Sustainable Perspectives Using Human Beings: The Sensory Properties of a Bio-Based Material Compared to a Synthetic Material—An Overall Assessment Based on an Innovative Blind Method

Abstract

Based on a comparative method, this paper discusses a sustainable perspective for the use of a certain bio-based material instead of synthetic materials, using human beings, with their sensory perceptions, as the central measurement tools. The innovative eco-design approaches are aimed at radical environmental improvements by focusing on the services provided to consumers. In improving the quality of a product, equity and environmental harmony have become issues and constant challenges in companies’ quests for modernization. In order to achieve this goal, one of the solutions taken into account by companies in order to be increasingly competitive is to replace, sometimes partially and other times totally, synthetic materials with new non-food, bio-based materials in the manufacturing process. The approach in this paper is aimed at better integrating tactile characteristics in designing green products. The detailed review of the literature shows that a consumer’s subjective perception is of paramount importance in their decision to accept a new product. Focusing on the sensory characteristics of materials with bio-based and synthetic origins, this paper draws conclusions about their resemblances and differences. The various subjective sensations when touching the two types of material are compared in order to obtain results that can protect the environment in the future.