seen that the younger age group considers aesthetics as a more important factor compared to the older group, but at the same time, the earning capacity of the individuals also affect the same.

(Constant) Income: Monthly income of the household

Dependent variable: HOME21 Pay more for good aesthetics. Source: Das, 2005.

a

1

Model

1.844 5.407E-02

B 0.148 0.024

Std. Error


0.178

Beta


12.448 2.270

t

TABLE 6.12: Coefficients—Pay More for Good Aesthetics and Demographics—Home Appliance (Consumer Survey)a

0.000 0.025

Sigs.

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REFERENCES Baudrillard, J. 1996. The System of Objects, London: Verso. Bayus, Barry L. 1991. ‘The Consumer Durable Replacement Buyer,’ Journal of Marketing, 55(1), January: 42–51. —————. 1992. ‘Brand Loyalty and Marketing Strategy: An application to Home Appliance’, Marketing Science, 11(1), Winter: 21–28. Bayus, Barry L. and Carolyn C. Carlstom. 1990. ‘Grouping Durable Goods’, Applied Economics, 22: 759–73. Bayus, Barry L. and Raj Mehta. 1995. ‘A Segmentation Model for the Targeted Marketing of Consumer Durables’, Journal of Marketing Research, 32: 463–68. Bloemer, Jos’e M.M. and Jos G.A.M. Lemmink. 1992. ‘The Importance of Customer Satisfaction in Explaining Brand and Dealer Loyalty’, Journal of Marketing Management, 8: 351–64. Carman, Hoy F. 1972. ‘Improving Sales Forecasts for Appliance’, Journal of Marketing Research, 9(May): 214–18. Clancy, Kevin J. and Jack Trout. 2002. ‘Brand Confusion’, Harvard Business Review, 80(3): 22. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology. Day, George S. and Terry Deutscher. 1982. ‘Attitudinal Prediction of Choices of Major Appliance Brands’, Journal of Marketing Research, 19(May): 192–98. Donoho, Ron. 2001. ‘Steering New Sales’, Sales & Marketing Management, 153(11), November: 30–35. Durand, Richard M. 1979. ‘Cognitive Complexity Attitudinal Affect and Dispersion in Affect Rating for Products’, The Journal of Social Psychology, 107: 209–12. Finve, Ben and John Sinsiter. 1995. ‘Consumption Durables: Exploring the Order of Acquisition by Ben Finve and John Sinister’, Applied Economics, 27: 1049– 57. Forsyth, Jan, Sunil Gupta, Sandeep Halder, Anil Kaul and Keigh Kettle. 1999. ‘A Segmentation You Can Act On’, Mckinsey Quarterly, 00475394(3): 6–15. Gonier, D. 1990. ‘How to Direct Market Durables’, Target Marketing, May. Keller, Kevin Lane, Brian Sternthal and Alice Tybout. 2002. ‘Three Questions You Need to Ask about Your Brand’, Harvard Business Review, 80(9), September: 80–85. Lederer, Chris. 2001. ‘See Your Brands through Your Customer’s Eyes’, Harvard Business Review, 79(6), June: 125–33. Lee, Hoe-Kyung and Moon-Kee Kong. 2000. ‘Consumption of Durable Goods and Test of Permanent Income Hypotheses: Evidence from Korean…’, Applied Economics, 32(1): 39–44. Levitt, Theodore. 1980. ‘Marketing Success through Differentiating of Anything’, Harvard Business Review, January–February: 83–91.


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Medina, Jose F. and Pavlos Michaels. 1994. ‘Adoption of Novel Consumer Durable Goods in Less Developed Countries’, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 2: 77–90. Mortimer, Ruth. 2002a. ‘Driving Sales to Women’, Brand Strategy, July: 28. —————. 2002b. ‘Lifestyle Brands Get Smarter’, Brand Strategy, July: 26–27. Pitts, Robert and Arch G. Woodside. 1983. ‘Personal Value Influence on Consumer Product Class and Brand Preferences’, Journal of Social Psychology, 119: 37–54. Porter, Michael E. 1988. Competitive Advantage, Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, New York: The Free Press. Ruth, Julie A. 2001. ‘Promoting a Branding Emotion Benefits: The Influence of Emotion Categorization Process on Consumer Evaluation’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 11(2): 99–113. Ryans, Adrian B. 1974. ‘Estimating Consumer Preference for a New Durable Brand in an Estabilshed Product Class,’ Journal of Marketing Research, 11(November): 434–43. Sullivan, Mary W. 1998. ‘How Brands Names Affect the Demand for Twin Automobiles’, Journal of Marketing Research, 35(2), May: 154–65. Tippett, K., F. Magrabi and B. Gray. 1978. ‘Service Life of Appliances: Variations by Selected Characteristics of Owner Households’, Home Economics Research Journal, 6(March): 182–91. Ude, Jon C. 1966. ‘Pre-purchase Behaviour of Buyer of Small Electrical Appliances’, Journal of Consumer Research, 30(October): 30–32.

Chapter 7 Total Aesthetic Experience— A Discussion

7.1 INDUSTRY PERCEPTION As far as the attributes of aesthetics are concerned, attributes like beauty, feel and experience emerged as important compared to the other attributes (Das, 2005). In the case of qualities of aesthetics, all the identified qualities emerged as important. However, unity of various parts emerged as most important. The other important qualities are order and symmetry, definiteness, form, proportion and finishing. Therefore, it has emerged that aesthetics addresses not only the visual aspects, but also other sensory perceptions. The attributes and qualities of aesthetics have been identified in this chapter, and it is found that a correlation exists between various attributes and qualities of aesthetics. An attribute like beauty does not correlate with any of the other attributes. Experience correlates with all the attributes except beauty, which to some extent indicates that all attributes have to be experienced. However, the attribute beauty having the highest mean stakes its importance. Therefore, if one goes by the basic definition of aesthetics, one can consider beauty as a separate entity as mentioned earlier, quite synonymous to the term aesthetics. The factor analysis leading from these correlations

total aesthetic experience—a discussion

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identified two factors, one of them based on the attribute beauty and the other based on the attribute experience. The results of correlation between the qualities of aesthetics show a better relationship. Each quality correlated with at least four, whereas form and unity of various parts correlates with all the other qualities. The factor analysis of the qualities of aesthetics revealed two factors, one based on finishing and the other based on definiteness. The analysis showed that a product has to satisfy a consumer not only from the functional aspect but also from the social and emotional aspect. This highlights the importance of the aesthetic aspect in a product. However, it was seen that even though the respondents felt that these other aspects also need to be taken care of, but also felt that the aesthetic features have to be connected to the function of the product and that it figures in the desirable features of the product than in the latent features. Aesthetics play an important role in various purchase stages. It does not figure last in any of these stages, and it stands above price wherever applicable. It is seen that aesthetics gather more importance if the product has a longer life cycle, which means that it is more important in durable goods than in case of nondurable ones. It can thus be stated that for a product like an automobile or a home appliance, good aesthetics plays an even more important role. The importance given to aesthetics by different income groups indicates that the higher income group attaches more importance to aesthetics. This is applicable to both categories of product, that is, automobiles and home appliances. As far as the effect of age of the consumers on aesthetics is concerned, respondents between 26 and 35 years attach maximum importance to aesthetics, followed by those between 19 and 25 years, and then teenagers and those above 35 years. This is identical for both the categories of products. This also indicates that the combination of income and age determines the importance of aesthetics, as those between 26 and 35 years are normally employed. Therefore, it can be said that the demographic variable of age and income do affect the importance given to aesthetics by the consumer.

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Looking at the specific product category of automobiles and home appliances, style figures high in the list of the identified parameters for selling automobiles and home appliances. For both the categories, performance of the product ranks the highest. Styling of the product, which is considered synonymous with aesthetics (Autocar Road Test, 2004; Road Test, 2004), ranks second for automobiles and fourth for home appliances. The importance given by the consumer to the attributes under different aspects of the product for each product category indicated that attributes under each aspect, that is, visual, ergonomics and auditory are important. For automobiles, the attributes, which are considered not important by the respondents are wheels and tyres, comfortable grip on controls, and sound of the horn. For home appliances, the attributes considered not important are packaging of the product, comfort during shifting, comfortable room for movement, sound made while giving warning, and sound of closing of doors and lids. This indicates that the respondents feel that consumers give the most importance to the aesthetic aspects, that is, the visual, ergonomics and auditory attributes. However, these are responses from Indian consumers, and the same may change in other markets. The industry feels that the consumer does attach the same importance to the other aspects of the product, marketing and company aesthetics, and the rating for those are within reasonable limit (see Tables 5.1 to 5.11). The findings also indicate that the consumer gives importance to aesthetics in a product for the category like automobiles and home appliances. Aesthetics influence sales performance, determines quality of the product, helps in developing corporate image and brand identity, and is indicative of the brand image of the product. Aesthetics can help in differentiating the product and can be used as a tool in customising the product. Aesthetics also helps in building the user’s personality/style/image. There exists a strong correlation between the importance of aesthetics with variables like aesthetics helping in developing brand identity, corporate image, brand image, and aesthetics as an indicator of quality of the product. The correlation in the case of home appliances is far better. This relationship which exists between different aspects was further


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taken forward and converted to factors in the case of home appliances. The factor analysis identified one general common factor F1—Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles or Aesthetic Image of the Product, which has the various components, identified as the other aspects in the study. While considering the resources required for developing good aesthetics in automobiles or home appliances, it was found that respondents felt that for developing good aesthetics time and money is required, which is however, in the level of reasonable range (see Table 5.2). This is applicable for both the categories of products. However, in both the cases consumers may pay more for good aesthetics in the reasonable range. They may pay to the tune of 5–10 per cent extra of the normal recommended selling price of the product for such improved aesthetics. Therefore, one may conclude that the industry perceives aesthetics as an important aspect in marketing the selected product categories.

7.2 CONSUMER PERCEPTION It seems that for automobiles the visual aspect of aesthetics was more important than other aspects, while for home appliances the ergonomic aspects of aesthetics emerged as more important. The ergonomics and visual aspects were ranked second for automobiles and home appliances respectively. As has been seen from the response of industry, consumers also expect that the product should satisfy other aspects including emotional and social rather than only the functional. Though the consumers gave importance to social and emotional aspects, yet they expect the aesthetic features to be connected to the function of the product. The scores for all the three are, however, higher in the case of automobiles than for home appliances. It is seen that there exists a strong correlation between the emotional and social aspects, which indicates that whatever is emotionally important has a strong relationship with status. This strong relationship is there both in the case of automobiles and home appliances.

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We find that aesthetics plays an important role in various purchase stages as perceived by the consumers, that is, even in the post-purchase stages and in product failure and product re-launch situations. As in the case of findings from the industry survey, in none of the situations aesthetics is ranked the last; in fact, it is ranked above price in all stages, wherever applicable. Therefore, one can conclude that aesthetics is certainly one of the important variables in purchase decisions. The analysis of the attributes of aesthetics from the three elements of visual, ergonomics and auditory indicates that attributes have emerged important from all the three areas. An interesting observation here is that the attribute related to ergonomics has emerged first for both the categories of products. However, for automobiles, the gap between the first and the second which is a visual quality is marginal. The first five ranked attributes in both the cases are from all the three elements of aesthetics. Comfortable handling of controls, which is an ergonomic attribute, is ranked 1, followed by shape of the automobile is ranked 2. The sound of the engine, which is an auditory attribute, is ranked 3. Comfortable seats are ranked 4 and the quietness inside the cabin is ranked 5. Analysis of the responses for the home appliances indicates that comfortable handling of controls, which is an ergonomic attribute, is ranked 1, followed by space occupied by the product, followed again by sound of the motor/compressor, an auditory quality. Shape of the product, a visual attribute, is ranked 4, and external visible parts like knobs, handle, console, logos, and so on, is ranked 5. Likewise, as in the case of the industry survey, the analysis of the consumer survey also revealed that the consumer attaches importance to the other aspects of the product, market and company with aesthetics and the rating is reasonable. The findings indicate that for automobiles as well as home appliances, the consumers feel that aesthetics is important in the products of the selected category. They feel that aesthetics influence their purchase decisions; indicate the quality of the product, indicate the corporate image, help the company in building their brand identity, and indicate the brand image. Moreover, they want some of the features in the product to


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be tailor made (customised) to their requirements, and they feel that they treat two products different if they have the same function and specification but different aesthetics, which opens up scope to differentiate a product using aesthetics as a tool. They also feel that if the aesthetics of the product is good, their personality and image is enhanced. This finding is applicable to both the categories of the product, that is, automobiles and home appliances. The correlation between each aspect in the case of the consumer survey is better than that of the industry survey. Still the correlation between each variable is excellent in the case of home appliances. This relationship indicates that there exists a component of aesthetics which helps in developing all the identified aspects, and that the aesthetics of a product of the selected category reflects all these variables, and if we work on the aesthetics of a product, it will affect all the mentioned aspects. We can therefore, call this variable as the ‘aesthetic image’. The factor analysis of other aspects identified one general common factor as in the case of the expert survey. The factor as F1—Aesthetic Influence on Sales and Intangibles or Aesthetic Image of the Product having various components was identified as the other aspect in the study. Considering how much extra the consumers are willing to pay for improved aesthetics, the consumers feel they can pay anything between 5–20 per cent extra. Around 75.6 per cent of the respondents felt in this way for automobiles and around 68.8 per cent felt this way for home appliances. The effect that demographic variables have on aesthetics while taking a purchase decision or paying more for good aesthetics was examined. Regression analysis was done with income, age, gender and educational qualification taken as the independent variables. When influence of aesthetics on purchase decision was taken as a dependent variable, it was seen that in the case of automobiles the regression equation is positively affected by qualification, negatively by income and gender. The negative effect of gender indicates that female respondents are more convinced regarding the effect of good aesthetics on purchase decision. For home appliances, age of the respondent positively affects the decision.

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Regression analysis done after taking the variable, paying more for good aesthetics as dependent variable showed that for automobiles income and age affects the equation negatively. For home appliances, age of the respondents affects the equation positively. Therefore, we can say that the demographic variables do affect the level of importance given to good aesthetics while buying and the degree of willingness to pay more for this consideration.

REFERENCES Autocar Road Test No. 210. 2004. Autocar, 5(10), June: 34–39. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing:A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology. Road Test No. 335. 2004. Overdrive, 7(1), September: 80–96.

Chapter 8 The Aesthetic Framework— A Synthesis of Concepts

8.1 INTRODUCTION While synthesising, we shall also be attempting to discuss various hypotheses and propositions formulated during the course of the study (Das, 2005). An attempt has been made to look at the findings in a different way. Most of the sections are diagrammatically represented and by using these diagrams and the findings from the previous chapters, the synthesis is arrived at. Therefore, it can be said that the survey findings are further condensed in this section.

8.2 ATTRIBUTES AND QUALITIES OF AESTHETICS The qualities and attributes of aesthetics were discussed in previous chapters. The propositions and hypothesis under this topic will be discussed here. There are two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 (H1): Hypothesis 2 (H2):

There is an association between various attributes of aesthetics. There is an association between various qualities of aesthetics.

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For these hypotheses, one needs to look at the previous sections where correlation between attributes of aesthetics and correlation between qualities of aesthetics was discussed in detail. Figure 8.1 summarises the findings related to attributes and qualities of aesthetics. Figure 8.1 exhibits how attributes and qualities of aesthetics are identified. Here first of all important qualities and attributes are analysed resulting in uncovering of important attributes and qualities indicated by the bullets in the figure. Further they are correlated and factorised to form two important factors for each FIGURE 8.1: Attributes and Qualities of Aesthetics

Factor 1 Based on Experience

Attributes • Beauty Smell • Feel Sound • Experience

Correlation and Factors Factor 2 Based on Beauty

Aesthetics

• Order and Symmetry • Definiteness • Form • Proportion • Finishing • Unity of Parts Qualities

Source: Das, 2005.

Factor 1 Based on Finishing Correlation and Factors Factor 2 Based on Definiteness

the aesthetic framework

161

attribute and quality. The details of the analysis also finds a mention in Chapter 2. Under attributes of aesthetics, beauty, feel and experience have emerged important, and under qualities of aesthetics all the qualities identified have emerged important. The correlation between each other indicated good correlation between qualities of aesthetics and comparatively less correlation between the attributes of aesthetics. This indicates the association between the various attributes of aesthetics with each other and various qualities of aesthetics with each other. Figure 8.1 also indicates the attributes of aesthetics and qualities of aesthetics which were factorised resulting into two factors each. Considering this, one can say that hypothesis 1 (H1) is partially accepted and hypothesis 2 (H2) is accepted. If one looks at the qualities of aesthetics in a product discussed earlier, one can draw interesting comparisons. The section is summarised in Figure 8.2. FIGURE 8.2: Qualities of Aesthetics in a Product (Aesthetic Elements of a Product)

Aesthetic Elements

Visual

Auditory

Source: Das, 2005.

Ergonomics

Olfactory

162


Figure 8.2 shows the qualities of aesthetics in a product or the elements of aesthetics. In the analysis of data, the ranking of these qualities are done and the same is exhibited in Table 8.1. TABLE 8.1: Ranking of Qualities of Aesthetics Qualities


Industry (Common Response of Automobiles and Home Appliances)

Automobiles (Consumer Survey)

Per cent

Rank

Per cent

88 84 76 80

First Second Third Fourth

67.5 60.6 78.1 91.1

Rank First Second Third Fourth

Home Appliances (Consumer Survey)

Per cent

Rank

65.0 70.6 71.9 90.0

Second First Third Fourth

Source: Das, 2005.

Table 8.1 shows a combined response of the industry as well as the consumer surveys. It indicates that the ranking for automobiles in both industry and consumer surveys is same, whereas for home appliances ergonomics comes first instead of visual in the consumer survey. Therefore, one can conclude that in the case of home appliances, the consumer feels that the ergonomic element of aesthetics is more important than the visual element. There is also a proposition related to this topic which is the second proposition P2 which states: P2: Attributes of aesthetics based on visual aspects are more important than other attributes of aesthetics. Looking into Table 8.1, one can say this is true for the case of automobiles and not true for home appliances. However, looking at the response of the experts one can say that they also support this proposition positively. Therefore, one can accept this proposition partly by saying, ‘Attributes of aesthetics based on visual aspects are more important than other attributes of aesthetics for automobiles’ (Das, 2005).


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8.3 PRODUCT AND AESTHETICS The role aesthetics play in purchase behaviour of the product was studied in detail in the previous chapters. In this section, the findings of the two surveys are synthesised.

Product Function In this section, the utility of the product was looked into the three areas identified, that is, functional, social and emotional. Figure 8.3 summarises these findings. FIGURE 8.3: Product and Aesthetics

Functional (Rank 1)

PRODUCT Social (Rank 3) Indication of Status

Functional

Source: Das, 2005.

Aesthetics – Mandatory – Desirable – Latent

Emotional (Rank 2) Satisfy Inner Psychic Necessity

Non-functional

164


It was seen in the previous chapters that even though it emerged that the functional aspect of the product was ranked first, the values of the emotional and the social aspects were also significant. These findings were shared both by experts and consumers in the survey, which indicates that the importance of the intangible aspect of the product can play in the minds of the consumer. Figure 8.3 highlights the three aspects of the product. Aesthetics is also derived from the non-functional aspect (that is, the social and emotional aspects) of the product. The findings indicate that aesthetics is more desirable than mandatory or latent. This indicates that aesthetics definitely would make a difference and can influence consumer choice. Both the findings indicate that aesthetic features of the product should be related to some function. This validated the first rank given to functional aspect of the product. This also supports the first proposition (P1), that is ‘Aesthetics play a significant role in consumer choice’.

Aesthetics in Consumer Purchase Behaviour of Automobiles and Home Appliances Figure 8.4 summarises the concept and findings under this section. The data were collected for four stages. The first was during purchase and second after purchase. This was the buying process and the next two stages were the product failure stage and subsequent product re-launch stage. The figure shows that a consumer buys a product for the said category, experiences it and subsequently rejects it or accepts it. The rejection leads to product failure, which results in eliminating the product from the marketplace, or subsequent re-launching of the product. Here, for product re-launch, one considers a situation where a product fails due to the four variables (including aesthetics) identified for the study. If we look at the findings under the expert and the consumer survey, we find that aesthetics has not figured lowest in any of the stages and it ranks above price in all the three stages. The comparison of


165

FIGURE 8.4: Important Variables in Purchase Behaviour

CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR

Purchase – Price – Quality – Aesthetics – Functional

Experience

AUTOMOBILE/HOME APPLIANCES

Product Re-Launch – Price – New Features – Aesthetics – Improved Performance

Feedback

Post-Purchase – Price – Quality – Aesthetics – Functional

F e e d b a c k

Product Failure – Price – Quality – Aesthetics – Competition

Source: Das, 2005.

the consumer response with the expert’s response reveals that the ranking is same for the purchase and post-purchase stages. For the other two stages of product failure and product launch, it is different for experts, automobiles and home appliances. Table 8.2 summarises the findings. By considering this and the discussion in the previous section, the hypothesis that aesthetics play a significant role in consumer choice can be accepted.

4 2 3 1

E 4 2 3 1

A

Purchase

E-Industry, A-Automobile, H-Home appliance. Source: Das, 2005.

Price Quality Aesthetics Functional Competition New technical features Novelty Improved–Performance

Variables

4 2 3 1

H 4 2 3 1

E 4 2 3 1

A

PostPurchase

TABLE 8.2: Ranking Aesthetics with Other Aspects of Purchase Behaviour

4 2 3 1

H 4 3 2 1

4

A

3 1 2

E

ProductFailure

1

4 2 3

H

3 4 1

2

E

2 4 1

3

A

Product Re-Launch

2 4 1

3

H


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8.4 ATTRIBUTES OF AESTHETICS SPECIFIC IN AUTOMOBILES AND HOME APPLIANCES In this section, attributes of aesthetics specific to automobiles and home appliances were considered. The findings have already been discussed in the previous chapters. The industry ranking of the parameters considered important for automobiles and home appliances have been summarised in Figure 8.5. The ranking is indicated for both automobiles and home appliances in the same figure. The importance given to various attributes of aesthetics under specific elements have been summarised in Figures 8.6 and 8.7 for automobiles and home appliances respectively. The industry identified the attributes considered important. For automobiles they felt wheels and tyres, comfortable grip on controls and sound of horn was not important. The respondents in the consumer survey were asked to rank the identified attributes. The ranking is mentioned in Table 8.3: TABLE 8.3: Ranking Attribute of Aesthetics (Automobiles) S.No. Attributes (Automobile) 1 2 3 4 5

Comfortable handling of controls Shape of the automobile Sound of the engine Comfortable seats Quietness inside the cabin

Aspect/Element

Ranking

Ergonomics Visual Auditory Ergonomics Ergonomics

1 2 3 4 5

Source: Das, 2005.

Figure 8.7 indicates the identified attributes. When one compares the consumer survey ranking with the findings from the expert survey, one finds that some of the attributes considered unimportant by the industry do not find place in the top five ranking in the consumer survey. Therefore, one can say that there is some amount of compatibility between the industry and consumer viewpoints. In the case of home appliances, the industry in the survey felt that packaging of the products, comfort during shifting, comfortable room for movement, sound made while giving warning and the sound of closing of doors and lids are not important. The response of the consumer survey is given in Table 8.4.

Source: Das, 2005.

Ranking 1 to 10

Space

Ergonomics

After Sales Service

Home Appliance

Capacity

Power Consumption

Ergonomics

Features

Features

e

After Sales Service Styling

Automobiles

Reliability

Performance

Reliability

Fuel Efficiency

Styling

e

Performance

FIGURE 8.5: Importance of Various Parameters

Ranking 1 to 10


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FIGURE 8.6: Attributes of Aesthetics Specific to Automobiles

Automobiles Visual

Ergonomics

• Shape of the Automobile • External Visible Parts • Interior Design and Colours • Wheels and Tyres • Colour of Automobiles Auditory

• Comfortable Seats • Comfortable Handling of Controls • Visibility of Roads • Comfortable Room for Movement • Comfortable Grip of Controls

• Comfortable Grip of Controls • Sound of Horn • Quietness Inside • Rattles and Squeaks

Source: Das, 2005.

