University of Twente Student Theses
A very formal agent : how culture , mode of dressing and linguistic style influence the perceptions toward an Embodied Conversational Agent?
Resendez, Valeria (2020) A very formal agent : how culture , mode of dressing and linguistic style influence the perceptions toward an Embodied Conversational Agent?
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| Abstract: | Embodied conversational agents (ECAs) engage with users through verbal (text or speech), and nonverbal social cues (physical appearance). The increased usage of ECAs requires new studies assessing their design. Under the Computer as Social Agents (CASA) paradigm, the mode of dressing and linguistic style of ECAs can influence users' perceptions. These two cues are important because they express personality, assessing the interaction members' toward expectations of the system (Beneteau et al., 2019; Clark et al., 2019). The study was conducted with an online experiment containing videos as stimuli and a questionnaire. The experimental design was done with a 2 (Formal dressing and casual dressing) by 2 (Formal and casual linguistic style) factors, implementing two cultural groups of respondents based on Hofstede's dimension: Individualism-Collectivism. The results showed that mode of dressing has an impact on trustworthiness and perceived ease of use, while linguistic style influences trustworthiness, likeability, ease of use, and perceived usefulness. The interaction between the mode of dressing and linguistic style also positively influenced trustworthiness and perceived ease of use. Additionally, the national participant's culture did not have a significant impact on the user's preferences. However, a comparison of the evaluations in trustworthiness between cultures and independent variables reveal collectivistic participants preferred formality in the ECA's mode of dressing. Finally, trustworthiness and perceived usefulness had an indirect effect on the intention to use the conversational agent. This study contributes to understanding and assessing the influences on the mode of dressing and linguistic style on user's perceptions when interacting with a conversational agent. The results also nurture research on formality and casualness styles for linguistics in organizations. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies, 10 humanities in general, 18 languages and literature, 70 social sciences in general, 73 cultural anthropology |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/82242 |
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