The automotive interior suppliers are challenged to develop materials, that not only perform functionally, but also provide the right combination sensory experience (e.g. visual appeal, tactile feeling) and brand differentiation at very competitive costs. Therefore, the objective of this research presented in this paper is to develop a methodology that can be used to measure customer perception of interior materials and to come up with a unique system for assessing value of different interior materials. The overall methodology involves the application of a number of psychophysical measurement methods (e.g. Semantic Differential Scaling) and statistical methods to assess: 1) overall customer perceived quality of materials, 2) elements (or attributes) of perception, and 3) value of materials from OEM's viewpoint in terms of the measurement of perception of quality divided by a measure of cost.
This paper describes results of two pilot studies conducted for the following research phases: 1) Development of a list of adjective pairs to describe scales for overall evaluation/impression of the materials (e.g. Expensive-Cheap, Genuine-Fake, Quality-Shoddy, etc.), 2) Development of adjective pairs to measure elements of perception (e.g. Soft-Hard, Light-Dark, Smooth-Rough, Glossy-Flat, Slippery-Grippy, etc.), 3) Evaluation of a large number of materials of different types (e.g. woods, plastics/composites, fabrics, metallic, etc.) using the scales developed in earlier phases.