How the Role of a Persuasive Robot Impacts One’s Attitude Towards It

Recent years have seen a development of social robots in all kinds of different roles. For social robots to be tailored to the needs of the user and become more accepted, we need to understand how people perceive and interact with robots in these different roles. This study investigates people’s attitudes toward robots in two different roles (utilitarian: practically oriented vs hedonic: socially oriented) after interacting with them at home for several days. Results show that people’s attitudes towards the same robot differ between the roles that were applied to the robot. People also described their interactions with the robot in different terms depending on its role. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of tailored approaches in the design of interactions between humans and social robots.