An Investigation on the Inconsistency of Consumer Preferences for Product Appearance: A Case Study of Residential Solar Panels

• Main Authors: Ferik, Sami El (Author), Shaukat, Mian Mobeen (Author), Bao, Qifang (Contributor), Yang, Maria C. (Author)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (Contributor), Yang, Maria (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ASME International, 2019-01-14T18:12:26Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

The importance of the appearance of consumer products is widely understood. This paper considers an evaluation of the appearance of a technology-oriented product, the residential solar panel, from the perspective of individuals. This study uses a quantitative approach, visual conjoint analysis, to determine preferences for product appearance of solar panels, and further explores how presenting a solar panel in its context of use can influence the consistency of consumer preferences. Approximately 200 survey respondents were shown two kinds of images of solar panels, one of a standalone panel and the other of a panel installed on a roof. Results show a significant shift of preferences when first showing the non-contextualized image and then showing the contextualized image. Such preference inconsistency provides insights with which to inform the process of user-needs revealing.
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (through the Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM)