Impertinent Mobiles – Effects of Politeness and Impoliteness in Human-Smartphone Interaction

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session III
  In Interactive Poster Session: Mobile Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

This study aims to reveal first insights into human-smartphone interaction by continuing the paradigm “computers as social actors”. Hence, smartphones are conceptualized as social agents suggested to elicit social responses in their human users. In a laboratory experiment (n = 85) participants interacted with a talking phone which replied to them either politely or impolitely. Participants evaluated this specific phone twice, before and after they had received the phone’s feedback. ANOVA revealed polite phones to be evaluated significantly better than impolite phones. Comparing evaluations before and after the feedback showed that polite phones were revaluated regarding friendliness but not regarding competence. In contrast, second evaluation of impolite phones worsened both friendliness and competence. Furthermore, the gender of the phone’s voice impacted the evaluation: impolite “male phones” were evaluated less positively regarding their competence, impolite female phones were not. Results are discussed as empirical contribution of conceptualizing “smartphones as social actors”.

Authors

• Astrid Carolus, Julius-Maximilians University Wuerzburg

• Ricardo Muench, Julius-Maximilians University of Wuerzburg

• Florian Schneider, Julius-Maximilians-U Wuerzburg

• Catharina Schmidt, Julius-Maximilians University of Wuerzburg