The influence of social media feedback on consumers’ self-esteem and purchasing behaviour

This dissertation not only aims to explore whether social media feedback influences the consumer’s purchasing decision, specifically on the preferences for products that are more or less threatening to the self, as to how social media influences their self-esteem, well-being, mood, feelings of depression and anxiety, self-affirmation and self-threat. Does social media influence consumers and their purchasing decision? According to Catriona Harvey-Jenner (2017), social media provides a short-term hype followed by a crashing low, meaning that, for example, it influences positively people to connect with others at a faster rate (Amedie, J., 2015; Subramanian, K., 2017), but its excessive usage time can become self threatening (Park & Maner, 2009). When it comes to purchasing luxury goods, consumers feel the need to justify themselves, maybe due to their feelings of guilt (Okada, 2005); thus, when its purchase is based upon a moral act, it reduces its negative self-attribution. Based on previous research, social media influences consumers' purchasing behaviour, for example, reading online customer reviews on hedonic or utilitarian products makes them buy more. As such, to assess how social media influence consumers, two different studies from Khan and Dhar (2006) were conducted. In both studies, participants were required to complete a task on the "number of likes" on a post. Additionally, in Study 1, they had to imagine themselves purchasing a pair of designer jeans and a vacuum cleaner (hedonic and utilitarian products, respectively) and, in Study 2, they were between two different pairs of sunglasses (hedonic and utilitarian).Esta tese visa investigar como é que o feedback nas redes sociais influenciam o comportamento de compra dos consumidores, especificamente na preferência por produtos que ameacem mais, ou menos, a identidade, como também em como influenciam a sua autoestima, bem-estar, humor, depressão, ansiedade, afirmação e ameaça à identidade. As redes sociais influenciam os consumidores e a sua decisão de compra? De acordo com Catriona Harvey-Jenner (2017), as redes sociais fornecem um entusiasmo a curto prazo seguido de uma quebra, significando que, por exemplo, influenciam as pessoas a se conectarem umas às outras mais rapidamente (Jacob Amedie, 2015; Krishnaswamy Subramanian, 2017) no entanto, o seu uso excessivo, pode tornar-se numa ameaça à identidade (Park & Maner, 2009). Quando se trata de comprar bens de luxo, os consumidores sentem a necessidade de se justificar por se sentirem culpados (Okada, 2005); mas, quando a compra é baseada numa ação moral, a negatividade sobre a sua autoimagem é reduzida. Segundo estudos anteriores, os meios de comunicação social influenciam o comportamento de compra dos consumidores, por exemplo através de críticas online, fazendo com que estes comprem mais. Como tal, para avaliar este efeito, foram realizados dois estudos diferentes Khan e Dhar (2006). Em ambos os estudos os participantes realizaram uma tarefa sobre o “número de likes” numa publicação. Adicionalmente, no Estudo 1 tiveram de se imaginar a comprar umas calças de marca e um aspirador (produto hedónico e utilitário, respetivamente) e, no Estudo 2, estavam entre dois pares de óculos de sol (hedónico e utilitário)

Robots, Cyborgs, and Humans. A Model of Consumer Behavior in Services: A Study in the Healthcare Services Sector