TABLE 8.4: Ranking Attribute of Aesthetics (Home Appliances) S.No. Attributes (Home Appliance) 1 2 3 4 5

Comfortable handling of controls Space occupied by the product Sound of the motor/compressor Shape of the product External visible parts like knob, etc.

Source: Das, 2005.

Aspect/Element

Ranking

Ergonomics Ergonomics Auditory Visual Visual

1 2 3 4 5

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Again in this case also, one finds that whatever attributes are indicated as not important in the industry does not figure in the top five ranking in the consumer survey projecting the compatibility between the two findings. One significant observation in both the findings is that in the case of automobiles and home appliances, attributes from all the FIGURE 8.7: Attributes of Aesthetics Specific to Home Appliances

Home Appliances Visual • Shape of the Product • External Visible Parts • Interior Design and Colour • Packaging of the Product • Colour of the Product

Ergonomics

Auditory • Sound of the Motor/ Compressor • Sound Made while Giving Warnings • Sound of Closing the Door and Lids • Rattles and Squeaks

Source: Das, 2005.

• Space Occupied by the Product • Comfortable Handling of Controls • Comfort during Shifting • Good Comfortable Room for Movement during shifting • Physical Efforts Required in Using the Product


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aspects/elements of aesthetics figure in top five ranking. This, once again reinforces the importance of aesthetics from the point of view of all sensory perceptions.

8.5 RELATIONSHIP OF QUALITY, RESOURCES, BRAND AND CORPORATE IMAGE WITH AESTHETICS In the case of automobiles, for expert survey, the scores of quality and customisation are less than reasonable, whereas all the other scores are more. In the case of consumer survey, all the scores are more than reasonable. The scores were taken for all the variables including the ones related to resources. In the case of home appliances, except for quality, all the scores were above reasonable for the industry survey and for the consumer survey all scores were above reasonable. Therefore, the consumer feels that aesthetics are more related to the mentioned variables than experts. Further, the findings are synthesised into two parts—for the first, the relation of aesthetics with sales, quality, brand image, corporate image, brand identity, user’s image, differentiation and customisation have been taken into consideration. The same is also summarised in Figure 8.8. The association between each of the variables was discussed in the earlier chapters. There is also correlation between the variables both in the case of automobiles and home appliances. In the case of home appliances, the correlation between each variable is more than in the case of automobiles. In the case of consumer survey, the correlation for automobile is better compared to the expert’s response. Considering this, one can say that the third hypothesis (H3), which advocates that there is an association between importance of aesthetics in product, good aesthetics resulting in sales, aesthetic surrogate for quality of a product as well as for brand image and corporate image, is acceptable. In the case of home appliances, this is further reinforced by the results of the factor analysis. The relationship is stronger in the case of consumer survey for both the product categories.

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FIGURE 8.8: Relation of Aesthetics with Other Aspects

Differentiation

Effect Sales Determine Quality

Customising

Aesthetics in Products

Corporate Image

Brand Image

User’s Image

Brand Identity

Source: Das, 2005.

In the second part, the role that the requirement of resources play in developing aesthetics and how consumers feel about paying more for good aesthetics are looked at. In the case of automobiles, all the scores are above reasonable mark for both the expert and consumer surveys, and this is applicable for home appliances also. As far as paying more for good aesthetics is concerned in the industry survey, in both the categories, consumers only pay between 5 and 10 per cent, whereas in the case of consumer survey, they are also ready to pay between 10 and 20 per cent extra. The concept of resource requirement for developing good aesthetics is diagrammatically represented in Figure 8.9.

8.6 EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ON AESTHETICS The effect of demographic variables on aesthetics was discussed in the previous chapter. In the case of expert survey, it is indicated


173

FIGURE 8.9: Relation of Resources with Aesthetics

Expense Required in Developing Good Aesthetics

Time Taken to Develop Good Aesthetics

Aesthetics in Products

Resources Required for Developing Good Aesthetics

Source: Das, 2005.

that the importance of aesthetics increase with income. As far as effect of age is concerned in the case of automobiles, age group between 26 and 35 years were ranked first followed by age group between 19 and 25. This was same for home appliances also. In the case of consumer survey, regression analysis was done for both automobiles and home appliances. Two regression equations were generated for both automobiles and home appliances. The set of regression equations for automobiles are mentioned as under: (a) While buying an automobile, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision? = 2.295 (Constant) + 2.05 (Qualification) – 0. 0535 (Income) – 0.213 (Gender) (b) Will you pay more for good aesthetics? = 2.878 (Constant) – 0.0546 (Income) – 0.01134 (Age) In the first case, qualification of the consumer is influenced by aesthetics. Females are more influenced than males and aesthetics

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have negative effect when related to income of the consumers. This is applicable in the case of paying more for good aesthetics also; the effect of age is also seen towards the negative side, which means that younger age group is willing to pay more for good aesthetics. In the case of home appliances, the regression equations are as under: (a) While buying a home appliance, will good aesthetics influence your purchase decision? = 1.831 (Constant) + 0.01118 (Age) (b) Will you pay more for good aesthetics? = 1.844 (Constant) + 0.5407 (Age) In the case of home appliances, age plays a positive effect. We can say that the higher age group is giving more importance to aesthetics in home appliances. For automobiles, the effect of income contradicts the feelings of the industry in the study. This should be understood in the context of the prevailing demographic situation in India, and specifically the market scenario, in the case of automobiles. The classification of income in India as per NCAER (India Market Demographic Report, 2002) is mentioned in the previous section, and from the sample it is evident that around 90 per cent fall in high-income category based on the classification of income groups by NCAER. Lately, in India, the buying power of consumers have increased due to the falling interest rate, easier consumer credit (Bijapurkar, 2003), and erosion of price (Businessworld, 2004). Between 1996 and 2000, 51 per cent of the passenger cars and more than 25 per cent of the two-wheelers have been financed (Das et al., 2002). This, to some extent, can explain the negative effect of income in the regression equation. Taking the effect of demographic variables into consideration, the fourth hypothesis (H4) in the study, has been based which advocates that demographic variables affect importance of aesthetics


175

while buying an automobile or home appliance. One can accept this hypothesis by looking into the regression equations of both automobiles and home appliances. Figure 8.10 summarises this section. FIGURE 8.10: Effect of Demographic Variables

Aesthetics of a Product

Age

Qualification

Income

Gender

Source: Das, 2005.

8.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY Some of the propositions and hypotheses formulated in line with the subject have been discussed and proved. In the case of aesthetic elements, visual aspects proved to be more important for automobiles than home appliances which reinforces the utility component of home appliances and thus, the need for more human interactive designs. It is seen that as far as the perceived utility of the product is concerned the experts and the consumers share the same opinion, and definitely as of now the aesthetic features of the product need to be connected to some function.

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In the purchase behaviour, in both the cases it is seen that aesthetics do play an important role. Many attributes also emerged which the consumers and experts considered important. It was seen that there was compatibility in the understanding of the experts regarding the specific attributes of automobiles and home appliances with the consumers. It is seen that aesthetics does have a relation with other important marketing aspects like the brand image and identity, corporate image, product quality, user’s image. Also it is seen that aesthetics can be used as a tool for differentiating and customising. Resources are also required to create good aesthetics, and to some extent, the consumers are ready to pay for it. Both the experts and the consumers commonly share this view. It was also seen that demographic variables do affect the importance of aesthetics while buying. The various variables affecting this was also looked into, an interesting observation in this was the role of income.

REFERENCES Bijapurkar, Rama. 2003. ‘…But are Marketers Ready Asks Rama Bijapurkar,’ Businessworld, December: 29–36. Businessworld. 2004. Marketing Whitebook 2003–04, New Delhi: Businessworld. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology. Das, S., D. Mukhopadhyah and R. Sunder. 2002. Demand Projection for Automobile and Automobile Tyre in India, New Delhi: NCAER.

Chapter 9 Companies’ Approach to Design and Aesthetics

9.1 INTRODUCTION The decision to include case studies in the book was to study the importance the companies give to aesthetics in the selected category. The purpose was to study a company’s approach towards design and aesthetics, and understand changes in some of the products and the effect of these changes in some of the marketing aspects. Two cases (Das, 2005) were selected based on their market standing, one in each category, to understand the approach of the company towards design and aesthetics, in the sense that how much importance they give to these, how design or aestheticsoriented the company is, and how the various aesthetic changes in their product helped them in terms of improving various marketing variables. The companies chosen for study were Maruti Udyog Limited, an automobile company and Samsung Electronics India Limited, a home appliances company. Two models of refrigerators and one model of air conditioner (AC) were suggested to consider for this study by Samsung, whereas Maruti Udyog Limited suggested studying their WagonR model for the purpose. Both are one of the market leaders in their respective product categories. The structured questionnaires were administered to the executives in the marketing and design department of the company.

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In addition to these two cases, six more case studies were included to drive the point regarding how some of the best known and successful products in the international market have used aesthetic elements in creating an unique design with special features which helped the company to develop a successful product in a competitive market environment. These six cases were taken from the Design Council, UK—a professional body supporting economy and society by demonstrating and promoting the vital role of design in making businesses more competitive and public services more effective. Additionally, a consumer durable product (water heater from Usha International Limited) has also been included. Kotler and Rath (1984) highlighted the importance of design and emphasised that it is a potent strategic tool and can be used by companies to gain a substantial competitive advantage, ‘Good design can enhance products, environment, communications, and corporate identity’ (ibid.).

9.2 CASE METHODOLOGY FOR THE SURVEY The responses from the company were captured with the help of questionnaires. The data collection for the case study was split into three levels. (a) Company response to various design procedures adopted. (b) Changes in the aesthetic features of the product. (c) Effect of the changes in the aesthetic features of the product on the market, product and company. The questionnaire from the study is used to measure a company’s design sensitivity and design management effectiveness. The questionnaire was subsequently modified incorporating some changes and additions to suit the context of the survey and the requirement.

Company Responses to Various Design Procedures Adopted by the Company In the first stage of the study, the objective was to get a feel on the attitude, sensitivity and culture of the company towards design.

companies’ approach to design and aesthetics

179

For this purpose three sets of questionnaires were designed (as given in Appendices 1 to 3) based on previous study by Philip Kotler and G. Alexander Rath (1984) covering design sensitivity audit in three parts as explained below. For this stage, three questionnaires were used to capture the data required for analysing which are explained in the following sections.

Design Sensitivity Audit I In this questionnaire, responses were sought from the marketing department of the company on a 3-point scale. The questions were asked on the importance given by their company on Performance, Quality, Durability, Aesthetics, Aesthetic Elements that is visual, ergonomics, auditory and olfactory (taken from the industry and consumer survey), and cost. Before seeking the responses to have a clear understanding of the various variables used, the definitions of these variables were also given along with the questionnaires to have common understanding (Kotler and Rath, 1984).

Design Sensitivity Audit II The Design Sensitivity Audit II was conducted through a questionnaire consisting of five questions that will indicate the role design plays in the company’s marketing decision-making. This questionnaire was administered to the marketing department. The focus is on the role of design in marketing decision-making process, product development, environment design, information design, and corporate identity design work. Each question is scored 0, 1 or 2. A company’s sensitivity will range from 0 to 10 which is the maximum score.

Design Management Effectiveness Audit In this audit we again asked five questions that rank from how well management uses design by considering the consumer’s need, whether they carry out any design analysis, planning and implementation, whether the managers are encouraged to carry out

180


creative experimentation, do they work closely with the marketing, engineering team etc. (Kotler and Rath, 1984). Each question is scored 0, 1 or 2. In this case also the score will range from 0 to 10. Design Sensitivity Audit II and Design Management Effectiveness Audit is combined and the companies with a combined design sensitivity and design management effectiveness rating of anywhere from 14 to 20 can be considered to be in fairly good shape (ibid.).

Changes in the Aesthetic Features of the Product In this stage questions were designed to capture the changes in the product over a period of time. The changes could be one or more than one in a particular product. A questionnaire was designed for each of the models to highlight the degree of aesthetic change from the previous model. The questionnaire based on previous studies was used to determine the impact of style change on demand of automobiles (Hoffer and Reilly, 1984). It was used to examine if the degree of change in style has a significant impact on that model’s sales compared to previous year, and whether there is any change in the market size by way of increase in the segment size as a result of better styling. However, for this study the new questionnaires were designed in line with the objectives. Here an ordinal index with values from 1 to 8 was developed to categorise styling changes. Using this index, every degree of aesthetic change from the previous model was categorised. Index value was assigned to each element of aesthetics, that is, visual, ergonomics and auditory, and the degree of aesthetic change for each was converted into index value. Index value is 1 if there is no change in any of the elements of aesthetics and more than 4 if there is significant change with respect to that element of aesthetics. Index Value V would stand for degree of aesthetic changes under visual, Index Value E for ergonomics and Index Value A for auditory. In this for index Value 3 it is called minor change; if it is 4 it is major modification. The aesthetic changes for the attributes


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mentioned figuring in these were taken from the analysis of the industry and the consumer survey in the earlier chapter.

Effect of the Changes in the Aesthetic Features of the Product on the Market, Product and Company In the third level attempt was made to see how the changes in the Index Value of automobile or home appliance has resulted into: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f ) (g) (h) (i) ( j) (k)

increase in the market size; increase in market share; increase in profitability; changing the positioning of the product; increase in the product line; increase in the price of the product; decrease in the price of the product; differentiating the product from the competition; customising the product; increase in brand image; and increase in the corporate image.

The response to the above was sought from the marketing department on a 3-point scale. One questionnaire was filled for each of the changed models.

9.3 INDUSTRY BACKGROUND— PASSENGER CAR The Indian car industry has come up a long way since liberalisation of the Indian economy in the post 1990s. It has complemented the liberalisation process by growing at a steady growth rate and acting as a key economic driver. Before the 1980s, there were very few players in the industry. After witnessing the steady reform processes like manufacturing and import allowed without licences and approvals, 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in the sector and unlimited usage of imported components has driven

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the industry to a high growth path (Automotive Components Manufacturer’s Association [ACMA]). Compared to any developed and developing economy the level of penetration of passenger cars in India is very low. The penetration of passenger car in India is 7 per 1,000 as compared to 10 per 1,000 of China, 480 per 1,000 of US or 27 per 1,000 of Brazil. Figure 9.1 demonstrates the amount of potential that exists in India for passenger cars. This industry is far from being saturated considering the potential it has when compared with any other nation. This is supported by availability of increased credit facility coupled with increase in finance (vehicle loan) penetration in the Indian market. National Council of Applied Economics and Research (NCAER), 1998 study observed institutionalisation of automobile finance has paved the way to sustain a long-term high growth for the industry. The recent trend indicates that the penetration of institutional finance into the customer base has been increasing over time. The last 5–6 years have witnessed a drop in the interest rates of vehicle loan by more than 5 per cent, where as the finance penetration has increased by over 20 per cent (see Figure 9.2). In the passenger car segment for the year 2004, India has registered a growth rate of 30 per cent as compared to 3 per cent for Japan, –6 per cent for United States and 15 per cent for China. The total production in India for the year 2004 stood at 1,178,354. India is ranked 11th in the world in passenger car production and for heavy trucks, India stands fourth in the global production for the year 2004 (ACMA). The CAGR for passenger cars for the year 1995–2000 stood at 8 per cent , for Multi Utility Vehicle (MUV) 14 per cent and overall for both 9 per cent, whereas for the years 2000–05 these stood at 17 per cent for passenger cars, 9 per cent for MUV and overall 15 per cent. This shows a steady increase over time, ACMA predicts an increase of 9 per cent for the years 2005–14. In the last decade or so, more than 30 models have invaded the market and this is happening every year, we now have two to three products being launched every year compared to one every two to three years (www.indiainfoline.com). The Table 9.1 gives the list of top vehicle producing countries in the year 2004. India is ranked 11th, yet the

Source: ACMA.

Germany

United Kingdom United States

S. Korea Japan

Mexico Malaysia

Thailand Brazil Singapore

Indonesia Sri Lanka

China Philippines

India

0

13 27

10 12

5 10

100

90

200

180

300

400

Passenger vehicle/Thousands

Passenger vehicle per capita (per 1,000)

130 147

122

FIGURE 9.1: Passenger Vehicle Penetration

Country

440

500

500

480 480

600

184


FIGURE 9.2: Finance Penetration in India

80 70 Percentage

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1998

2000

2004

2008

Year Finance penetration Source: ACMA/Smith Barney Booz Allan Analysis.

difference with the top player is significant. Amongst all the countries, the growth in India is the highest at 30 per cent where one looks at this in the context of the low level of penetration and we find that they complement each other. TABLE 9.1: Passenger Car Production in Top 12 Countries, 2004 (in Numbers) Rank

Country

Production

Growth Rate (%)

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

Japan Germany USA France Korea Spain China Brazil United Kingdom Canada India Russia

8,720,385 5,192,101 4,229,625 3,227,416 3,122,600 2,399,374 2,316,262 1,756,166 1,646,881 1,335,464 1,178,354 1,109,958

3 1 –6 0 13 0 15 17 –1 0 30 10

World total

44,099,632

5.1

Source: ACMA.


185

The segmentation of passenger car is done on length basis as per classification introduced by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in April 2002 which is: Segment A1 (mini)—cars having a length of up to 3,400 mm Segment A2 (compact)—cars having a length of 3,401–4,000 mm Segment A3 (mid-size)—cars having a length of 4,001–4,500 mm Segment A4 (executive)—cars having a length of 4,501–4,700 mm Segment A5 (premium)—cars having a length of 4,701–5,000 mm Segment A6 (luxury)—cars having a length of more than 5,000 mm

The trends for various segments for passenger cars (see Figures 9.3, 9.4 and Tables 9.2, 9.3 and 9.4) show an increase wherein there is an increase in growth of Compact Cars (3,401–4,000 mm) from 290,000 in 2001–02 to 715,000 for the year 2005–06. The year to year growth for 2006 is more than 16 per cent. However, there has been a drop in the demand for Mini Car segment (upto 3,400 mm) from 178,000 for the year 2003–04 to 98,000 for the year 2005–06. This is largely due to the increased affordability which is driving the passenger car demand up the price ladder supported by availability of easy finance for buying these vehicles. Tata Motors is planning to come up with a mini car aimed at the common man with an affordable and aggressive price range of around Rupees 0.1 million. This is expected to redefine the mini car segment. It is also expected that with this the price of compact cars may come down. Also due to this development, the consumer base may see a section of the segment graduate from Compact to Mid-size (4,000– 4,500 mm). Presently, the Indian market is dominated by Japanese and Korean manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors in the Compact and Mini Segments. To some extent competition is given by Tata Motors in this segment. Under the present scenario, it is expected that this sector will invest around US$ 5,500 million (INR converted to US$ @ $1 = INR 45) in the next 3–4 years (Ramnathan and Bhandari, 2004). With investments totalling US$ 5,600 in the last two years, business is really growing in the Indian automobile industry. A recent study done by Mckinsey for ACMA

1995

67

348

415

Source: ACMA.

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1997

134

134

1996

401

535

407

541

1999

123

574

Passenger car

1998

113

390

503

697

FIGURE 9.3: Passenger Vehicle Production in India

Number in '000

MUVs

Year

2000

127

513

640

2002

114

608

722 842

2003

146

Passenger vehicle

2001

105

564

669

988

2004

182

1,028

1,210

2005

196

1,113

1,309

147

290

5

2001–02

1

115

Source: ACMA.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Mini

Compact

2002–03

122 2 4

150

333

Mid-size

Year

2003–04

142 4 13

178

444

FIGURE 9.4: Passenger Car Segmentwise Production in India

Numbers in '000

24

127

Executive

2004–05

5

190

614

Premium

5 2005–06

23

98

204

715

Source: SIAM.

Passenger cars Utility vehicles MPVs Total passenger vehicles M&HCVs LCVs Total commercial vehicles Three wheelers Scooters Motorcycles Mopeds Electric two wheelers Total two wheelers Grand total

Category

500,301 105,667 63,751 669,719 96,752 65,756 162,508 212,748 937,506 2,906,323 427,498 – 4,271,327 5,316,302

2001–02

TABLE 9.2: Total Automobile Production of India

557,410 114,479 51,441 723,330 120,502 83,195 203,697 276,719 848,434 3,876,175 351,612 – 5,076,221 6,279,967

782,562 146,325 60,673 989,560 166,123 108,917 275,040 356,223 935,279 4,355,168 332,294 – 5,622,741 7,243,564

2003–04 960,487 182,018 67,371 1,209,876 214,807 138,896 353,703 374,445 987,498 5,193,894 348,437 – 6,529,829 8,467,853

2004–05 1,046,133 196,506 66,661 1,309,300 219,295 171,788 391,083 434,423 1,021,013 6,207,690 379,994 – 7,608,697 9,743,503

2005–06

Automobile Production Trends (Number of Vehicles) 2002–03

1,238,032 222,111 84,707 1,544,850 294,266 225,734 520,000 556,124 943,974 7,112,225 379,987 7,982 8,444,168 11,065,142

2006–07

Source: SIAM.


Category

509,088 104,253 61,775 675,116 89,999 56,672 146,671 200,276 908,268 2,887,194 408,263 – 4,203,725 5,225,788

2001–02 541,491 113,620 52,087 707,198 115,711 74,971 190,682 231,529 825,648 3,647,493 338,985 – 4,812,126 5,941,535

696,153 146,388 59,555 902,096 161,395 98,719 260,114 284,078 886,295 4,170,445 307,509 – 5,364,249 6,810,537

2003–04 820,179 176,360 65,033 1,061,572 198,506 119,924 318,430 307,862 922,428 4,964,753 322,584 – 6,209,765 7,897,629

2004–05 882,208 194,502 66,366 1,143,076 207,472 143,569 351,041 359,920 909,051 5,810,599 332,741 – 7,052,391 8,906,428

2005–06

Automobile Domestic Sales Trends (Number of Vehicles) 2002–03

TABLE 9.3: Total Automobile Domestic Sales of India

1,076,408 220,199 83,091 1,379,698 275,600 192,282 467,882 403,909 940,673 6,553,664 355,870 7,341 7,857,548 10,109,037

2006–07

Source: SIAM.


Category

49,273 3077 815 53,165 4,824 7,046 11,870 15,462 28,332 56,880 18,971 – 104,183 184,680

2001–02 70,263 1,177 565 72,005 5,638 6,617 12,255 43,366 32,566 123,725 23,391 – 179,682 307,308

125,320 3,049 922 129,291 8,188 9,244 17,432 68,144 53,687 187,287 24,078 – 265,052 479,919

2003–04 160,670 4,505 1,227 166,402 13,474 16,466 29,940 66,795 60,699 277,123 28,585 – 366,407 629,544

2004–05 169,990 4,489 1,093 175,572 14,078 26,522 40,600 76,881 83,934 386,054 43,181 – 513,169 806,222

2005–06

Automobile Exports Trends (Number of Vehicles) 2002–03

TABLE 9.4: Total Automobile Export Trends in India

192,745 4,403 1,330 198,478 18,838 30,928 49,766 143,896 35,685 545,887 37,566 – 619,138 1,011,278

2006–07


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says the sector has the potential to grow to US$ 33–40 billion by 2015 including US$ 20–25 billion of exports (ACMA). The key factors which will influence the automobile production and competitiveness apart from technology, design and brand name would be competitive sourcing of components. India has a well defined component base capable of feeding the industry, yet imports would play a big role in the initial inception stages. Domestic capacity of the component players also would play a key role. As far as quality of component produced in India is concerned, there exist manufacturers with certifications like ISO 9001, TS 16949, QS 9000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, few Deming Prize winners and users of model shop floor practices like Kaizen, JIT and so on. Arriving at partnership with these companies would be a key challenge. Establishment of sales and service network, existing competition in the domestic market and competition from other global players like BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mitsubishi and so on would also be of key importance. Apart from all these, there will always be an expectation from an Indian that his car should be lowly priced, should be durable and strong and most importantly be fuel efficient. Therefore, it will become very important for the companies to draw long-term plans and strategies so that the initial step would be to gain an entry and then subsequently consolidate.

