One of the biggest challenges in developing resins for soft-touch coatings is the subjective nature of touch perception. Even the perceptions of people trained to evaluate the soft-touch properties of coatings vary to some extent. Car manufacturers tend to specify the softest coatings possible that can still provide acceptable chemical and scratch resistance. For other applications (consumer electronics, appliances, cosmetics packaging, etc.), a velvety or silky touch may be preferred by the product manufacturer. There has been no clear determination, however, of consumers actually prefer when it comes to soft-touch coatings To investigate these preferences, therefore, Covestro LLC conducted a fun and informal survey at the recent 2016 American Coatings SHOW (ACS) in Indianapolis. The results were surprising.
For the survey, the company prepared six different colored panels (blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and purple) with coatings that had different types of feel. Five of the panels had a matte finish—the typical finish for soft-touch coatings. The sixth panel had a rubbery feel but a glossy finish. Visitors of the Covestro booth were asked to touch the panels and indicate which ones they liked the best and the least. Approximately 100 people participated. One interesting observation, according to Ed Squiller, director of Applications Development, Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties for Covestro LLC in North America, was that most people had very strong opinions about their preferences.
Surprisingly, the most preferred panel had a coating with a velvety feel. “This result was interesting because in most cases coating formulators and end users are looking for the softest feel (rubbery) possible that can still meet performance requirements,” notes Jack Forsythe, Covestro LLC’s market manager for Industrial Marketing, Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties in North America.
The least preferred panel by far was the one with a glossy coating and rubbery feel. “This result suggests that there is some complexity to the perception of feel beyond the tactile sense; there apparently is a visual component as well,” observes Squiller. The researchers think that people saw the glossy coating and expected the surface of the panel to be hard. Because it had a rubbery feel, their expectations were not met, a situation that typically leads to dissatisfaction, according to Squiller. “It would be interesting to repeat the survey using hidden panels so that participants couldn’t see whether the coatings were matte or glossy to see if the result would be different,” adds Jack Forsythe, marketing manager, Industrial Marketing, Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties, North America at Covestro.
Covestro also compared the preferences of males and females. “Going into the survey, we anticipated that women would prefer the silky surface more often,” says Forsythe. There was no statistical difference in the preferences of men and women for the different soft-touch coatings.
While very informal and designed mostly to be a fun activity for attendees of the ACS, Covestro’s survey provided some interesting data for users of soft-touch coatings to consider. Achieving a balance between soft-touch and performance properties is the second biggest challenge for formulations of these coatings. The results of the survey suggest that perhaps the softest, rubberiest coatings are not required to impart an attractive feel to consumer products—a velvety feel may be sufficient. Balancing the touch and performance properties of such coatings is easier than it is for coatings with a rubbery feel because they are based on harder resins. As a result, they can be formulated with greater scratch, abrasion, chemical, and weathering resistance.