‹
Back
11:00 - 12:30
Parallel sessions 5
›
11:00 - 12:30
Room: HSZ - N9
Chair/s:
Emily Sophie Ufken, Jimpei Hitsuwari
This symposium explores the multifaceted nature of aesthetic experience across neural, cultural, technological, and design domains, offering a comprehensive exploration of how aesthetic judgments emerge from complex interactions between brain, body, culture and context.
Aesthetic perception will be explored across diverse fields of investigation, ranging from man-made artifacts, i.e. art and design domains, to the perception of bodies. The research presented not only enriches theoretical perspectives but also provides empirical insights as well as practical implications. Various experimental methods are used for this purpose. To be specific, the symposium contains mixed-methods research, EEG-fMRI fusion procedures, rating studies as well as cross-cultural studies.
Together, these talks highlight the richness and complexity of aesthetic experience, demonstrating that beauty is not merely a neural response or cultural construct, but a dynamic interplay of perception, meaning, and context. By integrating neuroscience, cultural studies, immersive technology, and empirical design research, this symposium offers a holistic view of how humans engage with beauty in its many forms.
Submission 248
Unravelling Sustainable Design Aesthetics: Empirical Perspectives from Mixed-Methods Research
SymposiumTalk-04
Presented by: Lotta Straube
Lotta Straube 1, 2, 3, Alexander (Sasha) Pastukhov 1, 2, Anna Heuschkel 1, Lisa Alexandra Gromer 1, Claus-Christian Carbon 1, 2
1 Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Germany
2 Research Group EPÆG (Ergonomics, Psychological Æsthetics, Gestalt), Germany
3 Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Germany
Sustainable design is gaining increasing relevance in both research and practice. This study presents qualitative and quantitative findings on consumers’ evaluation of denim jeans design and their perceived sustainability. In the first experiment (n = 39), participants conducted a qualitative product evaluation followed by a quantitative assessment using the DynaGrid method, both before and after an educational intervention on product sustainability and circular design principles. The second experiment (n = 34) used the same stimuli and included a DynaGrid placement with a follow-up test at least one week later.

Our findings reveal dominant design features that influence sustainability perception, particularly the wrong heuristic that neutral, solid colours signal sustainability. We discuss the impact of the educational intervention, which did not significantly enhance participants’ ability to identify more sustainable jeans but did lead to more critical evaluations of explicitly non-sustainable design elements. The qualitative data offers rich insights into participants’ motivations and reasoning, informing future research directions. Additionally, we examine participants’ assessments over time, to provide insight about stability of sustainability aesthetic evaluations.

While the study focuses on denim jeans, the results provide valuable implications for other product categories as well. By better understanding the psychology of product evaluations, we can enable more effective and coherent sustainable design strategies.