Social Robots - Robotics and Toy Computing
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Item Does Repetition Affect Acceptance? A Social Robot Adoption Model for Technologically-Savvy Users in the Caribbean(2023-01-03) Gittens, Curtis; Jiang, Ying; Tung, Wei-Feng; Lin, Shiang-Lin; Hung, PatrickThere is little research on use and adoption factors for social robots in the Caribbean. In one pilot study, the Zenbo companion robot was used to evaluate potential social robot use in a Caribbean setting. An informal observation from that study was the existence of communication failure–participants frequently repeated commands to the robot. Based on this observation, we have undertaken this study to identify the factors that affect robot adoption among technologically-savvy Caribbean users (undergraduate Computer Science and Information Technology (IT) students) and create a technology adoption model for this type of user. Our model shows that communication failure, manifested as repetition, has no effect on technology acceptance. Additionally, social attitudes towards robots, like the perception of competence and warmth, also have no effect on adoption. This social robot adoption model is the first of its kind for the Caribbean and helps contextualize factors that can affect social robots’ adoption in the region.Item Assessing the Decision-Making Process in Human-Robot Collaboration Using a Lego-like EEG Headset(2023-01-03) Tsao, Ching-Chih; Chuang, Hao-Hsiang; Tsao, Tzu-Han; Tang, Cheng-Yi; Chang, Yu-Wen; Chu, Chih-Ling; Sung, Chi-Chien; Hsieh, Cheng-Lin; Lin, Yuan-Pin; Chien, Shih-YiHuman-robot collaboration (HRC) has become an emerging field, where the use of a robotic agent has been shifted from a supportive machine to a decision-making collaborator. A variety of factors can influence the effectiveness of decision-making processes during HRC, including the system-related (e.g., robot capability) and human-related (e.g., individual knowledgeability) factors. As a variety of contextual factors can significantly impact the human-robot decision-making process in collaborative contexts, the present study adopts a Lego-like EEG headset to collect and examine human brain activities and utilizes multiple questionnaires to evaluate participants’ cognitive perceptions toward the robot. A user study was conducted where two levels of robot capabilities (high vs. low) were manipulated to provide system recommendations. The participants were also identified into two groups based on their computational thinking (CT) ability. The EEG results revealed that different levels of CT abilities trigger different brainwaves, and the participants’ trust calibration of the robot also varies the resultant brain activities.Item Customer Responses to (Im)Moral Behavior of Service Robots - Online Experiments in a Retail Setting(2023-01-03) Kegel , Mona; Stock-Homburg, Ruth MariaService robots play an increasingly important role in the service sector. Drawing on moral psychology research, moral foundations theory as well as the computers-as-social-actors (CASA) paradigm, this experimental study containing of four online experiments examines the extent to which the moral or immoral behavior of a service robot affects customer responses during a service interaction. This study contributes to design science by defining, conceptualizing and operationalizing morality of service robots and developing a corresponding vignette as basis to manipulate (im)moral robotic behavior in a retail setting. To investigate possible effects of the robot’s appearance, we tested our hypotheses with two different robots, i.e., a humanoid robot and an android robot. Results from the online experiment indicate that the (im)moral behavior of service robots at the customer interface has a significant effect on customers’ trust and customers’ ethical concerns towards the robot.Item Introduction to the Minitrack on Social Robots - Robotics and Toy Computing(2023-01-03) Hung, Patrick; Huang, Shih-Chia; Marques Peres, SarajaneItem Social Robots in Retail: Emotional Experiences a Critical Driver of Purchase Intention(2023-01-03) Rehman, Umair; Shah, Muhammad Umair; Abbasi, Amir Zaib; Iqbal, FarkhundThe purpose of the current study is to explore whether emotional experiences prompted due to human-social robot interaction in retail environments significantly influence consumers' purchase intentions. This present study focuses primarily on emotional experience, comprising factors, namely, enjoyment, arousal, and emotional involvement. The study tests the conceptual model on a sample of 229 respondents using the PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling) approach. The results reveal that emotional experiences significantly impact consumers’ purchase intentions in retail settings. All three emotional experiences, including enjoyment, emotional involvement, and arousal were significant in shaping consumers' purchase intentions. The study findings offer unique insights for manufacturers developing social robots for the retail sector. The present research extends the current body of work exploring hedonic predictors of consumers' purchase intentions in novel socio-technical contexts, such as social robotics.