La present tesi es basa en una investigació que proposa un ús futurista de l'robot i el cyborg com cirurgians oculars. El model desenvolupat investiga la intenció de l'consumidor per elegir cada cirurgià (és a dir: cirurgià robot, cirurgià cyborg o cirurgià humà). Les dades es van analitzar utilitzant la tècnica PLS-SEM. Els resultats de la investigació mostren que l'expectativa d'esforç, l'expectativa de rendiment, el risc percebut i la influència social van mostrar un impacte significatiu en la intenció d'utilitzar els serveis de l'robot cirurgià. Els resultats de el model per al cyborg cirurgià van confirmar l'impacte significatiu de l'expectativa d'esforç, l'excitació, l'expectativa de rendiment i la influència social en la intenció d'utilitzar els seus serveis. L'expectativa d'esforç i la influència social van confirmar un impacte significatiu en la intenció d'utilitzar els serveis de l'cirurgià humà. Els resultats mostren que en els tres models les variables influència social i expectativa d'esforç afecten significativament a la intenció d'utilitzar aquests serveis de cirurgia i que amb diferent intensitat entre els models per expectativa de esforç-. L'impacte de la influència social dóna una idea general sobre la naturalesa de el sector de la salut a Jordània, on una part de la societat presta més atenció a les recomanacions dels altres a l'elegir els seus cirurgians. A més, l'impacte de l'expectativa d'esforç contribueix a les expectatives per la simplicitat de l'servei dels pacients, en termes d'ús i interacció amb els cirurgians proposats. L'anàlisi multigrup va confirmar que les variables dels models estan afectant de la mateixa manera a l'comparar la intenció d'usar cyborgs i humans, i a l'comparar cyborgs i robots. No obstant això, sí que hi ha diferències significatives a l'comparar l'elecció entre robots i humans en l'impacte de l'expectativa d'esforç per utilitzar els serveis de cirurgia. D'altra banda, els participants van mostrar la seva preferència pel cirurgià humà sobre els cirurgians cyborg i robot, respectivament. Com a resultat, l'acceptació de les tecnologies de robot i cyborg per part de la societat podria donar una idea sobre la lluita esperada en el futur entre el desenvolupament de robots i la millora de les capacitats humanes.La presente tesis se basa en una investigación que propone un uso futurista del robot y el cyborg como cirujanos oculares. El modelo desarrollado investiga la intención del consumidor para elegir a cada cirujano (es decir: cirujano robot, cirujano cyborg o cirujano humano). Los datos se analizaron utilizando la técnica PLS-SEM. Los resultados de la investigación muestran que la expectativa de esfuerzo, la expectativa de rendimiento, el riesgo percibido y la influencia social mostraron un impacto significativo en la intención de utilizar los servicios del robot cirujano. Los resultados del modelo para el cyborg cirujano confirmaron el impacto significativo de la expectativa de esfuerzo, la excitación, la expectativa de rendimiento y la influencia social en la intención de usar sus servicios. La expectativa de esfuerzo y la influencia social confirmaron un impacto significativo en la intención de utilizar los servicios del cirujano humano. Los resultados muestran que en los tres modelos las variables influencia social y expectativa de esfuerzo afectan significativamente a la intención de usar esos servicios de cirugía –aunque con distinta intensidad entre los modelos para expectativa de esfuerzo-. El impacto de la influencia social da una idea general sobre la naturaleza del sector de la salud en Jordania, donde una parte de la sociedad presta más atención a las recomendaciones de los demás al elegir a sus cirujanos. Además, el impacto de la expectativa de esfuerzo contribuye a las expectativas por la simplicidad del servicio de los pacientes, en términos de uso e interacción con los cirujanos propuestos. El análisis multigrupo confirmó que las variables de los modelos están afectando de la misma manera al comparar la intención de usar cyborgs y humanos, y al comparar cyborgs y robots. Sin embargo, sí que existen diferencias significativas al comparar la elección entre robots y humanos en el impacto de la expectativa de esfuerzo para utilizar los servicios de cirugía. Por otro lado, los participantes mostraron su preferencia por el cirujano humano sobre los cirujanos cyborg y robot, respectivamente. Como resultado, la aceptación de las tecnologías de robot y cyborg por parte de la sociedad podría dar una idea sobre la lucha esperada en el futuro entre el desarrollo de robots y la mejora de las capacidades humanThe research proposes a futuristic use of robot and cyborg as surgeons in an eye surgery. Thereafter, the developed model has been applied to investigate the intention to use each surgeon (i.e. robot surgeon, cyborg surgeon, and human surgeon). The data was analyzed using the PLS-SEM technique. According to the research results, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, perceived risk, and social influence showed a significant impact on intention to use robot services. However, the results of the cyborg service model confirmed the significant impact of effort expectancy, arousal, performance expectancy, and social influence on the intention to use cyborg services. Furthermore, effort expectancy and social influence confirmed their significant impact on the intention to use human services. The results of the three models showed that the variables social influence and effort expectancy significantly affected the intention to use these surgical services, with a different intensity between the models for effort expectancy. The social influence impact gives a general idea about the nature of the healthcare sector in Jordan, where a part of society gives more attention to the recommendation from others while choosing their surgeons. Also, the effort expectancy impact contributes to patients' expectations of simplicity, in terms of use and interaction with the proposed surgeons. The multigroup analysis confirmed that the models' variables are affecting the intention to use cyborg and human service, and cyborg and robots in the same way. However, the differences were confirmed between robot and human cyborgs in terms of the impact of effort expectancy on the intention to use these services. On the other side, the participants showed their preference of the human surgeon over the cyborg and robot surgeons, respectively. As a result, the acceptance of the robot and cyborg technologies by a part of the society could give an idea about the expected struggle in the future among developing robots and enhancing human capabilities