9.4 MAJOR PLAYER IN THE PASSENGER CAR SEGMENT Initially, in the passenger car segment there were only two major players in the market, Hindustan Motors and Premier Auto. Today, we have many major players in the fray. The list is mentioned below: • • • •

Hindustan Motors Fiat India General Motors Ford Motors

192 • • • • • • • • •


Hyundai Motors Maruti Suzuki Mahindra and Mahindra Toyota Honda Skoda Tata Motors Daimler Chrysler Mitsubishi

Apart from these, many companies are getting their products imported by appointed dealers and selling in the domestic market. Some of them are BMW, Porsche, Nissan, Audi and Bentley, to name a few. From the list provided above, some of the companies have joint ventures with Indian companies and some are wholly owned subsidies of their parent companies. This entry of global players has expanded the market in terms of products and options. As far as the design and development of the products are concerned, most of the companies are dependent on their parent companies for the design and only those products are promoted and sold in India which already exist elsewhere and some modifications are done in the context of the Indian market. However, there are some cases where products are developed specifically catering to the Indian market. Therefore, we can say to some extent that generally the design philosophies followed by these companies are in line with their parent companies.

9.5 COMPANY BACKGROUND OF MARUTI UDYOG LIMITED Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) is the largest car manufacturer in the country with a market share of over 40 per cent in the car industry. It is a joint sector corporation set-up by the Government of India and Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan. Although the company is a clear leader, it faces threats from new entrants into car industry considering the present industry scenario (www.marutiudyog.com).


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The company was incorporated in 1981 to take over the assets of the erstwhile Maruti Limited (www.marutiudyog.com). Maruti Limited set up in June 1971 had been wound up by a High Court order in 1978. In the year 1982, the government signed a joint venture agreement with Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan. Suzuki’s stake had risen from 26 per cent to 40 per cent in 1987. It’s stake went up once again to 50.25 per cent in 1992. The first product, Maruti 800 was launched in 1984. In 1985, the all-terrain vehicle Gypsy was launched and Maruti sold its 50,000th vehicle. Maruti 1000 was launched in 1990 and the Zen in 1993. The company manufactures passenger cars at its factory in Gurgaon, Haryana. Its installed capacity of 350,000 vehicles was raised to 450,000 in the year 1999. The company’s models include the 800cc small car, Esteem, Zen, Alto, Swift, Grand Vitara, Omni and Gypsy. In the car segment, it had a market share of 83 per cent in FY 98, with sales of 345,303 cars. For the period April 1998 to January 1999, MUL car sales have dropped by 6.4 per cent to 263,681 compared to 281,697 cars for the corresponding period for FY 98. This is regularly dropping with the emergence of players like Hyundai Motors, Tata Motors and so on and also the change in consumer behaviour attributed to the fact that people have started moving from the base model of a car to other higher end models. The company is a significant exporter with exports to over 50 countries. During FY 98, exports also witnessed a drop of 26.87 per cent to 24,757 cars. For the period April 1998 to January 1999, MUL car exports dropped by 10 per cent to 17,155 compared to 19,054 cars for the corresponding period in FY 98. All these fact suggests change in the competitive scenario as far as the passenger car segment is concerned. In August 1998, the company launched the diesel version of the Zen which is powered by a 1527cc engine supplied by Peugeot Citreon Motors, France. The company also launched a new model in the 800cc segment. MUL later launched Baleno in the luxury car segment and WagonR in mid-size car segment. The company is known for its strategy of value-for-money pricing which has been made possible due to the high levels of

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indigenisation of its vehicles. While Maruti 800, Zen, Esteem and Omni are indigenised to the extent of over 90 per cent; Gypsy is indigenised to the extent of 82 per cent and the export version of Zen called Alto to the extent of 76 per cent. Maruti has a vendor network of about 375. The company has several joint ventures with some of these vendors to source its raw material requirements. On the sales and marketing side, Maruti has a network of over 200 dealers and sales outlets in more than 100 locations across the country. It also has an over 1,000 strong service workshop network covering over 400 locations in the country. In December 1998, MUL slashed the prices of its 800cc and Zen cars by about INR 24,000 and INR 51,000 respectively. This has helped MUL to restrict the slide in its market share, due to the entry of new car manufacturers For FY 99; MUL’s total income dropped by 4.2 per cent to INR 81.2 bn. The decrease in prices of 800cc and Zen was reflected in a drop of 20 per cent in net profit to INR 5.2 bn compared to INR 6.5 bn in FY 98. Currently, MUL is the leading automobile company in the passenger car segment with over 40 per cent market share in FY 04. It has a presence across many segments in automobiles. It is the leader in the mini and the compact segment with its brands like ‘800’, ‘Zen’, ‘Alto’ and ‘WagonR’. It also has a presence in the mid-size segment with its ‘Esteem’ and ‘Baleno’ brands and ‘Omni’, ‘Vitara’, ‘Versa’ models. For the year 2003–04 the company had 100 per cent share in the A1 segment, 47 per cent in the A2 segment, 10 per cent in the A3 segment and 100 per cent in the MPV segment for which Maruti is the only manufacturer. The total market share of the company for the year 2003–04 stands at 45 per cent, the next highest is Hyundai which is at 17 per cent. The company has also recently launched ‘Grand Vitara’, a top-end SUV for the Indian market. MUL exported 51,175 units in FY 04, a growth of 59 per cent YOY (Year on Year). Its FOB value is Rs 9.4 bn in FY 04 compared to Rs 6.2 bn in FY 03, registering a 51.7 per cent rise YOY. This growth was mainly due to ‘Maruti 800’ which grew by 56.8 per cent. The A2 category registered a 60.5 per cent growth. Alto


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and Zen have done well for the company. The company registered good growth in Algeria, Belgium, Bhutan, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the UK. The objective of R&D by MUL was two-fold. One was to reduce product costs and the second was to become the regional R&D hub for Suzuki operations. The R&D spend for FY 04 stood at Rs 390 mn which is 0.35 per cent of total turnover. R&D operations include, face lifts and body changes—styling, clay modelling, computer aided design, prototype making, dies designing and so on. In FY 04, the company introduced new Zen due to its R&D efforts and subsequently a completely all new model was launched in 2007.

9.6 CASE FINDINGS AUTOMOBILE— MARUTI UDYOG LIMITED The findings of the case are explained in detail in the subsequent sections and the complete analysis is also given towards the end of the case.

Company Responses to Various Design Procedures Adopted by the Company (Automobile) Design Sensitivity Audit I For this, the questionnaire was administered to the marketing department of the company. The marketing department nominated the brand manager handling the particular product WagonR to collect and fill the questionnaire on behalf of the company. The response for the Design Sensitivity Audit I is mentioned in Tables 9.5 and 9.6. Table 9.6 is specific to the aesthetic elements, whereas in Table 9.5 aesthetics as a whole is taken as a variable. TABLE 9.5: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile Company

Performance

Quality

Durability

Aesthetics

Cost

3

3

3

2

3

Maruti Source: Das, 2005.

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TABLE 9.6: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile (Aesthetic Elements—Aesthetic Mix) Company

Aesthetics Elements Visual

Ergonomics

Auditory

Olfactory

2

3

2

2

Maruti Source: Das, 2005.

The responses were taken on a 3-point scale. Variables related to the product were considered in the questionnaire. As far as importance given to aesthetics in MUL is concerned, aesthetics ranks lower than other variables like performance, quality, durability and cost. Kotler and Rath (1984) considered these variables as elements of the design mix. In place of aesthetics, they considered appearance as one of the elements. Here in the context of the study, aesthetics is taken as one of the elements of design mix. Aesthetics is further split into other elements visual, ergonomics, auditory and olfactory which form the ‘aesthetic mix’ of the product. When the specific elements of aesthetics are considered, ergonomics is more important than the attributes under the other elements. The result of the Design Sensitivity Audit-I is also graphically represented in Figures 9.5 and 9.6. FIGURE 9.5: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile (Aesthetic Elements) 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Visual aesthetics elements

Ergonomics

Aesthetic elements Maruti

Source: Das, 2005.

Auditory

Olfactory


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FIGURE 9.6: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Automobile

3 2.5

Value

2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Performance

Quality

Durability

Aesthetics

Cost

Variables Maruti

Source: Das, 2005.

Design Sensitivity Audit II and Design Management Effectiveness Audit As discussed earlier in the case methodology, Design Sensitivity Audit II and Design Management Effectiveness Audit is combined and the companies with a combined design sensitivity and design management effectiveness rating of anywhere from 14 to 20 can be considered to be in fairly good shape (Kotler and Rath, 1984). In this case study the score of MUL is 18. Therefore, we can say that MUL has scored well. This indicates that the company is using design thinking in their marketing strategies. Using design thinking would amount to incorporating design into the marketing planning process (ibid.). The results of this may also be linked with the performance of these companies in their respective product categories (mentioned under the section of company background). The questionnaire is given in Appendices 2 and 3.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Source: Das, 2005.

E

Complete body change.

Partial sheet metal change, introduction of additional body style in plastic or rubber.

Grill/Tail-lamp and colour and/or trim change and wheels/tyres change along with one of 5.

Changes in interior dashboard, colours and along with one of 4.

Grill/Tail-lamp and colour and/or trim change.

Additional colours.

Minor changes in the mirrors/ handle/logo and other exterior parts.

No visible exterior change.

Visual

Increase in space of the vehicle and or better visibility of the road along with 7.

Any one of 6 and power windows.

Introduction of power steering and/or power brakes/better gears.

Changes in the seats—front and back for better comfort.

Changes in the seats in the front for better comfort.

Minor changes in the steering wheel gripping.

Minor changes in parts like handles, door opening system.

No changes.

Ergonomics

Auditory

Change in sound of the engine while in use.

5 and 6 together.

Reduction in sound inside after the windows are closed.

Reduction in sound made by each part while usage (rattle and squeaks).

Change in sound of the horn.

Increase in sound of the horn.

Minor change in the sound while closing doors.

No changes.

Degree of Aesthetic Change from Prior Models (Automobile)

A

Index Value

V

Index Value

TABLE 9.7: Changes in Aesthetic Features of the Product—Automobile

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Changes in the Aesthetic Features of the Product The questionnaire for capturing the data is given in Table 9.7. The questionnaire was administered to the marketing department of the company and they filled the form indicating the changes. For automobile model, WagonR was chosen by the company for the study. Since the launch of the product in 2000, five new models were launched and the changes were indicated in the questionnaire. The company compared the aesthetic features of the present and previous models and filled up the questionnaire. The details of Index Value for all models are mentioned in Table 9.8. TABLE 9.8: Index Value of Aesthetic Changes (Automobile) Model

WR Sep 2000 WR Feb 2001 WR Jan 2002 WR June 2002 WR April 2003

Automobile Index Value-V

Index Value-E

Index Value-A

1 6 6 6 4

6 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1

Source: Das, 2005.

In the case of automobiles, there are four major changes in visual and one in ergonomics, whereas there had been no changes in the auditory quality. This analysis provided the basis for the analysis in the next section.

Effect of the Changes in the Aesthetic Features of the Product on the Market, Product and Company Here in this section, the effect of the changes in aesthetic features of WagonR, on the market, product and company is seen. The effect is recorded on a 3-point scale and the response of these after each model change is indicated in Table 9.9. In the case of automobiles, the effect on the market/product and company due to the changes in the aesthetic aspects are seen. For the first model change, that is, for model number WR Sep 2000,

Automobile

Source: Das, 2005.

1 6 6 6 4

6 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1

2 1 1 1 1

3 2 2 2 1

2 1 2 3 1

2 2 1 3 2

2 2 1 2 1

2 2 2 3 2

1 1 1 1 1

Index Index Index Market Market Profit Posi- Product Price Price Value-V Value-E Value-A Size Share tioning Line InDecrease crease

WR Sep 2000 WR Feb 2001 WR Jan 2002 WR June 2002 WR April 2003

Model

TABLE 9.9: Effect of Aesthetic Changes—Automobile

2 3 2 3 3

3 3 2 3 1

Differ- Custoentiation mise

2 3 2 3 2

3 1 2 3 1

Brand CorpoImage rate Image

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Index Value of visual is 1 and so is that of auditory but that of ergonomics is 6 which is a major change. This has resulted into positive effect on the variables to a reasonable extent in terms of market size, profit, positioning, increase in product line, increase in price, differentiation and brand image. The rise is very high for market share, customising and corporate image. Similarly, for the entire model, the index value of each aspect and its impact on market/product and company are evident. It can be said that in the case of automobiles, the aesthetic changes has positively affected the company’s overall performance. The changes have helped the company to increase the market share to a reasonable extent, increase the profitability, help in positioning the product, increase in the product line, differentiating the product with respect to competition, customising the product and increasing the corporate image. The graphical representation for WagonR is mentioned in Figure 9.7. Table 9.9 indicates total score of Index changes and its subsequent effect on product/market and company for WagonR. The total change in Index Value of all the aspects of aesthetics and the total cumulative changes of the market/product and company are seen and the observations are as under (Table 9.10). This is done to find out the total impact by the aesthetic changes. TABLE 9.10: Cumulative Index Value and Scores—Automobile Model WR Sep 2000 WR Feb 2001 WR Jan 2002 WR June 2002 WR April 2003

Total Value

Total Score

8 8 8 8 6

24 21 18 27 16

Source: Das, 2005.

9.7 INDUSTRY BACKGROUND— HOME APPLIANCES The major categories of product which form a part of the appliance (white goods) segment are mainly refrigerators, washing machines,

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FIGURE 9.7: Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—WagonR

Independent variables—Index Values—visual, ergonomics, auditory

Corporate image Brand image Customise Differentiation Price decrease

WR Sep 2000 WR Feb 2001

Price increase

WR Jan 2002 WR June 2002

Product line

WR April 2003 Positioning Profit Market share Market size Index Value-A Index Value-E Index Value-V 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Index Value between 1 and 8 Source: Das, 2005.

ACs, microwaves, dishwashers. The top three in this category are refrigerators, washing machines and ACs. Refrigerators in India fall under two major segments—direct cool and frost-free. The former class of products still constitutes majority of sales. However, with buyers keen to replace their old refrigerators with a technologically improved model, sales of frost-free refrigerators have grown steadily over the past few years. All the


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models of the present-day refrigerators are non-CFC, as in India the use of CFC in refrigerators is banned. Moreover, with increasing disposable incomes and higher aspiration levels, preferences today have moved towards larger capacity refrigerators. Earlier, industry experts predicted that the refrigerator sales would be leading the consumer durable market (www.indiainfoline. com). The announcement of Annual Budget of 2007 had brought in some changes in this prediction. Credit Rating Information Services of India (CRISIL) research analysts have predicted (Chatterjee, 2007) that the consumer durable industry which includes other than appliances (white goods), television, VCD and DVD players, and audio system (consumer electronics) is expected to grow by 12.3 per cent over the next 12 years and expected to reach Rs 170 billion (approx. US$ 3.86 billion) by the year 2006–07. In value, the industry is likely to grow by 10–12 per cent over the next two years. The major contribution to this growth would come from the growth of TV and ACs. The AC at the moment has a very low level of penetration when compared to other appliances like refrigerator. Figures 9.8 and 9.9 show the trend of growth and percentage growth of washing machine (ORG Marg Survey). The air conditioning industry grew by about 21 per cent for the period 2006 to 2007 over the previous period. The industry also may grow in value due to increase in input cost of the product. The refrigeration industry grew by around 6 per cent and is likely to continue this trend. At the moment, the refrigerator is not replaced frequently and has an average life of around 10 years, however this is set to go down in the future. The sale of washing machine is also similar to that of the refrigerator. The product, even though enjoys lesser penetration when compared to refrigerator, the problems related to adequacy of electric supply and availability of water acts as a major deterrent in its growth. The refrigerator industry in India is characterised by the following attributes: • Low penetration • Rural markets yet to develop due to infrastructure bottlenecks

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

May '03

Mar. '03

Jan. '03

Source: ORG Marg Survey.

Numbers

250,000

Sep. '03

Jul. '03

All washers

Nov. '03

FIGURE 9.8: Trend of Washing Machine

Nov. '04

Sep. '04

Jul. '04

May '04

Mar. '04

Jan. '04 FA (Fully automotic)

Month and year

Sep.'05

Jul.'05 May '05

Mar. '05

Jan. '05

Total SA (Semi-automatic)

Mar.'06 Jan.'06 Nov.'05

Source: ORG Marg Survey.

–60

–40

0

–20

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

All washers

May '04

FA (Fully automatic)

Year and month

Jan. '05

Total SA (Semi-automatic)

Jun. '05

Jan. '06

FIGURE 9.9: Growth in Washing Machine Market over Previous Year in the Same Month (in Percentage)

Percentage of growth over March 2005

Jan. '04 Feb. '04 Mar. '04 Apr. '04

Jun. '04 Jul. '04 Aug. '04 Sep. '04 Oct. '04 Nov. '04 Dec. '04 Feb. '05 Mar. '05 Apr. '05 May '05 Jul. '05 Aug. '05 Sep. '05 Oct. '05 Nov. '05 Dec. '05 Feb. '06 Mar. '06

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• Rising raw material costs • Competition from new entrants • Stiff competition leading to higher advertisement expenditure Refrigerators in India are generally classified into four capacity ranges. They are: • • • •

Less than 100 litres 100 litres to 200 litres 200 litres to 300 litres Above 300 litres

When one talks about the buying power in India as compared to the developed consumer markets, it takes only two days salary to buy a refrigerator, whereas in India it will take about one months salary to buy the same (ww.indiainfoline.com). Thus, purchasing power influences the industry growth (NCAER). With rising levels of disposable income and the consequent change in aspiration levels, branded durables have become something a consumer takes pride in possessing, especially among the emerging middle class. The most surprising revelation is the increasing percentage of the rural rich who are willing to pay for a good quality product. The demand for washing machines will however continue to be lower as compared to refrigerators in the rural markets (NCAER). Perhaps, one of the most important factors other than the dip in cost (Table 9.11) which is leading to increase in the penetration is the expansion of the hire-purchase scheme. There is a ready finance available at most of the sales point, thus enabling consumer to aspire for new products. Around 60 per cent of durable purchases in the market are hire purchase led (www.indiainfoline.com). TABLE 9.11: Average Price Drop in the Past 3 Years (INR) Category Refrigerators Washing machines Source: NCAER, 1998.

1997–98

1998–99

16,000 08,000

15,000 07,900

1999–2000 14,500 07,800


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The refrigerator and the washing machine industries have grown at a CAGR of 15.5 per cent and 15.3 per cent respectively in the six-year period 1993–94 to 1998–99. The domestic penetration rates of refrigerators and washing machines in 1996 were 8.6 per cent (combined) as compared to 98 per cent and 95 per cent in Japan and 87 per cent and 67 per cent in Brazil respectively. The Indian market consists of domestic players as well as multinationals. Most of the domestic players have collaboration with a multinational. Some of the major players are listed as: 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08. 09. 10. 11.

Whirlpool of India Limited Electrolux Kelvinator Limited LG Electronics BS Refrigerators Limited (BPL) Samsung India Electronics Limited Videocon Godrej Daewoo Anchor Electricals Limited Onida Singer Haier

Apart from these, there are some players like Siemens, National and GE whose products are imported and sold in India. The direct cool segment makes the most of the refrigerator market. However, we are witnessing a change in the consumer preferences towards frost-free refrigerators. In the years to come, the gap between the shares of direct cool vs. frost-free refrigerators will diminish (Businessworld, 2004). This is also evident from the fact that most of the new capacities that are being installed are in the frost-free segment. The frost-free segment has grown at a pace of 50 per cent. The is due to the higher disposable income, great product awareness and affordable pricing (Das, 2007a). The Korean manufacturers emerged as the leader with LG Electronics India Pvt. Limited leading the race followed by Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Limited. It was observed by LG

208


that consumers are willing to shell out a little more to take home a higher-end product even as a first time purchase. According to ORG data for May 2007, the domestic refrigerator market stood at Rs 5,741.1 million in terms of value and 0.537 million in terms of volume. The frost-free segment formed 28.6 per cent of the entire market and was worth Rs 2,467.4 million. The growth in frost-free segment in terms of value was more than 60 per cent when compared to the growth of 50 per cent in volume. The industry leader for the month of May 2007 was LG and was followed by Whirlpool with market share of 25.5 and 23.2 per cent respectively. The overall refrigerator industry grew by over 16 per cent for 2007 over 2006 wherein direct cool segment grew by around 6.93 per cent and frost-free segment by over 60 per cent indicating the tilt in behaviour of the consumers (Figures 9.10, 9.11 and 9.12). The Indian refrigerator industry typically behaves like a fashion industry. The consumer taste changes rapidly. They want newer models with the latest features. The competition is on FIGURE 9.10: Industry Trend Refrigerator 70,000

Numbers ('000)

60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 2006

2007 Year

Direct cool total Source: ORG Marg Survey.

Frost-free total

Grand total

209

companies’ approach to design and aesthetics FIGURE 9.11: Refrigerator Direct Cool Trend 16,000

Numbers ('00)

14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 Voltas

Sanyo

Sansui

Ichiban

GEM

Haier

Daewoo

BPL

Videocon

Kelvinator

Electrolux

Akai

Godrej

Samsung

LG

Whirlpool

0

Company 2006

2007

Source: ORG Marg Survey. FIGURE 9.12: Refrigerator Trend Frost-Free 4,500 4,000 Numbers ('00)

3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500

Company 2006 Source: ORG Marg Survey.

2007

Sanyo

Haier

Daewoo

BPL

Videocon

Electrolux

Godrej

Samsung

LG

Whirlpool

0

210


features differentiation, time to market, price, and promotion, basically on every front. The dealer-push and brand-pull both play a very crucial role. Hence, the company concentrating on both fronts equally will have an upper hand over the others. Companies like Whirlpool, LG and Samsung have practised this very well and currently are the leaders on the sales front. The past few years has seen a constant realignment of market shares in the industry. Further, China’s entry into the WTO and the expected reduction of the quantitative restrictions may pose a considerable threat. But, import duties are likely to remain high enough so as to give the Indian brands an upper hand. Thus, on the whole it seems quite uncertain for a shake out to occur. Highly competitive activities are also witnessed in airconditioning industry. The entry of Korean players like LG and Samsung has clearly redefined the market. The industry, which was once in the hands of a few organised players and a large number of unorganised players, has really transformed into a big market. This was predominantly due to the competitive prices offered by the Korean players which forced the others to follow suit and thus lowering the price difference between a branded and an unbranded product. The companies using the same dealer network and logistics expanded their product range and reach. This subsequently forced many companies to restructure their operations. Though the industry is still dominated by the unorganised segment, the gap between the two has narrowed down on account of the reduction of excise duties also. International players have seized this opportunity to gain at the cost of smaller players. Improved technology, reduction in excise duties from a 110 per cent to 65 per cent and prices slide by about 8–10 per cent has reflected into higher growth rates, especially in room ACs (www.indiainfoline.com). This industry can be broadly divided into room ACs and industrial ACs (chillers). Of this room ACs are the fastest growing segment that is, at nearly 30 per cent, while the AC market on a whole is growing at a rate of 10 per cent. Room ACs account for 55 per cent of the total market, which is further, divided into windows and splits. Windows account for 75 per cent of the market and is dominated by the unorganised


211

sector. Unorganised market includes dumping from South-East Asia. Despite having no service centres and shortage of replacement, these ACs have started gaining shares. It’s the futuristic technology and products developed based on consumer perception, which has led to a success of these products. The major branded players in the air conditioning industry are: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

LG Electronics Samsung Electronics Whirlpool Electrolux Onida Voltas Blue Star Videocon Godrej Fedders Lloyd Carrier Aircon Hitachi General

The projected sale of ACs in the Indian market is expected around Rs 360 million in value (Ravikumar and Challapalli, 2007). India is considered to be one of the most potential markets for ACs in the world. This is predominately due to the changes in the lifestyle of the middle-class Indians which is on the rise, current socio-economic factors, competition from various inter-national players and new domestic players, availability of easy finance and changes in urbanisation in some of the cities. Apart from this, ACs have witnessed a substantial drop in prices to the tune of almost 40 per cent since the last six years. Today, the market also boasts of new and large range of innovative designs and models. In the year 2007, the duties have further dropped enabling the organised players to increase their market share from 40 per cent few years back to 80 per cent today. For the year 2007, the penetration in the market is expected to be around 2–3 per cent, it is expected that the market is likely to grow by around 25 per cent

212


across categories. The market also is seeing increase in acceptance of costlier split ACs in comparison to the conventional window model. Lately, the market has also matured in terms of positioning of the product that is moving away from the functional features to differentiated attributes like health (germ-free air), pure air and ease of operation (ergonomics), quiet performance also considering the shortage of power and the amount a consumer pays in the higher slab of consumption of electricity, energy saving features of the products are also highlighted and even carry BEE-Certified Star Rating. As per ORG Marg Survey, LG was having a market share of 33 per cent in 2006. This year, the company has targeted 34–35 per cent share. The air conditioning industry in India is expecting the market to grow at a CAGR of 25 per cent every year and may perhaps cross the refrigerator market by 2008. The growth will be primarily due to the low present level penetration and fall in prices. The market for the year 2006 is around Rs 30,000 million in 2006 with the number of units being sold 1.6 million, whereas the refrigerator market stood at Rs 43,000 million even though the number of refrigerator sold was higher than ACs.

