Emotion Drives Material Innovation—A Method for Investigating Emotional Reactions to Wood Materials

The furniture market is being conquered by the variety of wood-based composite materials to the detriment of solid wood, which is considered expensive, but research has yet to explain definitively why these two materials receive such disparate evaluations. This study aims to evaluate the perception of wood by proposing an emotion-oriented research method. It combines the esthetic appeal of wood products, the subjective emotions of the subjects, and physiological emotions. We evaluated different wood materials using a multisensory evaluation method that combines vision and touch during the experiment. Seven specimens of solid wood and three of wood composite materials covered with synthetic veneer with similar characteristics were evaluated, and we used subjective evaluations and physiological responses (electroencephalography and electrodermal activity) from twenty participants. Our analysis identified significant correlations between subjective assessment and physiological responses, highlighting the influence of material appearance on emotional reactions. Notably, rough-textured materials elicited higher positive affectivity than smooth-textured ones, and bright materials were associated with more positive emotions. This research elucidates the impact of material components on emotional responses, offering insights into processing techniques that enhance the value of wood product design.