Human Factors Considerations in System Design

Human factors considerations in systems design was examined. Human factors in automated command and control, in the efficiency of the human computer interface and system effectiveness are outlined. The following topics are discussed: human factors aspects of control room design; design of interactive systems; human computer dialogue, interaction tasks and techniques; guidelines on ergonomic aspects of control rooms and highly automated environments; system engineering for control by humans; conceptual models of information processing; information display and interaction in real time environments

INFLUENCER MARKETING ON SOCIAL MEDIA: EXPLORING THE ROLE OF SOURCE CREDIBILITY IN GENERATING PARA SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND PRODUCT INTEREST

The purpose of this research is to examine the relation of influencer credibility with product interest through the mediation of para-social relationships. Influencer credibility was measured through the constructs of expertise, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and similarity. By making a conceptual framework and then evaluating it, this research tries to fill the theoretical gaps about the study variables in a digital influencing context. A questionnaire was developed based on items from available literature about the study variables. The target respondents of the study were social media users from Pakistan who are also users of various brands. The data analysis was conducted using the Process “Macro by Hayes” model 4 in SPSS. Key findings show that the credibility of a source is important for building parasocial relationships and product interest. All the hypotheses were supported showing the immense importance of influences in brand Marketing in the current era. The underpinning theory of this study is the source credibility theory which is supported by our findings. The study also opens new avenues for future research including the application of the model in e-commerce and business-to-business sectors of the industry. The results of this research will also help brand managers and digital marketers design their promotional campaigns through the endorsement of online influencers

That Robot Touch that Means so Much: On the Psychological Effects of Human-Robot Touch