9.8 COMPANY BACKGROUND: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS INDIA LIMITED Founded in 1958, Samsung (www.samsungindia.com) globally is a leading consumer electronics company. It had a brand value of US$ 31 billion in 2002. The net sales globally stood at US$ 116.8 billion with a net income of US$ 8.9 billion. The company has worldwide presence and has 87 offices in 45 countries. In 2002, it was a leading consumer electronics and appliances company with 25 per cent market share in microwave oven standing first among all competition. Samsung India Electronics Limited (SIEL) was formed in the year 1995 as a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Company Limited and since then it has gradually become a leading player in the field of consumer electronics and home appliances.


213

Currently, Samsung India Electronics Limited, subsidiary of the US$ 56 billion Samsung Electronics Co. Limited has been operating in India since 1995. It is a leading provider of high-tech consumer electronics, home appliances, IT and telecom products in the country. In its tenure of over eight years in the country, Samsung India has set up manufacturing facilities for colour televisions, microwave ovens, washing machines, ACs, colour monitors and more recently, refrigerators, in the country. All the facilities are located at its manufacturing complex at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company set up a Software Technology Park for Digital Visual Display Products at Noida in the year 2002. In the year 2004, Samsung India has been made the regional headquarters for Samsung operations in South West Asia; Samsung Electronics Co. Limited is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication and digital convergence technology. Samsung Electronics employs approximately 75,000 people in 87 offices in 45 countries. The company is the world’s largest producer of memory chips, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. Samsung Electronics consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, Telecommunication Network Business, Digital Appliance Business, Semiconductor Business and LCD Business. In August 1995, Samsung India received the certificate for commencement of business and in December 1995 Samsung India Electronics Limited (SIEL) launched its first range of products in India. In May 1996, the company launched its product in South India and in June 1996 laid the foundation stone for CTV factory at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Samsung India commenced manufacturing microwave ovens at Noida facility with a capacity of 50,000 units per annum. In September 1999 it started Millennium Digital Campaign and launched digital products in the country. February 2000 saw the launch of Samsung’s ‘Bio’ range of products, ‘Bio-Ceramic’ microwave ovens, ‘Bio-Fresh’ refrigerator range and Insta-Chill ACs. The company subsequently set up a R&D centre for colour television at Noida. With an investment of US$ 5 million, the

214


Indian R&D centre was made the regional hub, catering to design requirements in India, Middle East and South-East Asia. In May 2000 a new company Samsung Electronics India (P) Limited—Samsung’s 100 per cent subsidiary for IT and Telecom products in the country was launched. In July 2000 Samsung India produced its one-millionth colour television in India—the first MNC to achieve this milestone in India. In September 2000 it commenced exports of ‘Made in India’ colour televisions to Western Europe. The second production line was set up at Noida for the manufacture of Projection TVs in India. Samsung sponsored the Indian Olympic Team to the 2000 Sydney Olympics in October 2000. In November 2000, Vice Chairman and CEO, Samsung Electronics, Mr Jong Yong Yun visited India and announced fresh investments of US$ 10 million for setting up a high tech, state-of-the-art colour monitor plant in India. On 2 December 2000, Samsung India completed five years of operations in the country. In June 2001, colour monitor plant was set up—Samsung’s seventh colour monitor plant in the world and the first colour monitor plant in India started production with a plant capacity of 1.5 million units. In November 2001, Samsung India began the domestic production of fully automatic washing machines at its 100,000 capacity per annum unit at Noida. In February 2002, it commenced domestic production of ACs with plant capacity of 100,000 units per annum. In November 2003 Samsung’s new, high-tech, advanced refrigerator facility was inaugurated, and in February 2004 India was made regional headquarters for Samsung South-West Asia. With ‘Market Driven Change’ being the guiding principle, the Company’s strategies is to achieve its targeted turnover of INR 15,200 million including strengthening the Home Appliances Range. Having made a strong impact in the market with its ‘Bio’ range of Home Appliances—‘Bio Fresh’ refrigerators, its ‘Bio-Cool’ series of conventional refrigerators and in addition to its ‘Bio-Ceramic‘ microwave ovens, Samsung India plans to further reinforce its home appliance range by launching 4–6 new models in every product category. The company commenced the domestic production of


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washing machines (November 2001) and ACs (February 2002), which is giving it the flexibility to meet the needs of the Indian customers. Having built sufficient volumes in the washing machine and AC categories in India, Samsung India has set up production units for both these categories in the country, at Noida. The company is manufacturing both window and split ACs at the 100,000 capacity Noida plant. The washing machine plant too, has a capacity of 100,000 units per annum. The categories of product that have been instrumental in contributing to the growth of Samsung for the year 2007 has been flat panels, both LCD and Plasma TVs, twin-door and frost-free refrigerators and split ACs. The panels have grown in excess of 100 per cent whereas the frost-free refrigerators and spilt ACs have grown to the tune of 35 and 80 per cent respectively (Das, 2007b). The flat TV also grew by around 40 per cent. The company is planning to launch newer range in TVs for the Indian market. The company in ACs have introduced new range of split and window models with some exclusive features like ‘good sleep’, ultra tropical rotary (UTR) compressor and ‘double micro plasma ion’ for cool, pure air and restful sleep for the customer (Ravikumar and Challapalli, 2007) in the split AC models. In the window AC range, features like filter check display mode and fluorescent remote control have been introduced. The company is aiming at least 50 per cent contribution in volume from the split air conditioning models and 45 per cent by volume of the total refrigerator sales from frost-free range. The strategy of the company is to use differentiation and expand the sales and service reach to nurture growth.

9.9 CASE FINDINGS HOME APPLIANCE— SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS INDIA LIMITED In this section, analysis of data from the response from Samsung Electronics India Ltd. (SEIL) is mentioned. The procedure followed

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here for data collection was same as that in the case of MUL. Here the marketing manager was the company nominee.

Company Responses to Various Design Procedures Adopted by the Company Design Sensitivity Audit I The response for the Design Sensitivity Audit I is mentioned in Tables 9.12 and 9.13. TABLE 9.12: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance Company

Performance

Quality

Durability

Aesthetics

Cost

3

3

3

3

3

Samsung Source: Das, 2005.

TABLE 9.13: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance (Aesthetic Elements—Aesthetic Mix) Aesthetics Elements Visual 3

Ergonomics

Auditory

Olfactory

2

2

1

Source: Das, 2005.

The responses were taken on a 3-point scale. Variables related to the product were considered in the questionnaire. It is observed that SEIL gives the maximum importance to all the variables. When it comes to specific elements of aesthetics, the importance is given to visual aspects more than the other elements. The ergonomics and auditory aspects are given equal importance while the olfactory none. The same is graphically represented in Figures 9.13 and 9.14.

Design Sensitivity Audit II & Design Management Audit The total score of SEIL was 19, which we can say is a good score. This indicates that the company makes use of design thinking

companies’ approach to design and aesthetics FIGURE 9.13: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance 3 3

Value

2 2 1 1 0 Performance

Quality

Durability

Aesthetics

Cost

Variables Samsung Source: Das, 2005. FIGURE 9.14: Design Sensitivity Audit I—Home Appliance (Aesthetic Elements)

3

Value

3 2 2 1 1 0

Visual

Ergonomics

Auditory

Aesthetics elements Samsung Source: Das, 2005.

Olfactory

217

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Source: Das, 2005.

E

A

Index Value

V

Index Value

Complete body change.

Changes in the internal design and colours along with external changes.

Changes in the visible parts like doors, handles, consoles, etc.

Some minor changes in the body, the plastic parts and/or logo.

Introduction of additional colours.

Complete change in packaging.

Minor changes in packaging.

No visible exterior change.

Visual

Changes in the shape of the product so as to occupy less space.

Easier and comfortable controls.

Decrease in physical effort while usage.

Increase in room for movement during usage.

Introduction of wheels or any other option to facilitate movement.

Minor changes in the parts like handles. Door opening system.

Change in the packaging for better transportation.

No changes.

Ergonomics

Overall reduction in the sound of the product including 5 and 6.

Reduction in the sound of the compressor or motor.

Reduction in the sound of the product while usage (rattle and squeaks).

Introduction of new sound related features like clock/radio, etc.

Change in sound of the timer and other indicators.

Minor change in the sound of the wheel while shifting.

Minor change in the sound of closing the doors.

No changes.

Auditory

Degree of Aesthetic Change from Prior Models (Home Appliance)

TABLE 9.14: Changes in Aesthetic Features of the Product—Home Appliance

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(Kotler and Rath, 1984) in their marketing strategies and again the results of this may also be linked with the performance of these companies in their respective product categories.

Changes in the Aesthetics Features of the Product The changes in the aesthetic features of various products of SEIL were seen in this section. The design of the questionnaire was similar to that for automobile, but for the content. The attribute mentioned under visual, ergonomics and auditory were the attributes taken from the expert survey and the consumer survey. Three models were suggested by SEIL for the study; out of which two are refrigerators (RT40 FF 400L and SR34 FF 330L) and one AC (AW18). The questionnaire was administered to the marketing department of the company and the marketing manager on behalf of the department filled it. For home appliances, two refrigerators in the no-frost category and one AC was chosen. In the case of home appliances, there was only one model change for all the three products as the company expressed that, generally if the changes are many then the product code changes as there is only mother brand and no sub-branding for the specific product. The details of Index Value for home appliances are as under in Tables 9.14 and 9.15. For the home appliances there are three changes. All major changes are in the visual aspects and there had been no change in ergonomic and auditory aspects and this indicates that the TABLE 9.15: Index Value of Aesthetic Changes (Home Appliance) Model

AWT18(AC) RT40 FF 400L SR34 FF 330L Source: Das, 2005.

Home Appliance Index Value-V

Index Value-E

Index Value-A

5 6 6

1 1 1

1 1 1

Home Appliance

5 6

1 1

1 1

1 1

2 2

1 1

1 2

1 1

Index Index Index Market Market Profit Posi- Product Value-V Value-E Value-A Size Share tioning Line

Source: Das, 2005.

AWT18(AC) RT40 FF 400L

Model

TABLE 9.16: Effect of Aesthetic Changes—Home Appliance

2 1

1 1

Price Price InDecrease crease

2 2

1 1

Differ- Custoentiation mise

2 2

2 2

Brand CorpoImage rate Image

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importance is certainly given to the visual aspect more by SEIL. This analysis provided the basis for the analysis in the next section.

Effect of the Changes in the Aesthetic Features of the Product on the Market, Product and Company Here, in this section, the effect of the changes in the aesthetic features of two models of refrigerator and one model of AC on the market, product and company is seen. The effect is recorded on a 3-point scale and the response of these after each model change is indicated in Table 9.16. In the case of home appliances, the aesthetic changes has not helped in increase of market size, product line, customisation of the product. It has helped reasonably in increasing the market share, positioning the product, differentiation of the product, increase in brand image and corporate image. Therefore, in the case of home appliances also it can be said that aesthetic changes have positively affected the company. The graphical representations of degree of changes for various models are mentioned in Figures 9.15, 9.16 and 9.17. Table 9.17 indicates total score of index changes and its subsequent effect on product/market and company for each model. The total change in Index Value of all the aspects of aesthetics and the total cumulative changes of the market/product and company are seen and the observations are as in Table 9.17. This is done to find out the total impact of the aesthetic changes. TABLE 9.17: Cumulative Index Value and Scores—Home Appliance Model AWT18(AC) RT40 FF 400L SR34 FF 330L

Total Value

Total Score

7 8 8

16 16 17

Source: Das, 2005.

The scores are more or less the same in the case of ACs and refrigerators. However, the score for one of the models of refrigerator is found to be the highest.

Source: Das, 2005.

0

1

2

3

4

AWT18(AC)


FIGURE 9.15: Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—AWT18 5

Index Value between 1 and 8

Index Value-V

Index Value-E

Index Value-A

Market size

Market share

Profit

Positioning

Product line

Price increase

Price decrease

Differentiation

Customise

Brand image Corporate image

Source: Das, 2005.

0

1

2

3

4

5

RT40 FF 400L


FIGURE 9.16: Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—RT40 FF 6


Index Value-V

Index Value-E

Index Value-A

Market size

Market share

Profit

Positioning

Product line

Price increase

Price decrease

Differentiation

Customise


Source: Das, 2005.

0

1

2

3

4

5

SR34 FF 330L


FIGURE 9.17: Market/Product Response to Aesthetic Changes—SR34 FF 6


Index Value-V

Index Value-E

Index Value-A

Market size

Market share

Profit

Positioning

Product line

Price increase

Price decrease

Differentiation

Customise



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9.10 CASE STUDY: TEFAL AQUASPEED Innovative product design is being used by Tefal to increase sales of its steam irons and grow market share in the face of rapidly increasing competition from lower cost irons manufactured in the Far East. In spring 2004, a revolutionary new iron—the Tefal Aquaspeed— was launched by Calor, the French company which owns the Tefal brand, as part of its strategy to use product innovation and design to compete with lower priced irons made in China. The product was based on detailed analysis of the market which highlighted two areas for product innovation which would provide real benefit for consumers: making it faster and easier to fill the steam iron with water, and improving stability through reduced weight and bulk. The Aquaspeed, designed by London-based product designers Seymour Powell and Calor’s in-house development team, was revolutionary. Its first innovation was a spring-loaded trapdoor at the iron’s rear with a large aperture designed to reduce the time usually taken to fill the iron with water from 45 to just five seconds. The second was a large footprint featuring a hollowed heel designed to reduce the weight and bulk of the iron and to improve stability. Calor, which is owned by the SEB Group and markets products under the Tefal brand outside France, launched the Aquaspeed in the UK, France and Germany in early 2004. A year later, 200,000 units had been sold in the UK—making it Britain’s best-selling iron in its price segment, and Tefal’s market share had risen from 29 per cent to 43 per cent. Meanwhile, in Germany and France sales in the Aquaspeed’s price segment grew by 9.9 per cent and 13.3 per cent respectively. The Aquaspeed is now on sale worldwide.

Combating Cheaper Products, Reversing Declining Sales Europe is a tough market for manufacturers of steam irons. Sales are in decline, down to 6 per cent in 2003 and 7 per cent in 2004, and the European manufacturers are facing growing pressure from the Far East, where cheaper production costs meant lower priced products.

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We were looking for a new steam iron with innovation at its heart, and a design that would communicate this clearly and directly from the retail shelf with no further explanation needed.

Trading conditions are tough because of the relative sophistication of the European market. Elsewhere, there is still considerable scope for consumers to upgrade from traditional, ‘dry’ irons to steam irons. But in Europe, use of steam irons is well established and the emergence of a new product category—the steam generator iron, which offers a bigger, more powerful jet of steam and faster ironing—has directly hit traditional steam iron sales. Calor is one of the few remaining European-based manufacturers of irons and its Tefal brand has a strong track record in innovation and design. In 2002 it approached Seymourpowell, with whom it had a long-standing relationship, to produce a new product that would shake up the market. ‘The steam generator was widely seen as a big innovation in the marketplace. But, there had been far less innovation in steam irons,’ explains Pierre Mouterde, Calor’s Vice President, Marketing, for linen care products. ‘We were looking for a new steam iron with innovation at its heart, and a design that would communicate this clearly and directly from the retail shelf with no further explanation needed.’

Articulating Brand Values through Product Design Tefal is a brand built on bringing ingenuity and innovation into consumers’ daily lives through practical, easy-to-use products. The designers’ brief was to identify ways in which a new Tefal iron could revolutionise the steam iron marketplace, and to design a new product able to convey Tefal’s brand values. Seymourpowell had worked with Calor’s parent, SEB, since 1985 when it designed the world’s first cordless kettle, the Freeline. In 1998, the agency designed its first iron, the Tefal Avantis. This long-standing relationship gave the designers invaluable insight into the workings of Calor and its marketplace.


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EXHIBIT 9.1: Previous Model Avantis

Irons are one of the few products displayed unpacked on retailers shelves, says product designer and Seymourpowell co-founder Dick Powell. This means they must express brand values and communicate functionality clearly and persuasively through product design. Calor irons already had a unique point of differentiation—their distinctive ‘sole plate’, the flat part of the iron used to press clothes. Calor irons’ sole plates are enamelled, which improves their glideability and makes them more durable than competitor’s equivalents, which are typically made from stainless steel or anodised aluminium. But more significant innovation was needed for the new iron if the company was to compete effectively against low-cost manufacturers without cutting prices.

Step One: Understanding the Product and Its Context Powell headed the five-strong Seymourpowell team that worked with Calor to develop what became the Tefal Aquaspeed. Their starting point was a comprehensive analysis of the market for steam irons over the past 20 years to identify opportunities for product innovation that would truly move the market forward and be seen by consumers as practical and worthwhile, while underlining the Tefal brand’s reputation for ingenuity.

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Seymourpowell analysed different irons sold in different markets at various prices, then analysed the product design characteristics of each manufacturer’s models. It then took a selection of irons to a panel of independent design experts to gauge external opinions and validate its own. Further analysis broke down broader trends in product design outside the linen care market. The process led the Seymourpowell team to identify two key aspects of iron design to address: the shape of the heel, and ease of filling.

The Product Innovations—in Theory The first innovation was a new heel design. Traditionally, the heel is solid. Seymourpowell proposed a heel that was completely open and separated from the iron’s body—a large loop on which the iron could sit for enhanced stability and which was light rather than bulky. Inside this loop sat the second innovation—a large trapdoor through which water could be poured more easily. Typically, steam irons are filled with water through a small hole at the iron’s front end. Together, the design team believed, both innovations might prove a useful solution to new and more rigorous European legislation relating to ‘drop tests’, in which irons are dropped to analyse

EXHIBIT 9.2: Steam Iron


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their safety. Their hunch was right: the loop acted as a shock absorber when the iron was dropped. Mouterde says the potential benefits of the innovations proposed by Seymourpowell were immediately clear. ‘By combining an iron that is easy to fill at the rear with improved stability and a lighter weight, it was clear that the product innovation would be clearly visible,’ he observes. The only issue was how to make it work.

Turning Theory into Reality Mouterde’s first step was to consider the market potential for Seymourpowell’s innovations. The design called for a new internal architecture which had clear cost implications, he explains. With Calor’s international product director, he then consulted with the company’s internal development team. One of Seymourpowell’s strengths is their technical background and ability to both challenge technicians and work closely with them to provide solutions.

Close cooperation and collaboration between internal and external design teams is always important, but the stakes were even higher this time because of the implications of the proposed product innovations for the internal workings of the iron, Mouterde says. He adds, Everything we do is marketing-led—it’s at the heart of our culture. But there were clear technical reservations at the beginning. This is quite normal, however. And one of Seymourpowell’s strengths—which we really value—is their technical background and ability to both challenge technicians and work closely with them to provide solutions.

The geographical distance between Calor, based in Lyon, and Seymourpowell’s London office presented few challenges to collaborative working, Powell insists. He says, The designs which left our office as a set of 3D files defined the external shape of the iron around the internal mechanisms, architecture and moulding requirements which we had evolved together throughout the project. But there were many unanticipated problems as a result of the innovations, which needed resolution. We were in daily

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EXHIBIT 9.3: Foam Model

contact via phone and e-mail. As new problems were thrown up by the Calor development team developing the internal design, we’d make adjustments then email new files.

Deciding When Innovation is Worth it Seymourpowell produced a foam model of the iron’s revolutionary shape. The Calor development team then began work on redesigning the internal architecture of the iron. A key challenge was separating the electrical elements from the new water filling feature, as they would be next to each other at the iron’s rear. ‘An important factor in this product’s success was Calor’s commitment from the top down to finding a way to make the new design work,’ Powell comments. ‘They have something you don’t find in many companies— product people at the top who have a sixth sense about what’s worth backing, and what’s not’. Calor’s Chief Executive, Jean-Pierre Lefevre, is a marketer and highly visionary. He drives everything and his response to every problem that arose was: ‘This is an important product for this business, so go away and find solutions.’ A hard model isn’t usually made until towards the end of a product development process. In this case, however, it was made early to evaluate consumer interest in the benefits and justify the additional cost and time required to bring it to market.


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EXHIBIT 9.4: Programme 8 Model

‘It cost a little more to develop than previous new irons,’ Mouterde observes. ‘But this was not a big issue. We knew this product was worth the effort. Time was the greatest challenge, and the complexities involved added an extra three or four months onto the development process.’ But the additional investment was worthwhile, as the new internal architecture yielded new patents which would make it harder for Calor’s low-cost competitors to copy its design and undercut its prices, he adds. Clever use of materials, meanwhile, enabled Calor to reduce some of its production costs.

Competitive Edge through Patented Design Seymourpowell helped Calor find a name for the new iron, Aquaspeed, to communicate the product’s key benefit—fast water filling. The product was launched in early 2004 and has since become a worldwide success. Three different models are now available in the Aquaspeed range, and Seymourpowell has since designed another new and innovative Tefal iron, the Programme 8. Product innovation that yields new patents offer real value to a business in a market dominated by low price competition, says Powell. ‘It is inevitable that rivals will copy some elements

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of the Aquaspeed’s design, but we’re yet to see any such products arrive in the market. It will happen, however, which is why it is important never to stand still but to continue to develop the design.’

Key Points • Bringing together a series of small innovations in a new way is a lot easier than trying to find a really big idea, and just as effective. • Product design can be a powerful communications medium for a product displayed without any packaging on retail shelves. Innovative design features can yield patents that offer essential protection from rivals who have little money at their disposal and try to copy designs and strategies from other companies.

9.11 CASE STUDY: VIRGIN TRAINS—PENDOLINO Virgin Trains gave agency Priestman Goode a huge amount of control over the design of its new Pendolino train. The result is a stylish and harmonious exterior and interior.

Getting There When Virgin asked them to design a new high speed tilting train in March 1998, it seemed a mouth-watering, if faintly daunting, prospect for product designers Priestman Goode. The project provided the London-based consultancy with the responsibility not just for reinventing and replacing all of the West Coast line’s existing engines and rolling stock but also for implementing the whole project from the design of the seats, crockery and tableware to the menus and signage. They wanted the train design to reflect Virgin’s qualities: championing customer service and presentation that is fun, surprising and characterful and a bit off the wall.


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Add to this all-embracing brief, an adventurous client that wanted a concept that was a bit out of the ordinary and you have a project that sounds a bit like a designer’s dream. ‘They wanted the train design to reflect Virgin’s qualities: championing customer service and presentation that is fun, surprising and characterful and a bit off the wall,’ Ian Scoley, the Priestman Goode director in charge of transport projects, said in 2000.

Overcoming the Obstacles Three years on, the dream project hasn’t quite turned out the way Virgin envisaged it. Indeed, Sir Richard Branson’s ambition to do for the railways what he has done for air travel has faced some major obstacles. Improvements to the network continue to be held back by the shortcomings of the infrastructure (Network Rail has admitted that a further 4,000 miles of track need to be replaced) and, to add to the problems, Virgin’s West Coast operation has had to wrestle with delays and cancellations caused by industrial relations disputes. But if Ian Scoley’s enthusiasm for the project has cooled, it doesn’t show. ‘The infrastructure is still a problem and it’s meant that Virgin has been tarred with the same brush as the rest of the industry. But once you actually get on a Virgin train you’ll find the whole thing is looking superb,’ Scoley enthuses. ‘The build quality is fantastic and we’ve been able to maintain the quality we wanted right down to the small details.’

