Hi Vikram,

At Vrije University of Amsterdam, we have a special
group of Multimedia & Culture within HCI, under Prof.
Gerrit van der Veer. And we are looking into user's
Emotion & Experience and their influence on design.

Your Questions:
==============
> * Of the three levels of emotion (Visceral,
> Behavioral & Reflective)
> which emotion is most prone to be influenced by
> culture?

Norman says it is the Visceral level that is
influenced by culture. Clearly Visceral reactions are
immediate and are subjective but they are consistent
within similar culture {Norman]. But this is not all.
"Culture" is a knowledge that a human has, since he
was born. This contradicts with Norman's thoughts. He
says at Visceral Level there is no "cognitive"
support. (Cognitive support is only at the Reflective
level) But Culture is knowledge and knowledge can only
be accessed through cognition.

We think of culture as an inherent human behavior even
though it's knowledge.

> The ratio of influence of each of these three
> emotions on the over
> all emotional reaction to the product.

(I think you meant this) First of all Visceral,
Behavioral & Reflective are levels of information
processing and not the "types of emotions".
Ful-fleaged emotions only exist at reflective level.

The ratio you are talking about depends on the type of
product and context of use.


> * How will the emotional response of a primitive man
> (whose perceptions have not been skewed by popular
> culture)be to a product, as opposed to a modern an
>(with constant exposure to factors that changes his
> perception) to the same product?

That's a good question.
I think, again you are referring to culture here. A
"primitive man" and a "modern man" represent type of
culture they belong to. E.g. western and eastern (may
be). This would go again to your first question.
This might not be a precise answer that you wanted.:-)


Comments will be appreciated.

Regards,
Dhaval Vyas




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