ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to analyze customers’ feeling of satisfaction on the stiffness of outside panels of passenger cars. Including ‘satisfaction’, four affective variables were selected for rating the subject assessment of outside panel. Fifty customers evaluated the hood and trunk lid of nine midsize passenger cars in quantitative questionnaire study. Stress-strain curve for the hood and trunk lid for nine vehicles was also produced. It was found that customers were more satisfied as the slope of the stress-strain curve increased, while the decrease at a point in the curve had negative effect on satisfaction. The level of satisfaction on the outside panel stiffness was grouped by stress-strain curves, and it is likely that the affective quality of outside panel stiffness can be controlled by them. With the results of this study, the designers of outside panels are able to know how to make the stress-strain curves of panels for the desired level of satisfaction.
