Enhancing user satisfaction in the reporting of online sexual harassment on social media: The role of anthropomorphic design in mitigating negative emotions and building trust

The use of reporting systems for sexual harassment and other transgressive behavior on social media often results in low user satisfaction due to delayed or absent responses and a lack of empathy for users' situations. This study examines whether and how anthropomorphic designs, or human-like design features, can reduce users' negative emotions, increase trust, and subsequently enhance user satisfaction with such reporting systems. In a between-subjects experiment with 286 participants, individuals were exposed to an online sexual harassment scenario as a victim-survivor and instructed to report the incident. They were assigned to one of three reporting conditions: a non-anthropomorphic design condition (a machine-like system with an interface which has no human-like attributes), a low anthropomorphic design condition (a basic chatbot system, with an interface which has a low level of human attributes), and a high anthropomorphic design condition (a chatbot system with a high level of human attributes). Results indicated that both high and low anthropomorphic designs increased perceived anthropomorphism which significantly improved user satisfaction compared to non-anthropomorphic designs by reducing negative emotions and increasing trust, and that high anthropomorphic designs led to the highest levels of overall user satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by advancing the understanding of anthropomorphic design's impact on user interaction in the specific context of reporting systems for online sexual harassment. Additionally, it provides practical design recommendations for social media platforms to implement more empathetic and supportive reporting systems, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction.