Consistency Study between Female Preferences for SUV Shape Design and Designer Comprehension of These Preferences for the Chinese Market

Abstract

Proportion of female consumers in Chinese Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) market is rapidly growing, and appearance is the most important factor that affects their purchasing decision. However, little study about their preferences has been conducted. If traits and demands of target female consumers were not clearly understood, inconsistencies and deviation between consumer preferences and proposed designs for them might exist. In this study, traits, demands and preferences for SUV shape designof630 Chinese female were studied, then they were clustered into five typical groups. Then, 10 professional designers were invited to match SUVs for five groups, after that, a correlation analysis was conducted between the preferred SUVs of the five groups and the matched SUVs for them. Analysis results of two groups were negative correlations, which proved the real existence of misunderstanding of designers about traits and demands of female consumers. Finally, for a reference, feasible design solutions were provided for these two groups through a conjoint analysis based on their preference scores. The methods and final results could be incorporated into the SUV design process and provide references for the automobile industry.