Emendata

This research is focusing upon the female consumers’ preferences on the Tetsubin appearances.

It aims to deduce the cognition of sensation image on the Tetsubin's appearances of Taiwanese and Japanese female consumers whom in the age range of 20-50, and to establish the Tetsubin's form of preference, in order to provide a reference for Tetsubin’s development and future study provides.

The research methods include questionnaires and statistical methods.

The experience was conducted in two different phases were all using the Semantic Differential method and adopts the Likert - Scale five - point measure questionnaire to explore consumers.

The Phase I -"Pre-Test" stage organized focus groups composed by experts to includes choosing the perceptual vocabularies, collecting sample commercial Tetsubin images on the market from the selling website on the Internet, and selecting important design factors, and the original 34 pairs of Kansei words be choosed into eleven pairs of Kansei words were then arranged with the twelve representative samples to create the first-step questionnaire.

The results were analyzed using factor analysis and cluster analysis; by Factor analysis was conducted on the SD evaluation data, and two main factors of the Taiwanese users’ image perception and expression, including modern factor and preference factor, cluster analysis was conducted on the factor scores obtained from factor analysis, and the original 11 pairs of Kansei words were classified and reduced into four pairs of final representative Kansei words.

In phase II -"Official Test" stage, there were include four steps: First, we finding the attributes of sample pictures almost nearly modern factor, that should added more traditional-style of design element.

Secondly, we collecting traditional-style Tetsubin images again from the famous selling website on the Internet, and added into Taguchi table, and were created sixteen new Tetsubin Images as representative samples.

Then, the second-step questionnaire was developed by combining the new 16 samples with the four pairs of final Kansei words.

This phase ia an analysis of the relationship between Tetsubin's form features and Taiwanese and Japanese female's aesthetic perceptions by Kansei engineering method.

1) The Women between Taiwanese and Japanese have different perceptions on teapot's shape.

For example, preference point of round bottom that Japanese is higher than Taiwanese.

2) This stage is in order to have multiple regression analysis as well as to verify the experimental task.

After proving, if the teapot's design are too modern, they are easily to make Japanese women have a negative effect on the preference.

3) The results were analyzed using Quantification Theory Type 1 (QT1) method based on subjects’ Taiwanese and Japanese female consumers.

The validity and feasibility of the results were tested using Paired-Sample t-test.

After proving, we can understand from the result predict Taiwanese and Japanese users' feeling vocabulary exactly by using this computing of function.

4) The predicting Kansei values were calculated using QT1 predicting model built, that is feasible to define form design principles to assist designers to combine specified category of design elements to create specified product image.

Thus, the satisfactory degree of female's customers preferring a certain image perception can be enhanced.

In addition, the most significant affecting Japanese women is the preferences of design element is “teapot's shape”, but Taiwanese women is the preferences point of design element is very close.

Adjusting some design factors can increase or reduce some aesthetic perceptions.

In fact, Tetsubin's design element are with a dazzling array of shapes , sizes , decorative touches, that accuracy of the study would different from the fact of 3-D model samples, so how to get more delicate samples let results to approach conform to reality becomes an important.

Finally, this research is limited by biased subject whose background on Taiwan and Japan.

Whether the result could be suitable for other Tetsubin's customers, such as other China-Asia or European, needs to be examined by further studies.