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Description
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The product designer’s role in promoting sustainable materials is crucial, as designers make material selections for products on behalf of consumers. This role is even more critical in the case of sustainable materials like biobased composites, as a legacy of poor perception of aesthetics and value handicaps these materials. In this study, we examine this assertion of designers’ ability to empathise with consumers and investigate if their perception of biobased composites aligns with that of consumers. A perception framework for biobased composites proposed in prior research is applied to predict consumer perception of materials in this study. The roles of various visual/tactile factors that affect crucial perceptual attributes (beauty, naturality, strength and value) are also examined. An evident perceptual incongruity between designers and consumers was observed, diminishing the claim of designers’ ability to empathise with consumers in the remit of biobased composites. It is also seen that the proposed perception framework generates reliable predictions of consumer perception for biobased composites and can thus assist designers in material selection. This approach can help designers select materials that better align with consumer expectations, furthering the use of sustainable materials in product design. (2024-03-07)
***This entry has been automatically imported via OpenAlex by LIST harvest scripts. Please refer to https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/h79f4 for the original and latest version of the publication*** (2026-07-01)
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