Environmentally Friendly Product Personality: The Role of Materials, Color, and Light in Car Interiors

The targeting of environmentally conscious German car drivers through product aesthetics can foster the acceptance of sustainable cars. No guidelines are currently available to designers to create product personality based on environmentally friendly design cues (EFDCs). The aim of this paper was to explore EFDCs for car interiors through bio-based materials. To address this topic, Study 1 examined a collection of bio-based material samples and samples featuring specific colors and reactions to light to determine their potential for the creation of an environmentally friendly product personality. Study 2 built on the implications of the former to examine the contribution of blue as a color and glowing attribute on the development of EFDCs. Wood veneer, cork, and cotton fabric were perceived as sustainable, natural, and renewable by most of the subjects. Brown and white leather was also perceived as sustainable. Moreover, the perception of the naturalness of materials in direct contact with blue light was reduced. Visual texture features for EFDC design are visible fibers or a wooden look. Haptic features include soft, warm, and rough surfaces, while glare, shimmer, a shiny surface, and smoothness should be avoided. The color brown should be considered, while blue, green, and yellow should be avoided.