Channels, consumers and communication: online and offline communication in service consumption

This paper reports on a study that investigated consumer use of e-services in a multichannel context. To develop a deeper understanding of what makes consumers decide to use the online channel, and contrary to most HCI studies on the use of e-services that focus on the use of the online channel in relative isolation, this study examined consumer channel-choice beyond the instances of internet use. The consumption behaviour of its participants was investigated across channels in an in-depth qualitative study. The analysis of the elicited rich data focused specifically on the investigation of voluntary consumer movements between online and offline channels during the course of a consumption process. The results indicate that participants often use multiple channels in parallel and frequently switch between channels. Literature from marketing and consumer research was used as the perspective to explore the rationale for the complex and dynamic reported consumer behaviour

A User study on visualization of agent migration between two companion robots

In order to provide continuous user assistance in different physical situations and circumstances, it is desirable that an agent can maintain its identity as it migrates between different physical embodiments. A user study was conducted, with 21 primary school students which investigated the use of three different visual cues to support the user's belief that they are still interacting with the same agent migrating between different robotic embodiments.Non peer reviewe

Look Who's Talking Now: Implications of AV's Explanations on Driver's Trust, AV Preference, Anxiety and Mental Workload

Explanations given by automation are often used to promote automation adoption. However, it remains unclear whether explanations promote acceptance of automated vehicles (AVs). In this study, we conducted a within-subject experiment in a driving simulator with 32 participants, using four different conditions. The four conditions included: (1) no explanation, (2) explanation given before or (3) after the AV acted and (4) the option for the driver to approve or disapprove the AV's action after hearing the explanation. We examined four AV outcomes: trust, preference for AV, anxiety and mental workload. Results suggest that explanations provided before an AV acted were associated with higher trust in and preference for the AV, but there was no difference in anxiety and workload. These results have important implications for the adoption of AVs.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figures, 3 Table