Different dimensions of anthropomorphic design cues: How visual appearance and conversational style influence users’ information disclosure tendency towards chatbots
{"title":"Different dimensions of anthropomorphic design cues: How visual appearance and conversational style influence users’ information disclosure tendency towards chatbots","authors":"Jiahao Chen , Mingming Li , Jaap Ham","doi":"10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103320","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Text-based chatbots are widely used to deliver personalized services by leveraging user-provided information, and anthropomorphic design is crucial for their effectiveness. However, most earlier studies investigated the effects of anthropomorphic design of chatbots while manipulating only one dimension of anthropomorphic cues. The current research investigated how different dimensions of anthropomorphic design cues affect users’ information disclosure tendency towards chatbots. That is, the present study examined the effects of visual appearance (high anthropomorphism vs. low anthropomorphism), manipulating the visual cues dimension, and conversational style (human-like vs. mechanical), manipulating the verbal cues dimension, on users’ information disclosure tendency towards chatbots. Results showed positive effects of human-like conversational style on users’ information disclosure tendency. Of particular significance, an interaction effect between visual appearance and conversational style on users’ information disclosure tendency was found. Users reported a higher information disclosure tendency when the chatbot was designed with anthropomorphic cues consistent over dimensions. This finding suggested that an expectancy violation effect occurs when a chatbot exhibits inconsistent anthropomorphic design cues on two different dimensions. Besides, perceived security was identified as a positive mediating factor in the relationship between conversational style and users’ information disclosure tendency. This study advances research on users’ information disclosure tendency towards anthropomorphic chatbots and highlights the importance of different dimensions of anthropomorphic cues in chatbot design. Additionally, practical guidance for chatbot designers was also provided.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54955,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581924001046","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, CYBERNETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Text-based chatbots are widely used to deliver personalized services by leveraging user-provided information, and anthropomorphic design is crucial for their effectiveness. However, most earlier studies investigated the effects of anthropomorphic design of chatbots while manipulating only one dimension of anthropomorphic cues. The current research investigated how different dimensions of anthropomorphic design cues affect users’ information disclosure tendency towards chatbots. That is, the present study examined the effects of visual appearance (high anthropomorphism vs. low anthropomorphism), manipulating the visual cues dimension, and conversational style (human-like vs. mechanical), manipulating the verbal cues dimension, on users’ information disclosure tendency towards chatbots. Results showed positive effects of human-like conversational style on users’ information disclosure tendency. Of particular significance, an interaction effect between visual appearance and conversational style on users’ information disclosure tendency was found. Users reported a higher information disclosure tendency when the chatbot was designed with anthropomorphic cues consistent over dimensions. This finding suggested that an expectancy violation effect occurs when a chatbot exhibits inconsistent anthropomorphic design cues on two different dimensions. Besides, perceived security was identified as a positive mediating factor in the relationship between conversational style and users’ information disclosure tendency. This study advances research on users’ information disclosure tendency towards anthropomorphic chatbots and highlights the importance of different dimensions of anthropomorphic cues in chatbot design. Additionally, practical guidance for chatbot designers was also provided.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Human-Computer Studies publishes original research over the whole spectrum of work relevant to the theory and practice of innovative interactive systems. The journal is inherently interdisciplinary, covering research in computing, artificial intelligence, psychology, linguistics, communication, design, engineering, and social organization, which is relevant to the design, analysis, evaluation and application of innovative interactive systems. Papers at the boundaries of these disciplines are especially welcome, as it is our view that interdisciplinary approaches are needed for producing theoretical insights in this complex area and for effective deployment of innovative technologies in concrete user communities.
Research areas relevant to the journal include, but are not limited to:
• Innovative interaction techniques
• Multimodal interaction
• Speech interaction
• Graphic interaction
• Natural language interaction
• Interaction in mobile and embedded systems
• Interface design and evaluation methodologies
• Design and evaluation of innovative interactive systems
• User interface prototyping and management systems
• Ubiquitous computing
• Wearable computers
• Pervasive computing
• Affective computing
• Empirical studies of user behaviour
• Empirical studies of programming and software engineering
• Computer supported cooperative work
• Computer mediated communication
• Virtual reality
• Mixed and augmented Reality
• Intelligent user interfaces
• Presence
...