Creating a British Icon It’s true that Virgin’s new trains make the sort of visual impact that has been unknown on the British network since the era of the original British Rail 125. Sleek and streamlined with a silver, red and yellow livery resembling a stretched bulls eye, the prototype effectively established the unusual character of the train. ‘We wanted it to be a bit of an icon but not in the fashionable way something like the Ford Ka is,’ says Scoley. ‘Its smooth and

234


EXHIBIT 9.5: Pendolino

fluid but classic and British as well.’ It is one thing coming up with an eye-catching locomotive, and quite another to push through an all-encompassing design project. According to Ian Scoley, when Virgin arrived in the railway business, it discovered an industry whose manufacturing process had little to do with customer focus. ‘Transportation designers traditionally work for train manufacturers rather than the operators, so before privatisation the industry was driven by engineers’ priorities rather than those of passengers,’ he claims.

The Red Book Rules The Virgin Design Team’s secret weapon in the battle against the forces of production-oriented bureaucracy was the Virgin Red Book. As soon as their early concept received approval, the designers set about creating a detailed specification designed to ensure that this train and their other designs for Virgin, the stubby nosed Virgin Cross Country train, looked as good inside as it did out. They worked alongside interior designers JHL and graphic designers Start Design to create a specification manual—the Red


235

EXHIBIT 9.6: Pendolino Interiors

Book—that laid out every element of the design to the manufacturers. ‘We drew every single element on the train that the passenger came into contact with: door handles, luggage stacks, coffee points even the coat hooks,’ recalls Ian Scoley. ‘It took three months.’ Demanding as this process was, the real challenge was ensuring that the design wasn’t compromised in the making. Ian Scoley admits that the cooperation and commitment of the client team has made a huge difference in this regard. Despite regular setbacks, Virgin has continued to invest as much faith in the design as Priestman Goode themselves. ‘Every element—doors, windows, kitchens, seats—seemed to be made by a separate company but few of them had ever had much dealings with designers,’ says Scoley. ‘It was a struggle and we often had to take a soft approach to get our way but the key ultimately was that we had Virgin’s trust and its authority behind us and they haven’t wilted under pressure.’

Record Breaker Eighteen months after the launch of the first complete prototype in December 2000, Priestman Goode’s first complete train came into service during the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. The train has already broken speed records. It set a record of 2 hours 5 minutes for the London–Manchester trip in December 2002,

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although due to building delays the tilting speed trains will not be in service until the end of 2004.

Interior Values But, if the train has yet to go through all its paces in speed terms, a journey on the new train reveals that Virgin is already setting new standards in terms of interior design.

EXHIBIT 9.7: Pendolino— First Class Carriages

First Class carriages are sombrely stylish with maple tables and dark blue seats, each of them equipped with an electronic seat reservation sign (first and second class), a laptop power supply socket, an entertainment system and a purpose-designed reading light. Standard class has a jollier feel with an upbeat colour scheme in bright blue and tomato red. Even the disabled seating—often a neglected area—enjoys the same attention to detail, featuring flip down seats and tables that are fully height-adjustable.

Rethinking the Food Our challenge was to deliver tableware and food presentation which seemed special and offered the value people expect of Virgin.


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Perhaps one of the best indicators of the success of the project is the way that Virgin’s distinct and faintly quirky personality is reflected in the food and its presentation. According to Scoley, Virgin invested a huge amount of energy in coming up with meal scenarios which were distinctive and Priestman Goode set out to respond in kind. The designers were responsible for a space saving hostess-style delivery trolley, an elegant crockery and cutlery set and a pair of highly stealable salt and pepper cruets as well as all the graphics for more than a dozen different wittily presented menus, with the packaging and the napkins. ‘It’s quite different from the old style restaurant car,’ says Scoley. ‘Everyone in First Class gets a meal but you don’t get the silver service treatment. So our challenge was to deliver tableware and food presentation which seemed special and offered the value people expect of Virgin.’ Even the information graphics have a distinctly Virgin feel. Unlike some trains where you seem to be up to your neck in warnings about the dangers that surround you, signage has been kept to a minimum and retains the understated faintly humorous tone of voice that is the Virgin trademark. This is particularly the case with the signage developed directly from confronting on-going service issues. Unusually, this was also created by Priestman Goode rather than a graphics specialist. ‘Little bags up here’ says a sign at eye level; ‘Big bags down there’ suggests another at knee height.

Future Promise It’s a quiet, clean understated quality product which has been created by client and designer working meticulously towards clearly stated goals and persuading suppliers to go the extra mile too. I believe it shows what good design policy really can do to revive this industry.

All in all, while Virgin may appear still to be struggling to make its mark on the railways, it’s clearly not for want of trying. Perhaps, by the time that the Pendolino finally does come into full service in 2004, the Virgin train will be seen as an example to other franchise operators, perhaps even as a major step forward for British train design. Ian Scoley is hoping so: ‘The Virgin train is not about

238


whistles and bells and showing off,’ he says. ‘It’s a quiet, clean understated quality product which has been created by client and designer working meticulously towards clearly stated goals and persuading suppliers to go the extra mile too. I believe it shows what good design policy really can do to revive this industry.’

Key Points • Strong backing from clients is vital to the success of most design projects. • Designing concepts is not enough—the process of realising them must be managed in detail. • The design of a product or environment can be a powerful way of expressing a company’s values.

9.12 CASE STUDY: B&Q POWER TOOLS Value for money is not the only virtue that sells a product; ease of use is just as important. B&Q knew that pensioners were a key market and designed a whole range around their needs.

Power to the People Many people would recognise B&Q as a pioneer of employment opportunities for the over-50s and also disability-friendly stores, but the home improvement retailer’s commitment to environmental, ethical and diversity issues extends to its products and procurement as well as its people. The launch, at Christmas 2002, of two new power tools suitable for older users and those with reduced grip marked a broadening and deepening of this commitment. The new products fitted into a well established set of policies exemplified, for example, by the appointment in 1999 of a Diversity Manager, and by a Business in the Community Award recognising work on environmental issues and links with disability organisations.


239

The company, Europe’s largest home improvement retailer with 320-plus stores and more than 33,000 staff, expresses its commitment to diversity in a corporate vision statement: ‘We want to be a great company that can be trusted to respect the quality of life of all the people and communities we touch.’

Moving the Brand Forward The idea behind the introduction of age-friendly power tools stemmed from a drive by B&Q to move its brand image forward from one offering good value for money to one synonymous with innovation and ease of use.

EXHIBIT 9.8: DIY Enthusiast in Workshop

B&Q looked for suitable innovation partners to help research and develop new own-label products. They chose to work with the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art, which specialises in socially inclusive design and in particular, the design needs of older consumers.

Time is Money B&Q and researchers at the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre studied data from the Henley Centre for Social Forecasting. This revealed

240


that spending on DIY equipment rose on retirement when people saw they had time and money to carry out home improvement tasks but then fell away dramatically when they realised how difficult the tools were to use. Could study of older people struggling to carry out basic tasks with power tools provide the trigger for product innovation that would benefit everyone? That was the driving question behind B&Q’s collaboration with the Royal College of Art. In October 2000, the retailer joined the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Research Associates Programme, which teams industry partners with talented young RCA design graduates to undertake one-year design research projects. The chosen B&Q Research Associate was Matthew White, a graduate of Industrial Design Engineering, the RCA’s joint course with Imperial College. White’s engineering background and evident interest in inclusive design were deemed ideal for the project.

Understanding Users Matthew White first consulted with B&Q to set the project within the company vision. He conducted interviews with customers and staff at B&Q stores and undertook an extensive product audit, supported by desk research and evaluation of competitor products.

EXHIBIT 9.9: User Testing on DIY Tools


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User research was essential to the project, running across three different timescales. Long-term user testing lasting up to eight months allowed detailed evaluation of existing tools and key issues to be written into the design process. Nine users were selected and given a range of tools and tasks in order to evaluate, confirm and reject ideas. Medium-range user testing comprised asking a range of users to perform specific DIY tasks with various tools, then informally discuss the process and give feedback on test concepts and prototypes. Short-term focus groups of five older people, lasting about two hours, were conducted during the most intense concept creation stage. Simple product feedback and hands-on prototype evaluation were measured both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Four Contenders Four design concepts emerged from the study. The cordless screwdriver is one of the most popular power tools, yet current tools are long, unwieldy and difficult to grip and activate. A redesign made the shape easier to fit into the palm of the hand and the screwdriver is automatically activated as soon as the screw bit is pushed into the screw.

EXHIBIT 9.10: Cordless Screwdriver

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Cordless drills are heavy to use due to the battery weight. By attaching the battery via belt clip to the waist and connecting it to the drill with a short power cord, the freedom of cordless drills could be kept whilst relieving battery weight. The reciprocating jigsaw has become a best-selling product, but little attention has been paid to the ergonomics of holding the saw while applying force. By changing the angle of application and totally redesigning the handle and battery case, a unique and new type of power saw was created. The final concept looked at the popular palm-sized sander which is generally uncomfortable to hold, as the user is expected to press and hold it against a surface while it vibrates gently to recreate a sanding motion. The prototype was redesigned to fit the ‘cup’ of the hand while a hand strap removes the need to grip it firmly.

Two Winners The Helen Hamlyn research study showed that correctly incorporating user feedback into the design process can create a better product. And when those users have special needs such as reduced dexterity or arthritis, addressing their needs in a mainstream product design brief can provide innovation triggers as well. A power tool that is designed to be easier to hold will be easier to hold for everyone who uses it—not just retired people. B&Q patented and evaluated the prototypes—and chose two to take to market the cordless screwdriver and the palm-sized sander.

Full-time Job In October 2001, at the end of his Helen Hamlyn research year, Matthew White was employed directly by B&Q as a design consultant. He then spent the next 12 months making his designs production-ready by refining components and producing engineering drawings. In November 2002, the pebble-shaped screwdriver (named Gofer and retailing at £19.98) and ergonomically-improved sander (Sandbug, retailing at £29.98) were unveiled to the UK press,


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EXHIBIT 9.11: Gofer— Pebble-shaped Screwdriver

fittingly in the galleries of the Royal College of Art. They were on the shelves in B&Q stores in time for Christmas.

Truly Inclusive Both products were manufactured in China and attractively packaged by B&Q’s brand agency BIG idea. Early reports suggest healthy sales for each line, reflecting consumer support for B&Q’s drive to make its own-label products more user-friendly.

EXHIBIT 9.12: Sandbug with Packaging

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B&Q does not advertise either the Sandbug or Gofer product as designed with older people in mind. Its consumer offer is truly inclusive. But there is no doubt that the research collaboration with the Royal College of Art opened up a new innovation path. The company is now working with a second Helen Hamlyn Research Associate in the area of garden power tools, using the design needs of the older gardener as a trigger for ideas. ‘We see the RCA as an ideal partner in our bid to give B&Q customers more innovative products,’ says David Roth, B&Q’s Director of Brand & Marketing.

Key Points • Good ideas can come from outside your business. • Commitment to corporate social responsibility brings competitive advantage. • Using design to meet the needs of older users can create products which are more appealing to all market sectors. • Products are a highly effective vehicle for brand values.

9.13 CASE STUDY: OXO INTERNATIONAL Creating easy-to-use kitchen tools that suit everyone takes a lot of research and attention to detail. The result for US Company OXO International was a range that made slicing vegetables—rather than fingers—a breeze.

Peeling Made Easy When US entrepreneur Sam Farber started OXO International in 1989 and set about developing a new range of easy-to-use kitchen tools called Good Grips, he wasn’t so much interested in the mass market as in meeting the needs of just one customer—his wife Betsey, an architect who suffered from arthritis in her hands. Betsey’s frustration with poorly designed kitchen equipment that made it impossible for her to carry out basic chores was the catalyst for the launch of Good Grips. OXO’s mission was to develop


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tools that were designed to cater for a wider range of user ability in terms of dexterity while remaining stylish and desirable. Since its launch in 1990, the design quality of OXO’s Good Grips has been commercially and critically successful, winning almost every major design prize, including one from the Arthritis Foundation. Good Grips tools can even be found in the Design Collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Better for Betsey The story started when Sam Farber, the newly-retired CEO of the Copco Cookware Company, noticed his wife Betsey’s difficulty in gripping a potato peeler. Could anything be done for her and the other 20 million Americans with arthritis? Why can’t there be comfortable tools that are easy to use?

Fed up with user-hostile kitchen gadgets, Farber asked himself: ‘Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands, with painful scissor loops, rusty metal peelers, hard skinny handles? Why can’t there be comfortable tools that are easy to use?’ Farber approached Smart Design, a New York-based industrial design firm he had commissioned during his time at Copco. The brief: to develop a range of kitchen tools those were comfortable in the hand, dishwasher safe, high quality, good looking and affordable. To keep overheads down and create an incentive, Farber persuaded Smart Design to waive its usual design fees in exchange for a 3 per cent royalty and a small advance.

Comfort for All ‘We wanted to appeal to the broadest possible market, not just a very specific market of arthritics and the infirm,’ explains Farber. ‘Why shouldn’t everyone who cooks have comfortable tools?’ Smart Design was keen to demonstrate that attractive design could be ‘multi-generational’—easily used by people of all ages—

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so the design team immersed itself in a short, intense period of field research.

Watch the User Working to a tight schedule, Smart’s designers talked to consumers, examined competitive products, interviewed chefs, explored the physical effects of ageing and filmed volunteers from a New York arthritis group to learn the problems of hand movement. User insights gleaned from the video research proved highly significant to the project. Sharpness, for example, emerged as a key finding to make the tools easier to use. The design team divided tool types according to wrist and hand motions—twist/turn (used to scoop, stir and peel), push/pull (graters and knives) and squeeze (scissors, garlic press and can openers). Smart then, quickly made a series of models from foam and other materials to test initial concepts.

If It Works, Borrow It In essence Smart borrowed commonsense features from other types of tools for the Good Grips range.

EXHIBIT 9.13: Two Cup Angled Measuring Jug


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Rubber grips introduced to prevent slippage in the hand are frequently found on engineering and wood working tools. Similarly, the elliptical section of the handle, which enables a secure grasp, can be found in the handles of hammers and axes. A key decision during development was the choice of material for the basic handle, which needed to be soft and flexible, but also easy to mould and able to go in dishwashers. The solution was Santoprene, a polypropylene plastic/rubber material made by Monsanto and used for dishwasher gaskets. The patented flexible rubber fins, a device borrowed from bicycle handles, became a defining motif of the Good Grips range, communicating the functional benefits to customers in a tactile way.

Samurai Steel Production costs were a major consideration. Eventually, a manufacturer was found in Japan which had the technology and technical knowledge to mould the handle. The requirement for really sharp blades for the peeler, knives and scissors led Smart to a manufacturer of Samurai swords. Accuracy of manufacture for the peeler blades was extremely important. Research revealed that thinner peels increased the number of cuts that had to be made, while those that took off a thicker section took away too much edible vegetable. The final specification was set at producing a peel of 1.2 mm. Farber’s son John joined OXO as financial director and Betsey became Design Director. This family team developed a three-year marketing plan, with the initial distribution aimed at upmarket outlets, followed later by more mainstream supermarkets and chain stores.

Beating the Copiers OXO’s strategy was to copy its own high-end product before any competitor could; hence, providing budget-conscious consumers with tools that adhered to the company’s user-centred principles.

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The first 15 Good Grips products were introduced at the Gourmet Show in San Francisco in 1990. Today, the range has expanded to more than 350 products, covering not only the kitchen, but also tableware, coffee and tea services, cleaning tools, and tools for the garden and barbecue. User-centred design is our main competitive advantage.

As well as winning a host of design prizes, OXO has been financially successful. The company achieved sales of US$ 3 million in 1991 and its sales have increased by 50 per cent each year since.

Carry on Innovating In 1992, Farber sold OXO International to General Housewares Corporation but its core values remained unchanged. The company continues to invest around 10 per cent of its annual revenues in design and innovation in order to respond to customer needs. In launching OXO’s Good Grips range, Sam Farber recognised that ‘user-centred design is our main competitive advantage’. It is a lesson other companies might usefully take on board. Good Grips is an exemplar of what is known as universal design in the USA (and inclusive design in Europe). By designing for a special need regarded as being on the margins of the market, OXO dramatically expanded the total customer base for ergonomicallysuperior kitchen tools. Instead of aiming to satisfy cooks of average physical ability, the decision to include a wider range of hand dexterity proved a masterstroke in creating more usable and enjoyable kitchen products. The role of user research should not be under-estimated. Smart Design was eager to learn from the experience of users and this unlocked the creative and commercial potential of the project.

Key Points • Fulfilling apparently narrow and exacting requirements can result in mass appeal for a product.


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• Design techniques, such as user interviews and observation, improve the chances of creating a successful product. • One product is rarely enough to guarantee success— continuous innovation protects competitive advantage. • Producing copies of your own product for different price points is a credible anti-copying strategy. • Royalty-based payments to designers can suit start-up businesses with limited budgets.

9.14 CASE STUDY: BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING—REMOTE CONTROL HANDSET Our TV options have changed and increased enormously in the past few years. Sky’s handset had to make it easy for viewers to navigate around a new world of television and as well as reinforcing the Sky brand.

Remote Personality Frazer Designers’ most widely distributed product at the end of the 20th century wasn’t the kettle or the telephone you might expect. Commissioned in July 1996, the Frazer-designed remote control handset for British Sky Broadcasting has become a ubiquitous feature of British living rooms. Since its high-profile launch in October 1998, more than six million units have been distributed in the UK. ‘It would have been hard to imagine an industrial designer having a household brand like Sky as a client a few years ago, let alone working on a product like this one,’ claims Frazer’s founding partner Stephen Frazer. Frazer explains that the decision to commission the handset was driven by Sky’s desire to provide an easy-to-use means of navigating an increasing array of satellite programming. Setting new standards in ergonomic design was a key part of realising that aim. ‘The quality of the element in the user’s hand

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needed to reflect Sky’s brand values as the UK’s leading provider of digital television,’ says Frazer.

Clarity and Comfort Not that traditional product design values took second place to branding, Sky’s previous experience of handsets had been one of operational difficulty. With its previous analogue system, six different manufacturers of set-top boxes had supplied six different remote control designs. This had led to a lack of keyboard consistency and confusion over the user interface. So, when it decided to commission its own handset Sky naturally wanted clarity. Sky’s brief to Frazer was for ‘the most comfortable and easy-to-use remote ever for males and females between the ages of five and 80’, to operate an electronic programme guide (EPG) that ‘any new user should be able to learn 70 per cent of . . . within 15 minutes’. ‘We tried to ignore other handsets and to go back to first principles,’ says Frazer’s partner Jonathan Knight.

Initial Research Since ease of use and comfort were so central to the brief, the design process began with an exploratory study of how people use TV remote controls, with each element of the object analysed in turn. Frazer looked at the following issues: • Format—should the remote be rectangular, square, round or portrait? • Handset sculpting and form. • Shape, number and size of buttons. • Relationship of functions to the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG). • Position of buttons relative to each other and the handset. • Contours of the keyboard surface. • Weight and balance colour and contrast of buttons, case and graphics.


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Organising the Form To avoid bias towards left or right-handed users, a stick format— which is also easily used with one hand—was adopted. To test for the most comfortable shape, more than 30 full-size foam models were used.

EXHIBIT 9.14: Foam Models Developed for User Testing

Using these tools Frazer set out to map their functions and their duration of use. These functions were plotted on a graph and collected into three groups. The functions were organised into three different zones on the surface for the remote which corresponded to the three different button-pushing methods. Infrequently used functions such as the main system set-up, On/ Off and Sky service options were positioned in the index finger zone. The most frequently used functions—navigation, channel, volume, mute and back-up—were arranged to fall under the user’s thumb. The alpha-numeric functions were positioned closest to the user so they could be operated using the two-handed method in which buttons are pressed with one hand and the remote is held with the other.

Comfort and Shape Research The 30 initial models were tested by a cross-section of users across the age range.

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EXHIBIT 9.15: Blindfolded User Testing Session

They were asked a number of questions such as: Which do you think is the right way up? Which do you think is the front? Which shape do you find most comfortable? These tests were carried out blindfold to ensure that the focus groups were not affected by the colour or form of the models. They proved a highly reliable and successful method of obtaining honest responses.

Developing the Design After this initial sifting of possible forms, the Frazer team set about developing the design. After analysis of the focus group videos, six of the shapes were modelled in Frazer’s workshop for further blindfold user trials. In addition to test weight, for balance and orientation of the handset a hard model was constructed. Users were able to change the sculpting of the keyboard surface and to record their preferences. The model also contained a weight representing the batteries which could be slid up and down the length of the model. As in the case of the surface form, the preferred position was recorded and the battery compartment was given the same centre of gravity in the production controls.


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Great attention was paid to the design of the battery compartment. Research had shown that there is an irritating tendency for remote control battery lids to become lost or broken. So Frazer decided to make more of this area than the usual plastic hatch. It was made in polypropylene, a much tougher material than the ABS plastic used for the rest of the casing. In addition, the exterior lid was lined with a two-shot rubber moulding. This soft tactile zone is designed to sit in the palm of the hand, providing an instant orientation focal point by touch alone—a feature which is useful both for the partially sighted and for normally sighted people in low light conditions. Buttons and graphics were designed to strike a balance between the tiny dots and bumps often found on remotes and the oversized ‘fumble phone’ controls that veer the other way. Button colours were kept to a minimum.

Improving on the Design The final design for the first remote, which took nine months for development and testing, and was manufactured at a tooling cost of US$ 250,000 is a robust asymmetrical unit shaped like a sycamore seed. Frazer claims that the flat and balanced shape and the configuration of the buttons make the Sky product the most ergonomic remote handset ever created. Sky is clearly convinced. It subsequently commissioned Frazer to develop two further controls, a Sky + remote control for its integrated personal video recorder, and the Gamepad games controller. In both cases, the same design methodology was used. In the case of the Gamepad, working prototypes were constructed so that users could play live games to compare handset shapes, button positions and layouts.

Viewer Satisfaction So what impact has all this emphasis on ergonomics made on Sky customers? Jonathan Knight of Frazer believes that the ‘quality of

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experience’ has significantly improved Sky’s image as a leading provider of programmes and digital TV technology. He cites the low rate of product returns—only 100 out of five million—as evidence of customer satisfaction and points out that, unusually, the shape and look of the product were both led by its ergonomics. ‘It’s created a unique and distinctive aesthetic which has been adopted and carried through as part of Sky’s product branding.’ Stephen Frazer agrees: ‘For the first time, the customer has something tangible which its customers can think of as a Sky product and which subtly enhances its brand.’

Key Points • A single ergonomic design can be suitable for the entire age range of potential users. • Extensive testing with a range of users is needed to obtain the depth of insight needed for an ergonomic design. • Even if it works well technically, a product which is not designed ergonomically will frustrate its user and reflect badly on its maker.

9.15 CASE STUDY: ANGLEPOISE LIGHT An elegant new design has helped Anglepoise move from being a homegrown favourite to being an international success.

Poised for Success Like Hoover and Biro, Anglepoise is one of those much-loved brand names that stands for a whole category in the British imagination. Unfortunately however, Anglepoise products had insignificant sales outside the UK, terrible price competition from low-cost suppliers, low margins and shrinking sales.


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This was the harsh reality facing Simon Terry and his father John, MD and Chairman respectively of Anglepoise Ltd. Only radical action could save the company and the brand. There were two options: either move production offshore or continue to try to compete at commodity prices, or dismantle the company and begin again, in a new way but with a commitment to innovative design and a new generation of British manufacturing talent. The Terrys chose the second path. They have re-established the Anglepoise company in a different UK region, with access to new kinds of production resources. And they have made a world-class product design which was the hinge around which the reborn company will turn.

A Clever Light George Carwardine was a mechanical engineer and inventor. During the 1920s, while running a successful engineering company designing and making car suspension parts, he developed an idea for an articulated mechanism that could hold an object in any position, based on a concept he called ‘equipoising springs’. He decided to exploit his ‘equipoise’ system by designing an adjustable work light. Needing specialised springs, he naturally went to Britain’s biggest spring manufacturer, Herbert Terry and Sons. Herbert Terry had discovered that it could earn higher margins by making finished products and so had developed ranges of hose clamps and the ubiquitous Terry Clip. It was on the lookout for finished, spring-based products, so when Carwardine offered to sell a licence to his work light design in 1934, the company was happy to sign up. There is still a Terry company in Redditch; it is now a hose clamp specialist and member of the Swedish ABA Group. Initially Carwardine’s light was called Equipoise but when trademark registration was refused on the grounds that this was an existing English word, the Anglepoise name was substituted. The original, four-spring light was intended for industrial use, but Carwardine

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EXHIBIT 9.16: Front View of the Anglepoise

and Terry saw its potential as a consumer product and so introduced a smaller, neater version that used only three springs. This light, Model 1227, went on to become a great commercial success.

