Designing with the Senses: Emotional Connections for Sustainable Consumption

Abstract

The two major obstacles facing contemporary society include unsustainable consumption behaviours and a mismatch between consumer values and their actions relative to environmental concerns. Designers have the potential to bridge this gap using sensory design, with its focus on product sensory characteristics, which influence the decisions consumers make. This research aims to examine how different sensory attributes (such as colour, texture, etc.) can encourage consumers to adopt more sustainable behaviours, and therefore help to address the under-explored role of such attributes in determining consumption patterns. The research outlines three objectives: develop a model integrating sensory design with behavioural insights, evaluate the impact of material attributes on perceptions of environmental value, and study user interactions with sustainable materials. The anticipated outcome is a framework that empowers designers to leverage sensory qualities to enhance the emotional connection to sustainable products, ultimately fostering more sustainable consumption cultures.

Keywords: Sensory Design, Sustainable Consumption, Behavioural Insights, Embodied Cognition, Material Perception

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008031