Abstract

The following discussion research introduces a theoretical model of postmodern consumer aesthetic product design evaluation. At present, theory and research into consumer aesthetic evaluation is comparatively disparate, and arguably lacking in meta-theoretical integration. The aim of the model is to integrate knowledge from the disciplines of design, consumer behaviour and linguistics to produce a fully recursive model of generative consumer behaviour with sociological and psychological implications using generative-structuralist theory. The model is hoped to provide insight into not so much what consumers evaluate aesthetically, but how their evaluations are made. Further, it is hoped to provide practitioners and researchers with a platform for discussion of the factors contributing to consumer aesthetic evaluation, as well as where they might fit into the proposed model.