Visceral hedonic rhetoric : emerging research in design and emotion

Abstract

This paper aims to identify areas for future investigation so that products may be designed to harness the full potential of users' visceral responses. It lays the foundation for this work by discussing the scope, significance and limitations of currently available research in the areas of Visceral Design, Consumer Hedonics and Product Rhetoric. Concerned as it is with instinctual,emotional responses, visceral hedonics is of vital importance to the design discipline. A better understanding of this area will enable designers to instantly create powerful emotional connections between consumers and products. This understanding can be furthered by investigating consumers' visceral hedonic responses to a variety of products and the product attributes that elicit these responses, and suggests directions for emerging research.