Dependence of loudness evaluation by drivers on vehicle styling

Influence of participants' impressions of vehicle styling on loudness of acceleration sounds was investigated. A series of images of luxury and sporty vehicles were presented to the participants while acceleration sounds were being replayed. The results indicated that frequent drivers perceived that the sound associated with luxury vehicles was louder than that associated with sporty vehicles. On the other hand, infrequent drivers perceived almost no difference between the loudness of the two vehicle types. Then, the infrequent drivers underwent a pseudo-loudness evaluation test to increase amount of experience for listening vehicle sound with vehicle styling image. After the procedure, the influence of vehicle styling on loudness was investigated again for the infrequent drivers. The result showed that the influence for the infrequent drivers was quite different from that for the frequent drivers. The participants who rarely drove perceived that the sound associated with luxury vehicles was softer than that associated with sporty vehicles. Furthermore, a questionnaire was filled out by both groups to investigate their preferred vehicle characteristics such as exterior design and engine performance. As a result, loudness was clarified to depend on both the participants' impressions of vehicle styling and their preferred vehicle characteristics.