An analysis of semantic structure of KAITEKI‐KAN and development of its measuring method using emotional words

Abstract

We conducted three Internet studies in order to develop a psychological conceptual model of KAITEKI‐KAN which is comfortable and pleasant feelings in daily life. First, we collected emotional words that express positive feelings from literature and dictionaries. Then, we asked respondents (n = 239) to imagine a familiar comfortable scene and to rate their feelings on the scales of emotional words (study l). Factor analyses revealed that KAITEKI‐KAN is constructed from 14 factors, for example, satisfaction, calmness, refreshment, and so on. Because imaginary scenes that were reported by respondents of study 1 were limited to a few variations, we carried out study 2 which requested respondents (n = 1047) to imagine a wide variety of comfortable scenes. The results added two factors to the 14 factor model. Finally, we confirmed the reliability of the 16 factor model by study 3, which requested a part of respondents of study 2 (n = 409) to answer the same questions 3 months after study 2. From these studies, we concluded the 16 factor model was reliable and usable for understanding and measuring KAITEKI‐KAN. In addition, multidimensional scaling showed that the 16 factors could be depicted on a semantic space which was constructed in three dimensions. We understood the three dimensions as the ‘activation–deactivation’ dimension, the ‘physical‐cognitive’ dimension, and the ‘challenge‐acceptance’ dimension. Applying our 16 factor model of KAITEKI‐KAN, we developed a quantitative measurement method for KAITEKI‐KAN. We concluded that researchers would be able to understand details of consumers’ feeling when consumers rate commodities by using our method.Key words: KAITEKI‐KAN, comfort, pleasant, positive feeling, emotion, psychology, Internet research, factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, conceptual model, semantic space, dimension.