Use of metaphors for acceptance of cognitive assistants: a qualitative study

Cognitive assistants (CAs) are new decision tools, able to provide people with high quality recommendations. CAs are very primitive and beginning to appear in the market. As a result, trustworthiness and relative advantages of using CAs are the most influential factors for acceptance of CAs by the people in the society. The prime objective of this paper is to investigate how trustworthiness and relative advantages play the most important role for acceptance of CAs using novel approach of metaphors. Three metaphors namely: pets, alarm clock and vase were used to investigate the acceptance of CAs by the people in the society. To achieve the objective, a qualitative research was undertaken to deeply investigate the issue. A total of 32 interviews were conducted into three steps. The interview data was analysed using MAXQDA 12 (a qualitative data analysis software) by applying the 'grounded theory' research approach. Results indicate that the metaphor pets (trustworthiness and relative advantages) and alarm clock (only relative advantages of using CAs) influence the people's acceptance of CAs in the society. A theoretical framework of acceptance of CAs was presented based on the findings and insights from this research. Finally, the paper concludes by suggesting future research directions.