In recent years, with the proportion of female drivers gradually increasing, female drivers have gradually become the main purchasing force in the automotive consumer market. Even so, most automobile designs on the market do not distinguish between ma...
In recent years, with the proportion of female drivers gradually increasing, female drivers have gradually become the main purchasing force in the automotive consumer market. Even so, most automobile designs on the market do not distinguish between male and female characteristics. Most studies and literature only show differences in the needs and purchasing power of men and women, but no specific distinction is made. In other words, since men and women have different automobile buying needs, it is necessary to come up with an automobile design suitable for women. According to some studies, women are more interested in the interior than the emotional design and appearance of the automobile. Therefore, interior design is the most important choice for female drivers when they buy and affects their purchasing power. Research related to the importance of each automobile element is incomplete in terms of relevant research trends both domestically and internationally. Given these research trends and contexts, there is a need to study female vehicle interior design that meets female needs through female-centered psychology.
From this aspect, this study understands the characteristics of female drivers based on the evaluation elements of vehicle interiors. Also, it discusses the importance of each evaluation element of vehicle interiors for women and investigates vehicle interior solutions that meet female needs. Most of the current domestic and international research on automobiles is centered on user interfaces, seats, and automobile colors. It is based on evaluation models of vehicle interiors, with very insufficient research on the selection and importance of evaluation elements of vehicle interiors. Therefore, it is necessary to redefine the evaluation elements of vehicle interiors and use them as a basis for studying the priorities of vehicle interiors elements and classifying them by gender. In other words, to design female vehicle interiors, it is necessary to consider female psychology and study the design of female vehicle interiors that meet female needs.
This study proposes an objective evaluation method that assigns weight values to each element, allowing for a more specific assessment than existing evaluation methods. First, the theoretical study analyzes the increase and trends of female economic activity in the automotive consumer market and analyzes the characteristics of male and female drivers. Then research advances concerning the field of empirical satisfaction are analyzed. Finally, the concept of the AHP technique is understood. Second, evaluation factors related to vehicle interiors were extracted and categorized with a Delphi survey as the center. Third, the importance ranking of evaluation factors was investigated in the empirical study, and the results were classified into upper and lower terms. Combining these factors, the weight values of the evaluation factors of vehicle interior design were compared between male and female experts.
Among the upper items of the results, men rated internal and external sexual factors the highest and external sexual factors the lowest. In the overall ranking, male experts gave the highest weight to "aesthetics" with 18.91%, followed by "stability", "originality", "spatiality", "functionality", "visibility", "interactivity", "efficiency", "sustainability", and "accessibility". The results for female experts showed that the top item had the highest rating for internal and external factors and the lowest rating for internal factors. Female experts had the highest stability in the overall ranking with 17.25%, followed by visibility, sustainability, aesthetics, spatiality, interactivity, efficiency, originality, functionality, and accessibility.
Finally, this study proposes a design improvement plan for six evaluation factors, including "stability," "visibility," "sustainability," "aesthetics," "spatiality," and "interactivity," with female drivers in mind. The psychological and emotional needs of female drivers are considered to develop vehicle interior designs suitable for women.