Dying Star In 1975 the Terry family took the Anglepoise operation out of the springs company, setting up an independent factory in Redditch. With a new three-spring design and a fast growing market for task lighting, Anglepoise Limited was doing very well indeed in the UK market. The company exported a little to Terry’s old Commonwealth markets but its main sales remained in the UK. However, the world’s first task light brand had little influence in the rest of the world, where a competitor with a very similar product was growing fast. In 1936 a Norwegian textile machinery importer called Jacobsen received some four-spring Anglepoise lights in a consignment of sewing machines from England. He saw the light’s potential and obtained a license from Herbert Terry, changed the design a bit and created the Luxo light. Luxo is now an international group with revenues in excess of £50 million. In the United States, the generic name for an articulated task light is a Luxo. It is interesting to note that the Luxo light has the four springs


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of the original Carwardine patent, whereas Anglepoise itself moved on to a more elegant, three-spring design at an early stage. Our margins were very small and shrinking but we had a strong name and flawless design and engineering credentials.

Constrained to the UK market and under pressure from lowcost, low-price operations like Ikea, Anglepoise has seen its market share shrink and its margins squeezed. The product’s main channel of distribution has been through office equipment and supplies catalogues, whose operators can buy well-made products with less functional task lights from Far East sources at commodity prices. By 2001, the Anglepoise operation in its present form was beginning to look unsustainable.

A New Beginning Simon and John Terry examined their options. Their biggest assets were the Anglepoise name and the unique spring geometry enshrined in Carwardine’s calculations. Simon Terry talks about the ‘Flop Factor’, or his competitors’ lights’ tendency to become unstable and sag at certain angles, something a Carwardine-calculated light will never do. If they were to maintain ownership of the brand and put it back on track in a viable business, they decided they had just two options. They could stick to the same products and distribution channels but move all production overseas, most likely to China. Alternatively there was a more radical plan. Says Simon Terry: ‘Our margins were very small and shrinking but we had a strong name and flawless design and engineering credentials; how could we reinvent the business to capitalise on these assets?’ The answer turned out to be to start again as a high design, premiumprice brand, addressing an international marketplace.

Relocation ‘We had to make a very difficult decision,’ admits Simon Terry. ‘We were still assembling 50,000 lights a year, so we had quite a

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few people in Redditch, some of whom had been with the company for over 30 years. But we knew we had to change things and that one way or another the factory would have to close. We had to break out of the old-school, Midlands manufacturing mould.’ So the Terrys allowed themselves a clean start, in a new home.

EXHIBIT 9.17: Arm of the Angelpoise

Simon Terry says: ‘We had come to rely on Midlands engineering companies for our supplies of parts but those firms are all competing on price and they just can’t provide the quality of finish we need.’ But British manufacturing isn’t on a downward spiral, it’s just that the emphasis has moved from low-cost, high labour assembly to high value, precision engineering. And the focus of that is in the South East, where you have motor-sport and marine engineering and the UK leads the world in these industries. So we have moved Anglepoise to Portsmouth, where we have a clean, white, high-tech research, development and final assembly space. We now have access to precision, high quality components from some of the best suppliers in the world.

Design The Terrys knew Anglepoise had a great design history plus the Carwardine know-how, but exactly how should they generate new


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products and build the brand? Enter Kenneth Grange, Britain’s most senior and celebrated industrial designer. In 2001, Simon Terry went to a talk given by Grange at the Design Industries Association in London and met him for a conversation afterwards. He was impressed most of all by Grange’s sense of history, that brands had a valuable past that could be tapped into rather than over-written. ‘My father gets on really well with Ken,’ says Simon Terry. ‘Ken has been tremendously helpful, not just with his design skill and ideas, but also with his industry knowledge and contacts.’ We intend to become the world expert in a highly specialised area.

Kenneth Grange has been appointed Consultant Design Director. Between them, the Terrys and Grange have mapped out a fiveyear plan for the reborn business. ‘The most important decision we made is that Anglepoise will not be a lighting company,’ says Simon Terry surprisingly. ‘Our true capability is in motion mechanisms. We define Anglepoise now as a Personal Mechanical Motion company, and we can apply our knowledge and skills to any product that has to provide mechanical motion as a complement to human activity; we may eventually do a folding bicycle! We’ll create our own products and work on projects as a supplier to customers. We intend to become the world expert in a highly specialised area.’

The Type3 The first product in the plan had to be a high-profile icon that would set the scene for the new Anglepoise brand and work hard on the PR front. It was decided that Kenneth Grange would create an allnew light, based on Carwardine’s geometric principles and showcasing the level of quality and precision the new company could attain. The result is the Anglepoise Type3. The Type3 was launched in September 2003. Grange has designed a light that closely follows the geometry and forms of the Carwardine three-spring design, but with more refined details and materials. The new lamp’s base is stepped just like the original

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(a clear Art Deco style cue) but Grange’s base is round, compared to the original’s rather jarring square shape. The pivots and connections have a purity and simplicity that could only be achieved with parts made to fine tolerances by Anglepoise’s new, high-tech suppliers.

EXHIBIT 9.18: Side View of the Anglepoise

Type3 sells for around £250, compared to £50 for the old, Redditch-made product. This clearly puts Anglepoise in a new, high-end marketplace where it must compete with Italian, German and Scandinavian products aimed at design-conscious consumers, designers and architects. So, the sales channel has shifted from office catalogues to design-oriented stores and distributors. The Anglepoise Type3 is aiming for success with a combination of its iconic brand, design pedigree and precision UK manufacturing. Beyond that, with Kenneth Grange, the Carwardine know-how and a new kind of UK manufacturing excellence, Anglepoise may have an excellent formula for ongoing success.

Key Points It’s important to build on intangible assets such as brand, intellectual property and design pedigree.


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• Changing the supplier base can be a strategy for fundamental change. • A carefully chosen, experienced design consultant can advise at a strategic level.

9.16 CASE STUDY: USHA WATER HEATER Storage Water Heater Water heater is a device which is used in bathrooms for heating water for bathing/washing. It is mounted on the wall and runs on electricity. The first image that comes to one’s mind is that it is normally cylindrical in shape and is made of sheet metal. In fact, for years and years, this has been the standard design of water heaters all over the world. A product category which had not seen any action on design and innovation front had resulted into stagnation in sale volumes and a drop in market shares of Usha-Lexus brand. Customers were either mounting the ugly looking devices outside their beautiful bathrooms (in balconies), or if inside, then doing so because they didn’t have any other option.

Indian Appliances Market The Indian appliance market is a very competitive market. The appliance market consists of all types of electrical appliances from refrigerators to electric iron, products costing from US$ 20 to US$ 2,000 and above. The same appliances like electric iron, water heater, juicer, mixer, grinders are reserved for manufacturing only in the small scale sectors. Therefore, bigger companies and brands are only marketing the products.

Water Heater in Indian Market and Opportunities Typically water heaters in India are sold seasonally, that is, months starting from November to March that is during the onset of winter

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and during winter season, though there is some sale during the monsoons also. This is due to the fact that the climatic condition in India is tropical. To market the product during November to March, the manufacturing and stocking of the heater is done during summer season typically between June and November at various locations. This seasonal manufacturing characteristic allows companies to manufacture other products like water cooler during off season for water heaters. For ages, it was an ugly looking contraption that was an essential part of the bathroom but did not warrant another glance by the visitor. But bathrooms are rooms too. There is a sea change in the way bathrooms are designed today. And the market for water heaters was about to explode with the kind of fanatic boom in construction of residential apartments and houses that was taking place in India. With every other item that goes in a contemporary bathroom being ‘designed’ to complement each other, the water heater was the only item that stood out like a sore thumb in the beautiful scheme of things.

Usha International Usha International is an INR 35 million associate company of the Siddharth Shriram Group and owner of brand Usha-Lexus. Its philosophy and work culture finds inspiration in the vision and pioneering spirit of the reputed Shriram Group. The group has a wide range of interests that include sugar, edible oils, chemicals, air conditioning and refrigeration, automobiles, power equipment and engineering. It has been existing for the past 50 years with a robust distribution network covering more than 3,500 towns with over 30,000 retail outlets in the country with good penetration in the rural market of India. They have more than 60 company showrooms located in best marketplaces. The diverse product range is distributed through separate specialised channels. In 2001–02, Usha-Lexus launched the beautiful looking SPECTRUM range of water heaters with plastic outer casing. The new product was launched in various water capacities—from instant (1 L model) to 10/15/25 litre models.


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Why Design Change The sanitary ware, the bath fittings, the floor and wall tiles, all of them made the sheet metal water heater look like a thing of bronzeage. Thus, it was high time that water heater was given a new meaning in the present context. And ‘design’ was the only route through which this could be achieved. No amount of advertising or dealer push was going to create the excitement in this product that a new design could create. The in-house design team set out to design a water heater that would not only revolutionise the way water heaters look but also change the generic image of it. The exercise advocated two things: One: The outer casing should be made in engineering plastics instead of sheet metal. This one step would solve many problems at a time: 1. It was possible to break away from the existing plain cylindrical form to a very different shape which could not be conceptualised in sheet metal. 2. The problem of rusting of outer casing would be completely eliminated. 3. The product would become much lighter in weight. 4. The outer casing would be electric shockproof. 5. The number of components in the outer casing could be reduced as many details could be incorporated in plastic molds itself. Two: Since, essentially there was no change in the way water was being heated inside the product, the external design features should be such that the product sells solely by its display value in the showrooms. A study was done on all other devices and fittings that go into the bathrooms; colours, forms, surface finishes, and so on, were studied. Three different concepts (shapes) were designed and their wooden, duly coloured, real size prototypes were made. They

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were then surveyed for customer preference in south and north Indian cities.

Design Intervention The result was a ‘beautiful’ looking product whose outer shell was made of plastic, thus enabling to breakaway from the age-old cylindrical shape to an eye catching, soft looking oval-shaped water heater in beautiful colours. With a sea change in the way bathrooms are designed today, and with every other item that goes in a contemporary bathroom being ‘designed’ beautifully to complement each other, the water heater was the only item that stood out like a sore thumb in the beautiful scheme of things in a bathroom. The sanitary ware, the bath fittings, the floor and wall tiles, all of them made the sheet metal water heater look like a thing of stone-age.

EXHIBIT 9.19: Stellar Water Heater— Cylindrical Shape


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EXHIBIT 9.20: New Usha-Lexus (Spectrum) Water Heater

Market Performance This new product now complements the sanitary fittings and gels beautifully with the overall design of a modern bathroom. The new design had the outer casing in four parts only as against eight parts in the previous models. This not only resulted in ease in assembly, but also reduced the manufacturing cost by almost 10 per cent. Also the problem of damages during transportation was indirectly solved since the new oval-shaped plastic outer casing was much stronger and lighter. After the launch it instantly gave success to Usha-Lexus in again establishing its position in the market, and in the first winter season itself it sold more than 20,000 SPECTRUM water heaters. The sale of Usha-Lexus water heaters has since grown by more than 15 per cent every year. Till then, water heater was a product that had not witnessed much change in the way it looked. It became the best-selling product in its category and till today remains the same. Also till today, it is the most beautiful looking water heater in Indian market.

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Key Points • The new design of Usha water heater was a strategic change looking into the use of plastics and the advantage plastic would have over metal considering the conditions in the bathroom and other Indian environmental conditions. • The change in design enabled the company to position the product in the top-end of the market and charge premium. • The change in design enabled the company to produce more with the current capacity as the source of the raw material were different and involved bought out parts. • The model helped the company to hold on to the competition offered by the imported heaters.

9.17 CHAPTER SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION In the case of Design Sensitivity Audit I, it is observed that the importance given to aesthetics is more in home appliances than in automobiles when it comes to specific elements of aesthetics. In automobiles, while working on aesthetics, more importance is given to ergonomics than to visual element. In the case of auditory, both the companies have responded in a similar manner, but in the case of olfactory, the importance is given more to automobiles than home appliances. In fact, home appliances do not give any importance at all to this. As far as the responses of the companies towards the Design Sensitivity Audit II and Design Management Audit are concerned, we can say both the companies have scored good scores. This indicates that the companies are using design thinking in their marketing strategies. The performance of these companies in the market can also be an indicator to this fact. Both the companies are one of the market leaders in their respective categories. When one looks at the aesthetic changes made in the product for various models, in the case of automobile as far as the visual changes are concerned, there are four major changes. In the case of


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ergonomics one major change is witnessed, whereas there have been no changes in the auditory aspect. For the home appliances, there are three changes—all major changes are observed in the visual aspects and there have been no changes in the ergonomics and auditory aspects. In relating these findings with the findings under Design Sensitivity Audit I, it is observed that MUL response gave more importance to ergonomics aspect than visual, and in case of SEIL, importance was given more to visual aspect than to ergonomics. This point is validated by the changes they are making in their models with respect to aesthetics. If one looks at the impact of aesthetic changes on the product, market and company, one finds that both in the case of home appliances and automobiles, the aesthetic changes have positively affected the company. Thus, it is found that in both the cases, the effect of aesthetic changes are positive. The scores however, are more in the cases of automobile than that of home appliances. The difference between the scores in between the models of WagonR and various models of home appliances is significant, and in many cases it is more than 50 per cent. This therefore indicates that the total impact of the aesthetic changes on automobiles is more than that of home appliances. One point here, which needs to be explained is, the impact of aesthetic changes in the positioning of the product. The companies have indicated that the changes have affected the positioning of their products in comparison to the products available in the market. The products have been repositioned as one with a better style in some cases. In one particular case of WagonR, where the change has been an ergonomic one, the positional change is to a vehicle with better handling of controls. Incidentally, better handling of controls was rated as the most important attribute in an automobile in the findings under consumer survey. Therefore, one can conclude that both the companies chosen for the case study give importance to product design and have aesthetic consideration while designing the products. This is supported by the fact that both the players are leaders in some of the categories of product in the market. Even though there were positive practices followed by the companies related to

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design, there is no specific method or tool used to identify the changes and effect. The questionnaire used in the study can be used as a tool for this. It is seen that still the changes are more focused on the visual aspect of aesthetics than the other aspects like ergonomics and auditory. In this case study, perhaps one of the important concepts which has emerged is the concept of elements of aesthetics or Aesthetic Mix. The elements have emerged from the findings of the industry and consumer survey in the previous sections. This concept of aesthetic mix can be considered while working on the aesthetics of a product. The ‘Aesthetic Mix’ here would consist of the aesthetic elements: visual, ergonomics, auditory and olfactory. The case studies from the Design Council and the one from Usha indicates the real need for a change in design or aesthetic appeal of a product. Many a time this need is forced on the companies to change and some time there is a pro-active approach taken by the companies to be always ahead of competition and ensure that its customer should have something different and superior every time he makes a purchase. In the case of Tefal, we have seen how innovation used in product design has resulted into increased sales. Here, design as a tool was used to fight cheap competition by working on the ‘aesthetic elements’ of the product. There was a combination of functional and non-functional aspect of aesthetics which led to product success. The design was also used to strongly convey the brand value of Tefal. It also strongly communicated the functional aspect of the product when displayed, and its brand image, quality and the corporate image of the company. This enabled them to charge a better price for this new design. The case of Virgin Trains–Pendolino, highlighted the need to consider the interior and exterior aesthetic appeal in any product, especially in the case of a product used for transportation. The design communicated the character of the company, its values focusing on the customer service aspect which Virgin is so famous for. While designing the product, aesthetic consideration was given to each part, that is, door handles, luggage stack, coffee points, and even the coat hooks. Here also, every functional and non-functional


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requirement of the customer from the aesthetic point of view was taken care of. In the case of B&Q Power Tools case study, it is seen how a purely functional product used ergonomic aspect of aesthetic element gained competitive advantage. The product was targeted at a particular age group that is the pensioners, who looked for post retirement employment. In this case, the design reflected the requirement of the community in looking after the senior citizens. The product also communicated the brand value through its design. OXO International has a product portfolio, which perhaps is most commonly used in our day-to-day activities in our kitchens. The design consideration was the safety and ergonomics in the product. This again highlighted the importance of ergonomics as an element of aesthetics. The Remote Control Handset of British Sky Broadcasting highlights the dynamic qualities of aesthetics, with changing time and technology. The design or aesthetics of the product should dynamically support the change. The aesthetic consideration included all the elements of aesthetics that is visual, ergonomics and auditory. Here, form and feel of the product emerged as important aspects. Anglepoise light is a classic case where the design of the product transformed it from a domestic to an international brand. The price competition forced the company to come up with a design which boasted of unique style, shape and colour thus transforming the product from domestic to international. Usha created a design of the water heater which put itself not only steps ahead of competition, but also had taken care of the customer expectation of a superior aesthetically designed product which was in tune with the changing times. The change in design led to the increase in market share as well as higher customer satisfaction. Here it is seen how changes made in the aesthetics of the product by various domestic and international companies led to the success of the product. This not only led to increased sales but also to enhance brand and corporate image.

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APPENDIX 1 Design Sensitivity Audit I (Source: Kotler and Rath, 1984)

1. Performance Clear sense of the functions that the target consumers want in the product. 2. Quality The quality and workmanship visible and communicated to the consumer. The quality is not optimal but affordable quality for that target market. 3. Durability Buyers expectation of the product to perform well over a certain time period, with minimum number of breakdowns. 4. Aesthetics The overall aesthetics of the products with some degree of aesthetic durability so that the product does not start looking old and run down. 5. Cost Product Cost within the range of the segment. Please rank the importance given by the company on the following aspects. 1. Performance Not At All

Very Much

2. Quality Not At All

Very Much


3. Durability Not At All

Very Much

4. Aesthetics Not At All

Very Much

Aesthetics Elements (a) Visual Not At All

Very Much

(b) Ergonomics Not At All

Very Much

(c) Auditory Not At All

Very Much

(d) Olfactory (Smell) Not At All

Very Much

5. Cost Not At All

Very Much

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APPENDIX 2 Design Sensitivity Audit II (Source: Kotler and Rath, 1984)

1. What role does the company assign to design in the marketing decision process? (a) Design is almost completely neglected as a marketing tool. (b) Design is viewed and used as minor tactical tool. (c) Design is used as a major strategic tool in the marketing mix. 2. To what extent design thinking goes into the product development work? (a) Little or no design thinking goes into product development work. (b) Occasionally good design thinking goes into product development work. (c) Consistently good design thinking goes into product development work. 3. To what extent is design thinking utilised in overall environmental design work? (a) Little or no design thinking goes into environmental design work. (b) Occasionally good design thinking goes into environmental design work. (c) Consistently good design thinking goes into environmental design work. 4. To what extent is design thinking utilised in information design work? (a) Little or no design thinking goes into information design work.


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(b) Occasionally good design thinking goes into information design work. (c) Consistently good design thinking goes into information design work. 5. To what extent is design thinking utilised in corporate identity design work? (a) Little or no design thinking goes into corporate identity design work. (b) Occasionally good design thinking goes into information design work. (c) Consistently good design thinking goes into information design work.

APPENDIX 3 Design Management Effectiveness Audit (Source: Kotler and Rath, 1984)

1. What orientation does the design staff follow? (a) The design staff aims for high design ideals without any surveying of the needs and wants of the marketplace. (b) The design staff designs what marketing or consumers ask for with little or no modification. (c) The design staff aims for design solutions that start with an awareness of consumer needs and preferences and adds a creative touch. 2. Does the design staff have an adequate budget to carry out design analysis, planning and implementation? (a) The budget is insufficient even for production materials. (b) The budget is adequate but typically cut back during hard times.

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(c) The design staff is well budgeted, especially on new product development projects. 3. Do managers encourage creative experimentation and design? (a) Creative experimentation and design are discouraged. (b) Designers are occasionally allowed creative freedom, but more typically they have to design within tight specifications. (c) Designers have creative freedom within the limits of the project parameters. 4. Do designers have a close working relationship with people in marketing, sales, engineering and research? (a) No (b) Somewhat (c) Yes 5. Are designers held accountable for their work through postevaluation measurement and feedback? (a) No (b) Designers are accountable for cost overruns in the production process. (c) Design work is evaluated and full feedback is given to the designers.

REFERENCES AIAM. 1999. ‘Recommendations for Developing Indian Automobile Policy’, Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM), May, New Delhi. ACMA. Available at acmainfo.com/docmgr/Status_of_Auto_Industry/Status_ Indian_Auto_Industry.pdf. ACMA. ‘Engine of Growth during the Indian Manufacturing Sector’, available at http://acmainfo.com/docmgr/Status_of_Auto_Industry/Status_Indian_ Auto_Industry.pdf. Businessworld. 2004. Marketing Whitebook 2003–04, New Delhi: Businessworld.


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Chatterjee, Adite. 2007 ‘The New India Budget and its Impact on Appliances’, Appliance, May. Das, Debdatta. 2007a. ‘Frost Free Refrigerator Segment Sees 50% Growth’, Business Line, 11 July. —————. 2007b.‘Top-end Tumult’, Business Line, 2 August. Das, Ganesh G. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology. Hoffer, George E. and Robert J. Reilly. 1984. ‘Automobile Styling as a Shift Variable: An Investigation by Firm and by Industry’, Applied Economics, 16: 291–97. ‘India Infoline Sector Reports Automobile—Two Wheelers’. Available at www. indiainfoline.com. ‘India Infoline Sector Reports Automobile—Cars’. Available at www.indiainfoline. com. Kotler, Philip and Alexander G. Rath. 1984. ‘Design—A Powerful but Neglected Strategic Tool,’ Journal of Business Strategy, 5(Fall): 16–21. Maruti Udyog Limited. Available at http://www.marutiudyog/ab/aboutus/. NCAER. 1998. India Market Demographic Report 1998, NCAER: New Delhi. ORG Marg Survey. 2006. ‘Detail Report—Laundry’ and ‘Detail Report— Refrigerator’, Unpublished report. Philip, Lijee. 2004. ‘Two-Wheelers on the Fast Track, But Way Behind Peers’, Economic Times, 24 September, New Delhi. Ramanathan, Kalyana S. and Bhupesh Bhandari. 2004. ‘Carmakers Bet Rs 25,000 Cr on Demand Overdrive’, Business Standard, May, New Delhi. Ravikumar, R. and Sravanthi Challapalli. 2007. ‘The Cold War’, Business Line, 5 April. Samsung India. Available at http://www.samsung.com/in/aboutsamsung/; http://www.ushainternational.com/corp_info.html. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. ‘Automobile Production Trend’. Available at http://www.siamindia.com/scripts/production-trend.aspx. —————. ‘Automobile Domestic Sales Trend’, available at http://www.siamindia. com/scripts/domestic-sales-trend.aspx. —————. ‘Automobile Exports Trend’, available at http://www.siamindia.com/ scripts/export-trend.aspx.

Chapter 10 Role of Aesthetics in Marketing

10.1 LEARNINGS The concept of product development is undergoing a change. Today, we find that technology is easily accessible for all, which is constantly bringing down the product development cycle across all product categories. This is further resulting into very insignificant points of differentiation between competitive and functionally similar products. Considering these aspects, various concepts were examined through case studies and specific surveys which was carried out at the industry as well as at the consumer level. These efforts have resulted in providing valuable insight in bringing out many aspects of product and aesthetics, and its relation with various marketing aspects. In the present scenario, the key factor would be how companies are leveraging the ‘aesthetic elements’ or aspects in the product while working on the ‘aesthetic image’ to increase the product acceptability in the marketplace. We need to conclude various concepts discussed in the book by drawing conclusions and learning, and identifying some practical implications of the findings in the area. To have a better understanding of the concepts and uncover the relation of aesthetics to design and all other variables the same is summarised diagrammatically in Figure 10.1. To start with, we look at all the propositions and hypotheses discussed in brief. Table 10.1 summarises

Home Appliances

Product Automobile

Social

Emotional

Functional

Product Re-Launch

Product Failure

Purchase Post-Purchase

Income Age Gender Qualification

• Brand Image • Product Quality • Corporate Image • Brand Equity • User Image Quality

Other Aspects

Functional Aesthetics Price Quality Competition New Technical Features • Novelty

• • • • • •

Variables

• • • •

Demographic Variables Beauty Smell Feel Sound Experience

• • • •

Visual Auditory Olfactory Ergonomics

Aesthetic Elements

• Order and Symmetry • Definiteness • Form • Proportion • Finishing • Unity of Various Parts (Harmony)

Qualities

Aesthetics

• • • • •

Attributes

FIGURE 10.1: Using Aesthetic Elements to Create Superior Product Design in Automobiles and Home Appliances

Product Design

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the overall outcome on these hypotheses and propositions based on the surveys. Table 10.1 indicates that all the hypotheses and propositions are accepted except in two cases which are partially accepted. The TABLE 10.1: Summary of Hypotheses and Propositions Hypotheses/ Proposition Number

Details

Tools Used in Proving

Result

P1

Aesthetics play a significant role in consumer choice.

