Dictionary definitions of aesthetic include “relating to the
beautiful as distinguished from the merely pleasing” and “relating to
sensuous cognition” (Webster’s NewInternational Dictionary, 2002)
and as such emphasize the common understanding of aesthetics as
having to do with visual appeal. Liu (2003) has taken a broader view
and described aesthetic appraisal of offerings as “multi-modal in the
sense that more than one sensory modality is likely to be involved in
the process, while fine art appreciation is primarily visual, aesthetic
appreciation of a product or work system may involve the interplay
between a person’s visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, haptic, and
even proprioceptive systems”.