PROJECT TITLE :

Please Touch: Object Properties that Invite Touch

ABSTRACT :

Touch has received increasing interest in promoting, given analysis indicating that contact with products influences evaluation and therefore the tendency to buy. However, very little is understood from the marketing or psychophysical literature about visible attributes of objects that elicit touch for hedonic functions. In these studies, participants rated the tendency of pictured objects to invite bit, or “bit-ability.” Rated bit-ability varied reliably with structural attributes of objects, and therefore the structural influences were distinct from those on alternative ratings such as attractiveness and apparent expense. Though the trends varied across object sets, touch-ability generally declined as surface textures became markedly rough and shape complexity became extreme. Holding stimulus factors constant, touch-ability also varied with the particular hand movements that were anticipated. Finally, mean touch-ability ratings were correlated across participants with the “Need for Bit” scale, which measures an individual's tendency to touch product. The studies purpose to bit-ability as a potential issue that might be incorporated into product style.