Ranking

Accepted

P2

Attributes of aesthetics based on visual aspects are more important than other attributes of aesthetics.

Ranking

Accepted for automobiles

H1

There is an association between various attributes of aesthetics like, beauty, smell, feel, sound and experience.

Correlation; factor analysis

Partially accepted

H2

There is an association between various qualities of aesthetics like order and symmetry, definiteness, form proportion, finishing and unity of various parts.


Accepted

H3

There is an association between importance of aesthetics in product, good aesthetics resulting in sales, aesthetic surrogate for quality of a product, aesthetics surrogate for brand image, and aesthetics surrogate for corporate image.


Accepted

H4

Demographic variables like income, age, gender and educational qualification affect the importance of aesthetics while buying automobiles or home appliances.

Regression analysis

Accepted

Source: Das, 2005.

role of aesthetics in marketing

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findings indicated that aesthetics do play a significant role in consumer choice. This was supported by both—the industry and the consumer surveys. The importance given to aesthetics and design considerations by market leaders in the case study supported this further. The visual attributes of aesthetics emerged as more important than any other attribute of aesthetics for automobiles, but ergonomics emerged as more important for home appliances. This indicates that as far as home appliances are concerned the consumer gives importance to ergonomics, that is, the human intervention component of aesthetics, leading to convenience of usage. The different attributes and qualities of aesthetics have been identified. There is an association between various identified attributes of aesthetics and qualities of aesthetics. This confirms the need to give importance to all the attributes and qualities of aesthetics while designing, so that they unite together to form aesthetically superior products. There is an association between various important marketing variables like importance of having good aesthetics in a product and those affecting purchase decisions, and aesthetics surrogate for quality of a product, for brand image, and for corporate image. This would imply that working on aesthetics could result into positive effect on brand image, quality of the product and corporate image. This was further reinforced and substantiated by the findings from the case study also. Aesthetics is not only limited to the visual aspects as per popular perceptions, but also extends to all the sensory perceptions. The elements of ‘aesthetics mix’, which other than visual aspect also considers ergonomics, auditory and olfactory aspect in a product, has been seen and identified. The case studies again validated these findings. Among the attributes, experience has emerged as one of the important attributes of aesthetics along with beauty. This highlights the important aspect of seeing, owning and subsequently experiencing a product and thus completing the entire aesthetic experience. Thus, an experience of using a product can affect the aesthetic rating of that particular product in the post-purchase scenario.

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Aesthetics has a root in the word form, the association and importance of form in designing is once again validated from the survey. A product other than the functional role also plays other roles, for example, it indicates status and makes the user feel good about the product and satisfies his emotional requirement. Therefore, a product needs to satisfy the consumer from the emotional and social aspects also. One can say that once the product satisfies a consumer from the point of view of the core functional aspect, it can move further to satisfy his other aspirations. The concept is diagrammatically represented in Figure 10.2. Aesthetic features of the product are considered as the desirable feature. However, it needs to be connected to the function in some way. This also indicates that developing good aesthetics can influence the customer positively in purchase behaviour especially when there is strong competition and other decision parameters are even. For example, if a company provides good aesthetic feature in any product, there is every chance that the consumer will chose to own it, since there is a desire in the mind of consumer to associate with a product which has good aesthetics. Aesthetics is important in product with longer life. Therefore, we can say that aesthetics has to be dynamic in nature so that it can be appreciated through out the life of the product. We can say that for products like automobiles and home appliances, aesthetics is more important as these are durables and consumers own them for longer duration. When compared with important purchase behaviour variables, aesthetics ranks above price. Aesthetics has not figured last in any of the stages when ranked with other important variables of purchase in various stages of purchase. Aesthetics is identified as an important factor resulting in product failure and it is also considered important when the product is re-launched. Aesthetic attributes for automobile and home appliances which may help in product designing are identified. These identified attributes are based on the ‘Aesthetic Elements’ which are visual, ergonomics, auditory and olfactory. It is seen that both in the case of automobiles and home appliances, the consumers have ranked attribute under the ergonomic aspect first, though in the case of

Source: Das, 2005.

CORE FUNCTION

FIGURE 10.2: Aesthetic Influence on Product

Further Enhancement (True Extra) of Product by Working on the Aesthetic Aspects

Product Enhancement by Offering Other Benefits and Features

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automobile the difference between the attribute under ergonomics and visual for the first place is only marginal. The presence of attributes under all the three elements again reinforces the importance of the entire sensory perception related to aesthetics instead of only the visual element. Aesthetics can be considered as a surrogate for quality of the product, brand image, corporate image, and brand identity. The consumer perceives the quality of the product, brand image, and corporate image as good if the product has good aesthetics. For automobiles, as per consumer surveys, educational qualification has a positive affect on aesthetics, income has negative effect, which indicates that for the considered sample, as the income gets lower the importance given to aesthetics while buying comes down. This was also discussed considering the present Indian scenario. It is seen that females get affected with better aesthetics than their male counterparts. As far as paying more for good aesthetics is concerned, both income and age have negative effect which means that the younger age group is ready to pay more for good aesthetics. As far as home appliance is concerned, it has emerged from the study that only age seems to contribute in the regression equation. Higher age group positively affects the importance given to aesthetics while making a purchase decision. In the other case related to the intention of paying more for good aesthetics indicate that consumer in the higher age group is likely to respond positively. The case studies indicated that the selected companies do give importance to aesthetics while designing the products to create aesthetically superior products, which gives them the marketing edge. The companies selected for the case studies were well known and some are market leaders in the respective product categories and have presence in the market for many years. The case studies again highlighted the importance of ergonomic element of aesthetics; however the number of changes are more in the visual aspects. The auditory aspects in the products are yet to be considered important and worked upon. Aesthetic changes in the product have positively affected the product, market and the company.


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10.2 LOOKING FORWARD The discussions addressed in the book and the survey opened up many interesting concepts, which can have significant implications. The design development process followed presently in India is at a very nascent stage. Even though many companies are now coming out with good designs, but development of a world class design is still found wanting. Recently, it was announced by Hyundai Motors that they intend to set up a design centre in India, perhaps this is just a beginning of the things to come in the future. However, this study will provide the managers and companies with certain clarity regarding some of the aspects of design and aesthetics. • Here the concept of elements of aesthetics or the ‘aesthetic mix’ is introduced, therefore, the companies can work on these elements identified along with the visual aspect in the product development stage itself to make products with low failure rate. • This element of ‘aesthetic mix’ includes the ergonomics, auditory and olfactory aspects apart from the visual aspect. It is clear from the case studies also that the companies are giving more importance to the visual aspects. Working on these three elements can create designs, which could be unique and offer more complete and satisfying products to the consumer. • Changing market situation and increase in aspiration of consumers are putting a great deal of pressure on the manufacturers to offer new products from time to time. Developing a new automobile or an appliance is a time consuming and expensive process. While designing the products, the marketer can make use of the importance, the consumer attaches to various attributes and qualities of aesthetics to design better acceptable products, and companies can improve the success rate from their new launches, or in other words, the failure rate of new products which is already high can be brought down. • By working on the various attributes and qualities of aesthetics, we can design products with better market acceptability

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•

•

•

•

•


and less product failure. The product can be designed considering the dynamic character of aesthetics. There exists an association between the attributes of aesthetics and also between qualities of aesthetics. Further, the survey identified some common factors for these attributes and qualities respectively. These common factors can be used to conduct future studies and their effect can be seen on other market and design variables. Aesthetics can be considered as a surrogate to brand image and corporate image. Companies can work on this ‘aesthetic image’ of the product and can use the same to increase brand image and corporate image. The emergence of ‘aesthetic image’ of a product as the result of factorisation can also be used as a variable to study its effect on other market variables. As the importance of aesthetics has emerged in developing brand identity, brand image, corporate image, and so on, the marketer can use the aesthetics features of the product to strongly communicate with the consumers and generate positive perceptions about the brand image, corporate image, product quality and functional aspects of the product. The aesthetic features of the product can help the companies to retain a positive image of the product in the consumer’s mind. The importance given to the social and emotional aspects of the product along with the functional aspects enhances the importance of aesthetics in products as the effect of aesthetics is primarily on these. Connecting the aesthetic aspect of the product with some function, can possibly result into better appreciation of aesthetics. The marketers can focus on the emotional and the social aspects of the product along with the functional aspects and for doing this, aesthetics can be a tool to have better product acceptance. The emergence of aesthetics as the desirable feature in a product can encourage a marketer to use it as a tool in differentiating and positioning the product. It has also been indicated in the study that aesthetics can be used for differentiating a product. The case study also highlights that changes in


•

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•

•

•

•

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the aesthetic features of a product can at times help to reposition the product for the better. A purely functional product can also be designed by keeping the aesthetic aspect in mind, or in other words, aesthetic features of a product can be suitably used to perform a function. By using aesthetics as one of the tools, the manufacturers can successfully customise an automobile or home appliance. Companies can collect information from the consumers on some of the aesthetic features they would like to customise. Customising aesthetic features will be comparatively less expensive to some of the other functional features. This may also help the companies to win consumer loyalty. Aesthetics is important in a product with longer life. Aesthetics can be used to make the product more dynamic and make it likeable till the life of the product. By using aesthetics, durability (life) of the product can be increased; a semidurable product can be converted to a durable product. For better aesthetics, extra charges can be added as there are consumers willing to pay more for better aesthetically designed products. We can use it in hedonic analysis, which identifies the contribution of different features to the price or cost of the product for aesthetics also. Aesthetics can be either broken down to elements or attributes and quality for the analysis. The identification of important attributes of aesthetics under various aesthetic elements specific to automobile and home appliance also can help in better product acceptance. Aesthetics is ranked above price and there is indication that consumers may pay more for better aesthetics. Therefore, in the development of new products and for better aesthetics, one can possibly increase the selling price of the product. A positive correlation of demographic profile of customer and their degree of willingness to pay for the aesthetic qualities is established. ‘Aesthetic Image’, for a brand or company could be arrived at by measuring the aesthetic influence on the brand image, corporate image, quality of the product, and user’s image.

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•


This aesthetic image could be considered as a subset of organisational culture in an organisation. The questionnaire used for the case study can be used to capture the consumer responses for a particular product also. The questionnaires when administered to the consumer can give us the response of the consumers on the changes in the product, market and company image which they feel has resulted from the aesthetic changes in the product. The questionnaire can be used as a tool to audit the company on their ability to capitalise aesthetics to improve the company’s business performance. The marks scored out of the ‘Design Sensitivity Audit II’ and the ‘Design Management Audit’ can help companies to understand where they stand and help them to improve their systems and approach to achieve a culture which will help them to design superior products. The questionnaire on ‘Changes in Aesthetic Features of the Product’ combined with the questionnaire capturing ‘The Effect on Market Results’ can help the companies to monitor the aesthetic changes and the effect it has on some of the marketing factors due to this change. The questionnaire regarding market changes can be further modified to be quantitative and can be used in more advanced analysis. Demographic variables significantly affect the importance attached to aesthetic feature while buying an automobile or home appliance. The survey indicated that ‘age’ influences the importance attached to aesthetic factors while buying as well as the intention of the consumer to pay more for good aesthetics in case of home appliances. Whereas ‘qualification’, ‘income’ and ‘gender’ influence the importance given to aesthetic factors while buying for automobiles, the influence of ‘qualification’ is positive whereas that of ‘income’ and ‘gender’ is negative. The negative sign for ‘gender’ indicate that women give more importance to aesthetic factors than men do. It was also seen that income and age have a negative effect on the intention of the consumer to pay more for good aesthetics. This indicates the aspirations of the younger age


•

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group; the negative sign of ‘income’ indicate the shift in the lifestyle of Indian consumers and the role of consumer finance schemes in India. The repurchase cycle for automobiles and home appliances is very long. The product can be designed giving importance to various identified attributes and qualities and design products with aesthetic attributes, that is dynamic in nature. This can help the companies in developing brand loyalty, when the consumer makes a repurchase or a replacement. Aesthetics has emerged as one of the factors which influence sales. It was seen that the importance given to the aesthetic factor is more than the price factor. This can help companies to shift focus from differentiating on the basis of price to aesthetic features. This will have a longer effect on the consumer and will be unique and not easily replicable by competition. Aesthetics of a product can be an important tool for companies that do not have products, which can strongly take on competition on the functional aspects or in the case where the competition has better technology. These companies can work on the aesthetic aspect of the product and possibly influence the perception of the consumer on the product in terms of superior function, quality or technology in a positive manner. This will create favourable response from the consumer towards the products. Working on the aesthetic aspects would probably be less expensive than other options available for them like improving functional features or technology. Aesthetic features of the product can be positioned in such a manner that it can create a ‘Halo Effect’ in the mind of the consumer. The emergence of aesthetics as an important factor influencing purchase decision can also help companies to create market and demand, when the market growth is on a decline or not satisfactory. Introducing a model with aesthetic features, which are significantly better than the previous models, and probably with the same functional features may create interest in a segment that may opt for a new style. This might lead

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them to finally replace their previous purchases. This can also help companies to create additional or new sales. These introductions may reduce the relatively long inter-purchase period for products like automobiles and home appliances. • Segmentation can be done based on demographic factors. New studies can also be directed to the ownership pattern and the importance they attach to aesthetics and aesthetic features for different segments. They can be separately evaluated based on the time period in which the consumer intends to make purchase, and the importance he attaches after a purchase is made within a time period. This will also give an idea to what extent the consumer wants the aesthetic qualities of the product likeable throughout the product life (dynamic).

10.3 CONCLUDING REMARKS The book deals with the aesthetic issues and considerations which have direct and indirect bearing on consumer response to buying intention for product categories covered under consumer durables including automobile and home appliances. However, we have seen that aesthetic issues are more significant in relation to product categories which are of high value and have long-term utility. It can therefore, be concluded that although the survey was carried out with respect to product categories of automobiles and home appliances, the findings have much wider significance and utility covering the entire domain of consumer durable industry.

REFERENCE Das, G. Ganesh. 2005. Role of Aesthetics in Marketing: A Study in the Indian Context, A Ph.D. Thesis Submitted by G. Ganesh Das under the supervision of Professor Rajat K. Baisya, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology.

Discussion Questions

CHAPTER 1 1. What are the key challenges companies face today while launching new products? 2. What are the different variables/parameters one has to consider while designing new products? 3. Why should there be a lag in launch of products in Indian market as compared to other developing (e.g., Indonesia), and developed economies (e.g., USA)? Why do global brands do not make the latest designs immediately available in the Indian market? 4. Take a case of a recently launched durable and analyse the key variables that has resulted in its success or failure. 5. Identify two companies, one with maximum product failure and the other one with maximum product success. Analyse the reasons for their failure or success.

CHAPTER 2 1. What are the aesthetic attributes and qualities of a product? Take an example and identify the aesthetic attribute and qualities of the product. 2. Define ‘Produce a Work of Art’. How do improvements in a product lead to a work of art?

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3. What is the prime function of a product? How does it satisfy its owner from the functional, social and emotional aspects? 4. ‘Aesthetics is a Total Experience’ explain this statement. What are the ‘aesthetic elements’, take an example and discuss. 5. Using the concept of ‘aesthetic element’, create a product highlighting at least four attributes of each elements.

CHAPTER 3 1. Differentiate between functional and non-functional aspects of a product? Why is aesthetics mostly linked to nonfunctional aspects? Discuss. 2. What are ‘Functional Aesthetics’? Explain by giving two cases from automobile and home appliances. 3. What do you understand by ergonomics? How is it related to aesthetics? Give examples of ergonomics of a product. 4. How can customer loyalty be linked to aesthetics? Explain by taking cases. 5. What is the difference between a durable and non-durable product? How much importance does aesthetics play in them? Explain the term ‘design or aesthetics of a product has to be dynamic’. Give examples. 6. What are the important purchase variables? Compare each one with product aesthetics.

CHAPTER 4 1. ‘Aesthetics of a product is one of the important factors for product success’. Discuss by giving case examples. 2. How can we use aesthetics as a tool for differentiation? Discuss with examples. 3. How has styling changes in a product resulted into ‘product success’? Give examples. 4. Identify companies which traditionally have been producing aesthetically superior designs. Discuss with their success stories.

discussion questions

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5. Take the case of ‘Harley Davidson’ and discuss the evolution of design from aesthetics point of view. 6. How have the consumers and industry ranked various elements of aesthetics for different product categories? 7. List the three most important attributes of aesthetics for each product categories of automobile and home appliance. 8. What are the different ‘Styling Theories’? Give examples.

CHAPTER 5 1. ‘Aesthetics of a product helps to develop brand and corporate image’. Discuss by giving examples. 2. How does superior aesthetics in a product results into commanding a better price in the market? 3. How does superior aesthetics in a durable help in supporting repeat purchase of a product? Discuss by giving examples. 4. How can one customise a product by working on the aesthetic elements of a product? Explain by giving examples. 5. What is ‘aesthetic image’ of a product? How the same is related to brand image, corporate image and other marketing factors? Explain by giving examples.

CHAPTER 6 1. ‘Aesthetics of a product helps in brand building’. Take two cases and explain the concept. 2. How does aesthetics of a product help in product positioning? Explain with examples. 3. Discuss ‘marketing mix’ and ‘aesthetic mix’ and deliberate on the relationship between the two. Discuss how ‘aesthetic mix’ in a product can succeed where ‘marketing mix’ may have failed. 4. How do demographic factors affect aesthetic consideration in a product? Explain with examples.

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5. How do aesthetic considerations change with age and income? Discuss how it will be different in the Indian context, developing economy, developed economy and under developed economy?

CHAPTER 7 1. What is ‘total aesthetic experience’? Discuss the concept of all purchase cycles, that is, pre-purchase, during purchase, post-purchase and product repurchase stage.

CHAPTER 9 1. What are the challenges companies face considering the design and aesthetic aspect of a product? 2. In the case of Maruti, how have the changes in aesthetic elements of the product helped the company? 3. In the case of Samsung, what was the kind of change the company made in the product and how did it help them? Explain using the concept of aesthetic elements. 4. From the cases of Design Council, discuss the common findings related to aesthetics. How has aesthetics helped in building brand and company value?

Glossary

aesthetic aspect. The attributes in product which are aesthetic in nature. In case of an automobile the shape, colours, etc., are the aesthetic aspect of the product. Working on the aesthetic aspect of the product results in improving the aesthetic appeal. aesthetic elements. There are four elements of aesthetics—Visual, Ergonomics, Olfactory and Auditory. These constitute the Elements of Aesthetics. The degree of importance varies from product to product. Focusing on the Aesthetic Elements and customising it to the need of user results into aesthetically superior products. aesthetic image. Brand Image represents the perception of the consumer/customer with respect to the brand performance of a product in the market. Similarly, the Aesthetic Image of the product would represent the perception of the consumers on the aesthetic aspect of the product. This would also be influenced by the brand image, corporate image, quality of the product/company. In turn, Aesthetic Image would also affect the perception of the consumer towards brand image, corporate image and product quality. aesthetic mix. Aesthetic Mix of a product is the mix of the Elements of Aesthetics that is the Visual, Ergonomics, Olfactory and Auditory. Arriving at the right mix of these elements is a key to product success in the marketplace. The importance of various elements of the mix would depend on the product, market segment and other marketing variables.

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aggregation. It is the total of different aspects/variables which influence a product or aspect. Aggregation of aesthetic qualities in a product results into the overall aesthetics of the product. artifacts. It is defined as an object made by human and has an archaeological or cultural interest. Evolution of aesthetics comes from refinement of tools used by the pre-historic man to object of desire and exhibit thus adding aesthetic value to the object. aspirations. Product are often positioned which relates to aspirations of the buyer. That is, his or her desire to achieve something. Often products are positioned as adventurous so that consumers who are adventurous or aspiring to be adventurous buy them. association. Relation of one with another and joining together to influence as a variable. In case of various attributes and qualities of aesthetics, there is an association between each of them, thus working on all these can result in aesthetically better accepted product. attributes. A characteristic or an inherent property of any product or concept. In the case of aesthetics, its important attributes are beauty, feel and experience. auditory. Anything related to production of sound or hearing. Auditory is one of the elements of aesthetics forming the part of Aesthetic Mix. In case of automobile sound produced by the engine is an auditory aspect. brand equity. It is the value which is build-up in a brand consisting of the tangible and intangible attributes of the product. The value of the brand would depend upon the brand image and brand awareness. brand image. Brand Image represents the perception of the consumer/customer with respect to the brand performance of a product in the market. brand loyalty. It is the consumer’s commitment to repurchase a brand. Brand loyalty is exhibited by a consumer even at an environment of strong competition and availability of substitute as they buy the same brand.

glossary

295

clinical study. Experimentation, wherein cause and effect for a product is analysed. In some cases, every change made in a product is subject to clinical study and the impact it is likely to have is noted systematically when such changes are made. These studies are often used to predict the performance of the product and the sales. cognition. Often decisions are made using the head and the heart. That is from the cognitive side and from the emotional side. For making decision from the cognitive side, we process information collected in our brain using logic, reason, intuition and perception. Cognition is our capability to acquire this knowledge and processing it as per requirement. coherence. Fitting together to form a complete object. For making a product, different technologies and parts are brought together to complete the product as a single entity. commercial vehicle. The automobile are purchased for use of an individual and for commercial use, that is they may be rented or used for any other public activity other than for self use. Such vehicle may be owned by an individual or company and used by someone else or even by general public. competitive advantage. It is an advantage a company has over its rival due to some of its abilities like to sell at lower cost, produce at lower cost, products having unique differentiating factors etc. competitive edge. It is the margin of competitive advantage one company or product has over competition. competitive weapon. Any unique competitive factor or advantage which can be used to out-sell or out-perform the competition. In case the aesthetics or design of a product is better than that of competition, this can be used to differentiate the product and when communicated aggressively can result in competitive advantage for the company. corporate image. It is referred to how an organisation is perceived by its stakeholders, employee, media, customers and public at large. Companies work hard and invest in building corporate image.

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correlation. It is a relationship between two or more things. There could be positive correlation and negative between two variables. It is also used to understand the association between variables. customised. A product is customised when it is tailored and made in accordance with the need of a particular customer. Generally products produced in large numbers are difficult to customise when compared to a product which is made for few. Mass produced products to some extent can be customised to suit a particular segment of consumers. Customised products may result into better customer satisfaction. definiteness. Certain about something. Unquestionable. The form/ shape or attributes of a product unquestionably defines the product without any doubt. dependability. One can rely on. A product performs a function and this utilisation goes for a long time in case of a durable. The product should give confidence to the user that it is reliable and will continue to perform the function without giving any problems. design. Design of a product is the combination of various elements like shape, form, colour, texture, pattern in making of a product. Different products have different combination of these elements. Product design represents the non-functional and the functional aspect of the product resulting in consumer convenience and acceptance. differentiating attribute. Differentiating Attributes of a product are those features or attributes which are different and unique in a product when compared to a similar product that stands out. In the case of automobiles, if one model has multi-focus head lamps and the other does not have, then it becomes a differentiating attribute. dissonant. Experiences which are inconsistent to what a customer expects from a product. Consumer has some expectations with a product he buys. If these expectations are not supported by actual performance of the product then he experiences dissonance.

glossary

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durables. Any product which lasts for a long time. We have consumer durables and non-durables and fast moving consumer goods. Home appliances fall in the category of durables as they last for a long time. dynamic. Any thing which changes with time is dynamic. A dynamic design of a product would mean that products continue to be accepted by the consumer till the life of the product. The consumer likes the product throughout its life and he does not feel the urge to change it. eigenvalue. In mathematics, the factor by which magnitude is scaled is called eigenvalue. emotional. Reacting to emotions than to logical reasoning. The other half of cognition in decision-making. ergonomics. Human factors and ergonomics are concerned with adapting products to people, based upon their physiological and psychological capacities and limitations. In other words, it is related to the convenience and comfort of using a product by a human. evolution. Deals with how a theory, product or any idea/concept is initiated and developed throughout its life resulting into the present situation/form. experience. Active involvement in using a product over a period of time so that most of the features and attribute of the product is known which will enable the user to comment on the product. extrinsic. Related to external aspects. In marketing, sometimes it is used to mention external variables which are not in one’s control. factor analysis. Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to determine variability amongst different variables or arrive at a common factor after determining relative strength of each variable. fashion. Style in clothing, hair, design or aesthetics which creates a trend and following amongst society or consumers. form. It is the external shape, appearance or configuration of an object. It is a particular way in which something appears.

