Vehicle interior: psychology & brand

What influence does the interior of a vehicle have on brand loyalty and purchase decisions? And how can automotive manufacturers specifically take psychological factors into account during development? Our colleague Tanja Flügel from the Automotive Cluster at Bayern Innovativ has talked to Prof. Dr. Claus-Christian Carbon, head of the Department of General Psychology and Methodology at the University of Bamberg, about the interior of a car from the perspective of a psychologist.

Automotive manufacturers use psychology to align vehicle interior design with customer needs. (Photo credit: BMW Group)

What does the interior of a vehicle have to do with psychology?

Mr. Prof. Carbon, psychology and the interior of a car actually have nothing to do with each other. Or do they?
Prof. Dr. Claus-Christian Carbon: Interior designs often appear to be primarily relevant to engineering science. But this overlooks the fact that users and buyers are people in the end. Understanding their idiosyncrasies, preferences and specific acceptances, innovations is essential. To make objectively measurable what other disciplines tend to take for granted in a speculative way, we need psychological theories and concrete methods from cognitive psychology. It is about real empirical findings from which clear instructions for action can be derived.

Psychological methods identify customer desires

Can we really measure what is relevant for the user in the vehicle interior?
Prof. Dr. Claus-Christian Carbon: The biggest challenge is to get a picture of what the user wants, what he perceives and what associations he draws. In Bamberg, we develop differentiated techniques with which the required data can be measured comprehensibly and extensively. So-called "topographical relevance field maps" allow, for example, via eye and hand movement analyses, far-reaching conclusions to be drawn about the primarily relevant areas in the vehicle interior. From these, the industry can draw appropriate conclusions in order to perfect products or align quality offensives.

And what do these methods look like in concrete terms?
Prof. Dr. Claus-Christian Carbon: It is important to always provide very specific measurement methods for the respective issue. For example, if an automobile manufacturer is interested in the differentiated impression of the customer with regard to the interior, we use a standardized questionnaire we developed specifically for this purpose - the so-called Car-IDQ (editor's note: Car-Interior Design Questionnaire). If, on the other hand, very spontaneous judgments are of interest, we use, for example, the multidimensional implicit association test md-IAT, a technique we developed and certified, to identify automatic, associative parts.

How objective are statements about what associations the interior arouses?
Prof. Dr. Claus-Christian Carbon: With honest opinions, it is a similar challenge in scientific investigations as in everyday life. People who have been too involved in the creation process of a product can no longer judge "objectively", others lack the differentiation and they often can not properly engage with innovative designs. Others simply do not want to reveal what they really think. To find a methodological way out of this challenge, we have developed a number of methods. On the one hand, we first systematically familiarize interviewees with the materials being evaluated. This Repeated Evaluation Technique has proven excellent in the industrial context for testing innovative products. On the other hand, we use so-called implicit measurement methods such as the md-IAT. The advantage of such methods is that the judgments are not asked directly, i.e. "explicitly", but are calculated indirectly by reaction time differences when associating concepts and products. Thus, "implicitly." This is an extremely exciting technique, where we can compare real judgments and attitudes towards a target we set for specific brands, product categories or product lines, and then show specific action steps - i.e. what parameters need to be changed in design, what needs to be considered in sales, and what the associated marketing needs to be.

Brand recognition on the design of the vehicle interior

What role does the brand play in the purchase decision?
Prof. Dr. Claus-Christian Carbon: We all know that a brand creates a strong frame of reference. Therefore, it is important to make brands recognizable. Logos and lettering are of course not enough for strong brands. It is essential to develop a brand-specific design language and to carry it through consistently. To do this, we need clear knowledge of which elements or configurations typical customers recognize the brand by. Asking them directly about this is usually a pointless and naïve endeavor. Here, too, we need specific methods that make it possible to objectify what a customer cannot clearly describe. Using the IMUDE (Identification Machine for Unique Design Elements) technique we developed, we ask typical users to spontaneously judge in rapid succession which brand certain products belong to. The products shown are shown extremely indistinctly, comparable to unfavorable viewing conditions. "Coincidentally", individual parts are shown more clearly. Now, when we collect all the correct answers with our algorithm, we get a fascinating final result. The runs in which customers were unsure of their judgment, i.e., in which customers simply guessed, statically average out. In contrast, all the passes in which customers actually recognized individual design elements characteristic of a brand show increasingly stable patterns as the number of passes increases. In short, we get a graphical picture that makes these important design elements visible. The method impressively demonstrates how psychology can support the industry in critically examining new design proposals.