User Preferences for Electric Two‐Wheeler Colors: A Multistage Framework Integrating Big Data Mining, Eye‐Tracking, and Semantic Differential Methods

Electric two‐wheelers are a very popular type of personal transportation solution in China due to their convenience, cost‐effectiveness, and low environmental impact. Despite the increasingly fierce market competition, most manufacturers place greater emphasis on technological improvements and design of the product shape, while giving insufficient attention to the color design of the products. This study established a comprehensive method framework integrating color analysis, eye‐tracking, and semantic differential hedonic evaluation, and systematically investigated users' preferences for the colors of electric two‐wheelers. This study focuses on the plastic body components of electric two‐wheelers and adopts a multistage progressive analytical framework. First, a large collection of product images is gathered through data mining, and a quantitative color analysis is conducted. Based on this, color space conversion and feature calculation are performed using Python and OpenCV to identify the color design patterns of existing products. Representative product colors are then extracted based on color clustering patterns to serve as stimuli for an eye‐tracking experiment. Eye‐tracking is employed to investigate participants' unconscious gaze patterns and color preferences. Meanwhile, subjective evaluations of product colors are collected through questionnaires combined with the semantic differential method. A cross‐analysis of objective and subjective data is performed to explore users' preferences for product colors and the underlying psychological factors, revealing the characteristics and intrinsic mechanisms of user color preferences for electric two‐wheelers. A pronounced visual preference is observed for high‐luminance, low‐saturation tones (white, cyan, and light yellow), whereas medium‐luminance, high‐chroma colors (red, blue, and pure black) elicit moderate visual attention. Conversely, low‐luminance achromatic shades (mid‐gray and dark‐gray) demonstrate minimal visual appeal. This study quantitatively establishes consumer color preferences for electric two‐wheelers through eye‐tracking technology, providing empirically validated guidance for future color design selection in the electric vehicle industry.