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functional. Any product or object which performs a function. In case of a washing machine, the functional aspect is washing. A functional aspect of a switch is turning power on or off. graphics. Any design or shape or picture in different colour. Graphics are used in automobiles to enhance the visual appeal. Many a times graphics are used to create differentiation between models. halo effect. Halo Effect occurs when a person’s positive or negative traits seems to ‘spill over’ from one area of their personality to another in others’ perception of them. By looking at the visual appearance of a product it is assumed that the product will function as per the looks. A tall fat man is assumed to be strong, though in reality this may not be true. harmony. Coming together of many things. When a product is made, each part has to be synchronised with the other and should look like a single cohesive unit. hedonic. Hedonic is the level of pleasure one gets in using a product or a part. For each and every part of a product, different level of pleasure is experienced while using. inessential. Something which is not necessary and can be done away with. Some of the parts in a product which is not related to any function are often termed as inessential when considered strictly from the utilitarian point of view. interactive designing. Process of designing a product by taking regular input from consumers/focus groups/experts. By this method the design will have better acceptance in the marketplace. intertwined. To link one to another. To twist or combine two or more things. interweaved. To combine one thing with another. In some of the promotions, one product is offered free with another product or while buying two different products they are offered at a discount to encourage sale of both. Sometimes a product with less brand recall is interwoven with the one with high recall thus helping it to sell more and increase its recall. intrinsic. Belonging by it rather than any other consequences. Features within the product.

glossary

299

level of income. The earning of a household. The level of income many a times is classified as low income, middle income, high income, etc., to stratify or categorise the data. lifespan. The life of the product. It is the durability of the product, how long a product can last. lifestyle. A way of life of an individual or a group. How an individual lives, spends, his interests, what he wears and what is his social/cultural behaviour. logo. Logo is a graphical representation of an organisation, brand or a product. It is designed for immediate recognition and recall. look and feel. When a consumer buys a product, the looks attract him towards the product and immediately after that he desires to touch it. If it is a case of automobile, the shape, colour and other external features attract the customer and then he feels the product by sitting on it to get feeling of the steering wheel etc. This experience creates the look and feel of the product in his mind. low-ticket value. The cost of the product determines to some extent the seriousness of the involvement in buying a product of the consumer. Low-ticket value means the cost of the product is less when compared with some of the other products. mass market. Market with a large consumer base. Especially true for a case of fast moving consumer goods. multi-variate. In statistics, multi-variate means dealing with more that one variable at a time. non-commercial vehicle. Vehicle which is used for individual or family use and not for commercial purpose. non-functional. Any product or part in a product which directly does not do any function. Colour of a vehicle is not functional yet it is important. novelty. Some thing which is new or original and different from what is available in the marketplace. olfactory. Related to smell. One of the elements of aesthetics, olfactory element is concerned with sensory perception of smell. order & symmetry. Organised in a proper state in which one follows another. For example objects arranged as per size or shape.

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pattern of ownership/ownership pattern. The order of owning a product. It is seen that consumer buys certain product first, then acquires other products later depending on the need and income. There is a sequence he follows for purchasing these. penetration. The depth of entry in a particular market. The sales in the market compared to the market potential and size. perception. Is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organising information in the mind of the consumer based on his previous learning, attitude, etc. physical appearance. How a product looks externally. The physical appearance of a product most of the time creates an interest of the buyer. pre-purchase. Consumer before buying a product gets involved in understanding and evaluating the product based on its features and experience of other customers. The evaluation is also done based on the brand and corporate image. This activity is a pre-purchase activity. The perception of the consumer regarding the product may be different for pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase stages. principal component analysis. It is a technique used to simplify a data set. It is used in factor analysis to arrive at factors. product differentiation. It is the difference a marketer creates with another product, many time a competitive product by introduction or improvement in one or more of the attributes of a product. proportion. A comparison in size between two objects. In aesthetics, the proportion plays an important role. Each part when integrated to form a product should maintain acceptable proportions. prototypicality. A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of some thing serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category. qualities of aesthetics. Quality is an essential identifying nature or character of somebody or something. Aesthetic qualities of a product would include unity of various parts, order & symmetry, definiteness, form, proportion, finishing.

glossary

301

rattles & squeaks. This is a commonly used term given to the noise which is made in a car or an automobile. This noise would represent loose joints, screws, windows, knobs, suspension, etc. This indicates the quality of fit in a vehicle apart from the durability of the parts. regression analysis. Regression analysis is a statistical tool used to model relationship between two or more variables. In this, one of the variables is independent and the rest dependent. replacers. Those consumers who change a product with a new one at some point of time. This cycle would depend on the consumer and other variables. We have early replacers and late replacers for any product. repurchase cycle. It is the duration between the periods a consumer buys a new product and replaces it with a new one or a similar product. sensory perceptions. Perception formed due to usage of senses or sense organs. In case of aesthetics of a product, perception is formed due to the visual (eyes), auditory (ear), olfactory (nose) and ergonomics (skin) elements. shape. It is the outline of an object. It could be a regular shape like a rectangle or any other shape. Shape is the outline of the form which is seen. social. Related to the human society we all live in. Consumers buy and use products in the society and therefore many a times feel that it should be socially acceptable. spontaneity. A response which is immediate and most of the time does not go through the normal process of decision-making, thus devoid of any external influence. static product design. A design which becomes outdated once time changes or the product gets older. A design not capable of being in line with the current liking or trend in the marketplace and therefore not contemporary. stimulation. Create interest so that a desired action is taken. An aesthetically designed product may stimulate a consumer to buy or may create interest for him to understand the product and get involved.

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strata. Different layers. A marketer segments his consumer base in strata. Income levels are in strata. In social sciences a social class or level of society consisting on people coming under common income, age, qualification, etc. style. It is a distinctive way things are done or it has a distinctive and identifiable shape or form of a product. subtle. Slightest and smallest of details in a product or anything. Attention to subtle details goes in a long way in creating a successful design or product. synthesis. A combination of two or more thoughts, ideas, views in formation of a new concept or an object. texture. The feel and appearance of a surface whether it is smooth, rough, corrugated, etc. trend. It is the current fashion or movement which the society or strata at large accepts. unity. To give the feeling of one. All parts in a product integrate in such a way that they are seen as one and the individual identity of the parts vanishes. uni-variate. In statistics uni-variate mean dealing with single variable at a time. utilitarian. Something which is useful and can be measured for its usefulness. A product which is designed keeping the usefulness or utility in mind rather than anything else. visual. Something seen by the eyes, instead of any other senses. Something which is perceptible in the mind’s eye.

Index

aesthetic(s) aspects, 32, 36–37, 60, 65, 72, 87–88, 91, 109, 126, emotional, 153 functional, 153 products, of: as potential source of pleasure for consumers, 37 flexibility provided for manufacturers by, 36 social, 153 attributes: analysis of consumer preferences, 156 automobiles and home appliances, specific to, 167 beauty, 53, 152 correlations between, 54 experience, 53, 152 factor analysis of, 57 feel, 53, 152 importance of, 52 importance in purchase of automobiles in, 154 importance in purchase of home appliances in, 154 product design, in, 50 influence on consumer behaviour, 65

products, of, 51 qualities of, and, 159, 160 smell, 53 sound, 53 specific to automobiles and home appliances, 94 automobiles, in: visual aspects as most important for consumers, 155 branding of products, names synonymous with, 65 building brand image, in, 154 building users’ personality/style/ image, in, 154 components of products, 46 concepts, 45 consideration: factors influencing consumers’ frame of reference, 83 consumer perception of, 155 consumer purchase behaviour, in, 79 automobiles and home appliances, 164 correlation between: attributes and qualities of, 161 various aspects of, in consumer survey, 157

304


various attributes and qualities of, 152 criteria: as product differentiators, 46 definition of, 43 demographic variables, effect of, 172 design, and: consumer behaviour: ‘The Collective Theory of Style’, 87 ‘The Declasse Theory of Style Acceptance’, 87 ‘The Mass Theory of Style Acceptance’, 87 factors influencing, 83 role in products, and its, 64 importance for products, 76 importance in consumer behaviour, examples, 87 involving sensorial experiences, 68 product, in, 64 developing brand identity, in, 154 developing corporate image, in, 154 durable products, for, dynamic nature of, 76 dynamic discipline in product design, 71 effect of age group of consumers on, 153 elements, 46, 131, 195, 268, 285 affecting product evaluation and attitude formation, 46 creating superior product design in automobiles and home appliances, in, 277 visual, 61, 98–102, 152, 155–56, 162, 175, 196, 201, 233, 266, 276, 283 auditory, 59–61, 74, 81, 94–101, 154, 156, 161, 167–70, 179–80, 196, 199, 201, 216, 219, 266–89

olfactory, 49, 59–62, 72, 81, 94–95, 98, 161–62, 179, 196, 216–17, 266–83 ergonomics, 51, 59–61, 67–68, 73–76, 81–82, 91, 94–103, 128, 154–56, 161–62, 167–70, 180, 196, 199, 201, 212, 216, 219, 242, 254, 267, 283 evolution of the term, 37, 42 experience, of, 44, 46, 52, 153, 155, 157 factor(s): affecting sale, as a, 32 as dimensions of product design, 49 in product design, importance of, 49 framework: synthesis of concepts, 159 function of utility, as, 65 functional, 65 human factors and ergonomics in, 67 functional utilities, examples of utilisation of, 65 good: increase in time and money for, 155 influencing consumers to pay more for, 157 willingness of customers to pay higher amount for, 155 home appliances, in: ergonomics as most important for consumers, 155 Hypothesis 1, 159, 160 Hypothesis 2, 159, 161 hypothesis on, 159 image, 120, 127, 155, 157, 276, 284–86, 291, 293 of product, 155 of products for consumers, 157 important aspect in marketing of products, as, 155

index importance given by different income groups to, 153 indicators of: brand identity for consumers, as, 156 brand image for consumers, as, 156 corporate image for consumers, as, 156 quality for consumers, as, 154, 156 industry perception of, 152 influence of: age of respondent on purchase decisions of home appliances, 157 gender on purchase decisions of automobiles, 157 income on purchase decisions of automobiles, 157 qualification on purchase decisions of automobiles, 157 influence on: buying decision, 49 marketing strategy, 37 perception of product quality, 37 product, 281 product development, 37 purchase decisions, 156, 157 purchase decisions of automobiles, 157 purchase decisions of home appliances, 157 sales and intangibles, 155 introduction to, 30 linked to products’ function, 65 meaning of, 37, 42 mix, 196, 216, 268 needs and wants influencing consumers’ behaviour, 83 non-visual factors in product design, 72

305

object(s), of, 46 degree of influence of individual attributes on, 52 perceived by consumers, as perceptual relativism, and, 45 physiological factors influencing consumers’ behaviour, 83 principles, 46 products, of: aspects of, 163 data analysis for, 76 differentiating factors, as, 34 external, of, 33 indicators of product quality, as, 39 inherent in design, 37 relation to various aspects of marketing, 38 role played at different stages of purchase, 38 signatures of owners, as, 36 total experience, as a, 40 providing product differentiators, in, 154 psychological factors influencing consumers’ behaviour, 83 purchase of automobiles and home appliances: product performance vs. style in, 154 ranking of style in, 154 qualities (of), 152 auditory, 59 correlations between, 56 definiteness, 53, 152 ergonomics, 59 factor analysis of, 58 finishing, 53, 152 form, 53, 152 importance of, 53 products, of, in, 59, 161 olfactory, 59 order and symmetry, 53, 152 proportion, 53, 152

306


ranking of, 162 unity of parts, 53 unity of various parts, 152 visual, 59 related to function, 78 related to product lifespan, 78 relationship of quality, resources, brand and corporate image with, 114 relevance to marketing decisions, 46 response(s), 45, 48 role, 32 role in: learnings, 276 marketing, in, 276 summary of hypothesis and propositions, 278 post-purchase stages, 156 product failure, 156 product re-launch, 156 purchase of products with longer life cycles, 153 sales performance, product quality, corporate image and brand, 154 various purchase stages of products, 153, 156 selling feature of a product, as a, 31 surrogate for: quality, as a, 114 brand image, as a, 114 corporate image, as a, 114 reflection on user personality, as a, 114 tool for differentiating and customising products , as a, 114 value, 45, 46 of a product, 47 vis-à-vis prices of products in purchase decisions, 153 quality, resources, brand and corporate image, relationship of, 171

air conditioners major branded players in India, 211 projected sales in Indian market, 211 aisthetika meaning of, 48 art, 46 characteristics of, 47 meaning of, 43 artistically valuable, 46 beauty, 47, 53–54, 57–58, 62, 160 chief forms of, 47 definition of the term, 47 meaning of, 47–48 perception of, 47 brand, 30, 37–39, 74, 84, 88, 92, 106–7, 109, 112–35, 148, 154, 156, 171, 176, 181, 195, 201, 210, 212, 219, 221–87 loyalty, 107, 126, 133 switching, 107 BTO, 112 buying behaviour, 35, 38, 93, 105, 148, role played in classification of goods, 35 Case studies Samsung Electronics India Ltd., 215 Anglepoise light, 254 B&Q Power Tools, 238 British Sky Broadcasting, 249 Maruti Udyog Ltd., 181 OXO International, 244 Tefal Aquaspeed, 225 Usha Water Heater, 261 Virgin Trains—Pendolino, 232 cognition, 44, 48, 107 Company Responses to Various Design, 178 Consumer aesthetics, 48 attitudes, 105

index brand(s): aesthetic attributes and qualities as frames of references for associating with, 134 aesthetics of products as representations of, 132 association of, with customer and loyalty, 133 attitudes, and, association of some with certain emotions, 132 changing attitudes towards, 131 consumers’ association of product attributes with, and, 132 contribution to economic activity, 105 emotional benefits of, 132 equity, aesthetics as a tool in building, 133 influence of physical attributes of products and their association with, 135 interweaving of, 132 loyalty: building, 133 during replacement of, assessing, 131 price advantages in, 134 measures to retain customer loyalty, 133 names, effect on demand, 134 positive influence of aesthetics on, 135 product differentiation from uniquely created buyer value, 131 switching model, 130 understanding consumer preferences towards, benefits of, 133 unique: features for different, 131

307

selling propositions to help positioning of, 131 uniqueness described by some features, and their, 134 values, building of, based on emotions attached by consumers with, 133 role played by, 130 branding, 130 demographic profile(s): affecting repurchasing frequencies of, 136 differentiating product segments based on key product features, 137 effect on: aesthetics of products, 138–40 purchase and ownership of, and their, 137 level of income as determinants of ownership of, 136 role played by, 135 branding in, and, 130 demographics: aesthetic features as unique selling propositions, 137 affecting sale of, 135 contribution of women to decision-making in purchases of, 137 effect of: age on aesthetics, 139 buying automobiles with good aesthetics, 140 buying home appliances with good aesthetics, 143 buying products with good aesthetics, 140 consumers paying more for automobiles with good aesthetics, 144 consumers paying more for home appliances with good aesthetics, 146–48

308


income on aesthetics, 138 paying more for good aesthetics, 144 likely variables for positioning of, 137 market segmentation based on, 137 perception of: role played in product acceptance, 135 relationship with timing of replacements of, 136 relationship between: education/occupation and replacements of, 136 styling/image and replacements of, 136 durables, 38, 60, 85, 105, 107, 113, 288 aesthetic features as influencers for purchase, current scenario in India, 105 brand: aesthetics of products as positioning elements, 132 concept of, 130 functions of, 130 expenditure on, factors affecting, 105 overall expenditure on, in the US, 105 penetration in India, 105 consumers’ attitudes role played in classification of goods, 35 Definiteness, 160 deformity, 47 design aesthetics, and: companies’approach to, 177–276 industry background, passenger car, 181

survey: case methodology, 178 Changes in aesthetic features of the product, 180 Design Management Effectiveness Audit, 179 Design Sensitivity Audit I, 179 Design Sensitivity Audit II, 179 effect on aesthetic features of the product on market, product and company, 181 definition of, 30, 64 elements, aesthetics, engineering, quality, 70 good, role of, 178 of products, aspects that determine: aesthetics, 64 engineering, 64 functional aspects, 64 Key elements, 70 non-functional aspects, 64 quality, 64 product, of a, 64 emotional appeal, 91 engineering, 33, 64, 70, 81, 85, 180, 240, 247, 255, 257, 258, 262, 263, 274 ergonomics, 59, 76, 91 Experience, 45, 54, 57, 58, 61, 152, 160, 165 external appearance of products, as differentiating factors, 34 fashion of products, as a marketing aspect, 34 Feel, 53, 54, 57, 58, 160 finance penetration in India, 182, 184

index

309

Finishing, 58, 59, 160 Form, 41, 58, 59, 62, 102, 160, 251

Order and, 53, 58, 59, 160 symmetry, 47

home appliances as fashionable accessories, growing trends, 35

parameters of automobiles and home appliances considered important by consumers, in primary survey, 94–101 passenger car penetration in India, 182 Production in top 12 countries during 2004, 184 Segmentwise Production, 187 Passenger vehicle production in India, 186 perception, product attribute: aesthetic, 50 objective, 50 design: aesthetic aspect, 44 aesthetic responses related to, 48 appealing to buyers, 38 contributor to enhancing brand equity, brand image, corporate image, as, 39 hedonic value of, 44 personalising of, 49 utility aspect, 44 visual aspects of, 47 differentiation, 37, 49 evaluation factors: aesthetics, 83 symbolism, 83 utility, 83 failure, 107 hedonic value of, 43 satisfaction, social, emotional and functional perspectives, 61 utility of: aspects, emotional, functional, social, 76 results of study on, 76–80

interest rates of vehicle loan, 182 Major player in the passenger car segment, 191–201 market positioning of products and brands, 135 segments, 135 share, 49, 181, 192, 193, 194, 201, 208, 211, 212, 221, 225, 269 marketing strategy influences of consumers’attitude and buying behaviour, 35 Maruti Udyog Ltd., 192, 197 Aesthetic features of the product, on the market, product and company: Effect of changes in, 199 Case findings, 195–201 Changes in the Aesthetic Features of the Product, 199 company background, 192–95 Company responses to various design, 195 non-auto goods overall expenditure on, in the US, 105 objective attributes of products, 51 olfactory, 59, 60, 61, 72, 81, 94, 95, 98, 179, 196, 216, 266, 268, 279, 280, 283 factors: influence on purchase behaviour, 49

310


segmentation, 135 success, key factor, physical form or product design, 83–93 Proportion, 41, 58, 59, 61, 160 purchase behaviour of consumers acceptance of products due to improved styling of product, 109 of automobiles: in wake of cutomised aesthetics (BTO) offered by manufacturers, 111–25 chances of paying more for good aesthetics, 114 change in importance of attributes for, 110 changes seen over recent years, 106 clinic design tests of cars to analyse, 109 companies’ attempts to create mindspace for their products, 107 differentiation strategies by manufacturers to suit consumer tastes, 106–14 dissonance towards the regularly purchased brand, 106 durable goods, of: effect of aesthetics and perceived overall value on sales success, 110 effect of age of head of households, 113 positive effect of socioeconomic demographic variables, 113 wait in anticipation of decreasing price offers over time, 110 durable goods and automobiles, of: effect of style and aesthetics on, 114 efforts by: manufacturers to minimise product failures, 107

manufacturers to understand, 106 findings from market research studies on, 107 for appliances with long repurchase cycles, 113 frame of positive reference, 107 in the case of durable goods, 106 perception of quality based on: good physical appearance of the product, 108 price of the product, 108 relationship of various variables with aesthetics, 114–26 influence on sales of products, 114 satisfaction for design, 107 purchase behaviour of consumers of automobiles: correlation between other aspects, industry survey, 117 relation of aesthetics with other aspects, consumer survey, 121 other aspects, industry survey, 115 other aspects, consumer survey, 123 resources, industry survey, 115 of home appliances: correlation between aesthetics and other aspects, 119 industry survey, 118 relation of aesthetics with other aspects, expert survey, 116 resources, expert survey, 116 summary of factor analysis of other aspects, 118 factor loading for aesthetic influence on sales and intangibles industry survey, 120

index relation of aesthetics with other aspects, consumer survey, 122 correlation other aspects consumer survey, 124 summary of factor analysis of other aspects, 125 purchase behaviour of consumers: factor loading for aesthetic infulence on sales and intangibles consumer survey, 126 purchase behaviour of consumers: perception of quality, 107 Qualities of aesthetics, 42, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 63, 74, 78, 160, 162, 259, 268–88 Refrigerator(s) in India Average price drop in past three years, 206 classification of, by capacity ranges, 206 Direct Cool, trends in, 209 Frost-Free, trends in, 209 industry trends, 208 major Indian industries manufacturing washing machines and, 207 segments of, 202 Samsung Electronics India Ltd. Effect of changes in aesthetic features of products on market, product and company, 219 Changes in aesthetics features of products, 219 company background, 212–21

311

Company responses to various design procedures adopted by company, 216 sense of quality, 91 shifting automobile demands key factors: impact of advertising, 85 styling changes, 85–102 Smell, 54, 57, 58, 160, 271 Sound, 54, 57, 58, 95, 100, 160, 167, 169, 170 aesthetics role in marketing: looking forward, 283–88 style as a selling feature of a product, 31, 85–102 styling research in automotive product design: examples, 72–102 target groups, 135 Total aesthetic experience, 152–58 automobile domestic sales of India, 189 automobile export trends in India, 190 automobile production of India, 188 Trend of washing machines in India, 204 unity definition of, 48 usability, 91 Washing machine market, growth over previous year in the same month, 205

About the Authors

Rajat K. Baisya is Professor of Marketing and Strategic Management and Chairman of the Marketing Managing Group at the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor of Strategic Management of a leading European Business School (ENPC International Business School, Paris). He has served for over 28 years in industry having worked as President and CEO of Emami Group of Companies, Senior Vice President—Business Development of Reckitt & Colman of India Limited (now known as Reckitt Benckiser India Limited), General Manager (Projects) of Goetze India Limited, Controller—Corporate Planning of United Breweries Group and as Project Engineering Manager of Corn Products Company India Limited amongst many other large corporations that he has served. He is an editorial board member of Indian Food Packer, Process Food Industry, Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research, International Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship & Sustainability, Project Management Today and Journal of Advances on Management Research. He is a member of the research management board representing India at International Project Management Association, Switzerland. He is also a member of the Task Force constituted by the Government of India for oil sector PSUs. He serves on the board of many public and private companies including that of Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (a PSU) and is also a member of numerous government committees and trade bodies. He has written over 200 articles and research papers on various aspects of

about the authors

313

business and industry. He is a certified management consultant and is a consultant to many large and prestigious corporations in India and abroad including Airports Authority of India and Booker Limited, UK. He is the recipient of many awards including Gardner Award of AFST (I) for 1974, Dr J.S. Pruthi Award for 2002 for making significant contribution to industry. G. Ganesh Das is Head of the Consumer Accreditation Cell and Head of Group—Strategy and Performance Management at North Delhi Power Limited (A Tata Power Joint Venture). He took his Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in the area of ‘Strategy and Marketing’. He is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of qualitative experience in sales and marketing, business development, customer relationship management, process improvement, consulting, across multifarious sectors such as automobiles, training, services, utilities and consulting industry with exposure to international assignments. He has been associated with multinationals and global players like Johnson & Johnson and NIIT. He has done significant researches in the areas of consumer behaviour and marketing.

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Relational Aesthetics

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