A study on the subjective feeling affecting tactile satisfaction of leather in automobile: A structural equation modeling approach

Customer expectations for automotive design are increasingly rising, which plays an important role in purchasing behavior. Among them, automobile interior materials are one of the factors that have a significant influence on the overall luxuriousness and satisfaction of automobiles. One of the main affective responses to automotive interior materials is a tactile sensation, and since it is complexly constructed, systematic modeling is required. The current research proposed and tested a structural equation model (SEM) that describes hypothesized relationships among affective variables affecting tactile satisfaction such as luxury, soft, slippery, smooth, bumpy, and thick. A total of 26 samples including natural and synthetic leather using interior material in an automobile was selected as a stimulus to recruit 53 participants. All affective variables were found to affect luxuriousness that subsequently affected tactile satisfaction (path coefficient = 0.652). In particular, perceived softness was a dominant factor affecting tactile luxuriousness in leather (path coefficient = 0.305). The findings of the present study have significant implications for both theory and practice on affective responses and levels that affect tactile satisfaction in leather using automobile interior.