Cognitive Quality: An Unexplored Perceived Quality Dimension in the Automotive Industry

Well known, perceived quality is a game-changer in consumers’ decision-making processes and is seen as one key predictor of a product’s and company’s success. Today, the automotive industry faces challenges not only to deliver superior manufacturing quality in order to excel in perceived quality, but also to induce a positive sensory and cognitive response from its customers. Previous research aimed to quantify and unpick consumers’ perception of quality in order to meet consumer expectations and requirements. Cognitive processes related to product design have been explored in a variety of disciplines, ranging from the design research, specifically in the field of aesthetics, to sociopsychology. In the engineering and manufacturing research field, however, there is a significant gap regarding ‘intangibles’ related to car design. In this conceptual paper, we extend our previous work by presenting the concept of\ua0Cognitive Quality\ua0as a new dimension of the Perceived Quality Framework (PQF). The PQF, in its turn, illustrates the sensory, attribute-centric engineering viewpoint on quality perception. Therefore, the new\ua0Cognitive Quality\ua0dimension significantly contributes to the theoretical foundation of perceived quality in engineering and manufacturing research, specifically in the automotive field