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Dimensions of vehicle sounds perception
Verena Wagner1, K Wolfgang Kallus2, Ulrich Foehl3
1University of Graz, Department of Psychology, 8010 Graz, Austria; Furtwangen University, Campus Tuttlingen, Faculty Industrial Technologies, 78532 Tuttlingen, Germany. Electronic address: http://www.uni-graz.at.
Applied Ergonomics
|June 15, 2017
Summary
Customer satisfaction with vehicle sounds is key. High-quality sounds are perceived as gentle, rich, and not too rough, aligning with customer expectations for a better driving experience.
Area of Science:
- Automotive Engineering
- Psychoacoustics
- Consumer Research
Background:
- Vehicle sound is a critical factor in customer satisfaction and brand differentiation.
- Understanding customer perception of vehicle acoustics is essential for automotive design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the requirement characteristics of high-quality vehicle sounds.
- To generate a requirement profile for vehicle sounds based on customer preferences.
- To compare customer assessments of real vehicle sounds with the generated profiles.
Main Methods:
- An online survey of 1762 German and American customers to identify sound characteristics.
- A second study with 78 customers evaluating real vehicles based on generated sound profiles.
- Analysis of sound assessments using dimensions: timbre, loudness, and roughness/sharpness.
Main Results:
- A significant correlation was found between customer-perceived high-quality sounds and their corresponding requirement profiles.
- High-quality vehicle sounds are generally characterized as gentle, soft, reserved, rich, slightly dark, and not overly rough.
- Conversely, sounds with lower customer ratings provide actionable insights for acoustic improvement.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully defined characteristics of desirable vehicle sounds, linking them to customer satisfaction.
- The developed requirement profiles serve as a valuable tool for automotive manufacturers to enhance vehicle acoustics.
- Findings enable targeted improvements in vehicle sound design to meet and exceed customer expectations.
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