Abstract

Previous studies on tactile experiences have investigated a wide range of material surfaces across various skin sites of the human body in self-touch or other touch modes. Here, we investigate whether the sensory and emotional aspects of touch are related when evaluating wooden surfaces using fingertips in the absence of other sensory modalities. Twenty participants evaluated eight different pine and oak wood surfaces, using sensory and emotional touch descriptors, through the lateral motion of active fingertip exploration. The data showed that natural and smooth wood surfaces were perceived more positively in emotional touch than coated surfaces. We highlight the importance of preserving the naturalness of the surface texture in the process of wood-surface treatment so as to improve positive touch experiences, as well as avoid negative ones. We argue that the results may offer possibilities in the design of wood-based interior products with a view to improving consumer touch experiences.

Highlights

  • The tactile experiences of material surfaces originate in parts of the sensory and emotional touch sensations felt in our skin (McGlone et al, 2007), where the former relates to the discriminative functions of touch associated with the perceptions of pressure, vibration, slip, and texture, and the latter to the positive and negative affective aspects of the cutaneous sensation (Vallbo et al, 1993, 1999; Mountcastle, 2005; McGlone et al, 2012, 2014)

  • Our results suggest the possibility of improving emotional touch experiences, especially of wooden products, and influencing the touch-based decision-making behavior in, for example, impulse buying (Peck and Childers, 2006)

  • We investigated emotional touch perception through an active fingertip exploration across varieties of pine and oak wood surfaces

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Summary

Introduction

The tactile experiences of material surfaces originate in parts of the sensory and emotional touch sensations felt in our skin (McGlone et al, 2007), where the former relates to the discriminative functions of touch associated with the perceptions of pressure, vibration, slip, and texture, and the latter to the positive and negative affective aspects of the cutaneous sensation (Vallbo et al, 1993, 1999; Mountcastle, 2005; McGlone et al, 2012, 2014). There have been numerous attempts made to understand the influence of the sensory properties of material surfaces on emotional touch evaluation (McGlone et al, 2007, 2012; Guest et al, 2011; Ackerley et al, 2014a; Fujisaki et al, 2015). In the study reported here, we investigated whether the sensory and emotional perception of wooden surfaces are related and, if so, how this might offer possibilities to improve the positive touch experiences of wood products

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