Robots are unique compared to other forms of artificial intelligence because they own a physical body that allows them to get into physical contact with humans. There is a huge amount of literature and empirical work that demonstrates the importance of touch for the development of man as well as other species as monkeys. Especially, the positive impact of interpersonal touch on health, bonding and attachment has been frequently observed. Furthermore, positive evaluative consequences of interpersonal touch on the toucher, i.e., the initiator of touch, and the surroundings has been revealed, as well as an influence on compliance and helping. Taken together it seems as if touch is a powerful way of nonverbal communication that is capable to increase the well-being of the receiver, and the initiator of touch, too. Against the background of earlier work in the realm of human-computer interaction that demonstrated that people equate interactions with interactive media as computers or robots with interpersonal interactions (media equation: Nass & Moon, 2000; Reeves & Nass, 1996; see also Krämer & Hoffmann, 2016, for an updated overview), it is assumed that touch from a robot can result in comparable positive impacts on human well- being. As a prerequisite for the examination of the physiological and psychological effects of human-robot touch, basic research was first necessary to structure the field of human- robot touch in comparison to interpersonal touch. For that purpose, four empirical studies were conducted that untangled the perception of human-robot touch referring to research on interpersonal touch, to test whether the media equation also applies to a fundamental interpersonal phenomenon such as touch. Therefore, the perception of different forms of human-robot touch with different robots (Study 1 & 2) in different interaction contexts (Study 3) were first considered in the most controllable way by means of the observation and evaluation of photographs. In addition, the underlying appraisal process that decides upon the final reaction to robot touch was theoretically and practically considered based on expectancy violations theory (Burgoon, 1983; Burgoon & Hale, 1988) that originates from the field of interpersonal communication. Finally, actual touch initiated by a robot to participants in a laboratory experiment were regarded and analyzed with respect to the impact of robot touch on participants’ subjective evaluation, as well as on observable reactions as laughing, compliance and helping (Study 4). In conclusion, influencing variables that determine the desirability of human-robot touch were revealed, namely characteristics of the robot (morphology and size), characteristics of the person (e.g., attitudes towards touch, attitudes towards robots, touch expectancies), the intimacy and direction of touch, i.e., who touches whom, and the meaning assigned to human-robot touch regarding relational interpretations of closeness and affection. Finally, positive emotional reactions to actual robot-initiated touch, and heightened compliance have been observed in a laboratory experiment.Roboter sind im Vergleich zu anderen Formen der künstlichen Entitäten einzigartig, da sie über einen physischen Körper verfügen, der ihnen erlaubt, in Berührung mit Menschen zu gelangen. Eine Vielzahl an empirischen Studien konnte bereits zeigen, dass die Bedeutung eine fundamentale Rolle in der Entwicklung von Menschen wie auch anderen Arten wie zum Beispiel Affen spielt. Allem voran wurde die positive Wirkung der zwischenmenschlichen Berührung auf die individuelle Gesundheit wie auch die zwischenmenschliche Bindung häufig belegt. Darüber hinaus wurden positive Konsequenzen der zwischenmenschlichen Berührung auf die Evaluation des Berührers, d. h. des Initiators der Berührung, und der Umgebung aufgedeckt, sowie ein Einfluss auf die Bereitschaft einer Bitte nachzukommen und Hilfeleistung zu zeigen. Zusammengenommen scheint Berührung eine einflussreiche Form nonverbaler Kommunikation zu sein, die in der Lage ist, das Wohlbefinden des Empfängers wie auch Initiators zu erhöhen. Vor dem Hintergrund früherer Arbeiten auf dem Gebiet der Mensch-Computer Interaktion, die zeigen, dass Menschen dazu neigen Interaktionen mit interaktiven Medien wie Computern oder Robotern mit der zwischenmenschlichen Kommunikation gleichsetzen (media equation: Nass & Moon, 2000; Reeves & Nass, 1996; see also Krämer & Hoffmann, 2016, für einen aktuellen Überblick), wird davon ausgegangen, dass eine Berührung durch einen Roboter vergleichbare positive Auswirkungen auf das menschliche Wohlbefinden haben kann. Als Voraussetzung für die Untersuchung der physiologischen und psychologischen Auswirkungen von Mensch-Roboter Berührung war zunächst grundlegende Forschung notwendig, um das Gebiet der Mensch-Roboter Berührung im Vergleich zur zwischenmenschlichen Berührung zu strukturieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurden vier empirische Studien durchgeführt, die dazu dienten die Wahrnehmung und Beurteilung von Mensch-Roboter Berührung mit der der Wahrnehmung und Beurteilung zwischenmenschlicher Berührung zu vergleichen, um anschließend theoretische und empirische Befunde aus dem zwischenmenschlichem Kontext auf den Bereich der Mensch-Roboter Interaktion übertragen zu können. Dazu wurde die Wahrnehmung verschiedener Formen von Mensch-Roboter Berührung mit verschiedenen Robotern (Studie 1 & 2) in verschiedenen Interaktionskontexten (Studie 3) zunächst durch die kontrollierte Beobachtung und Bewertung von Fotos untersucht. Darüber hinaus wurde der zugrundeliegende Beurteilungsprozess, der von der ersten Wahrnehmung von Mensch-Roboter Berührung über die Interpretation und Beurteilung schließlich für die finale Reaktion auf Berührung verantwortlich ist, auf Basis der Expectancy Violations Theory (Burgoon, 1983; Burgoon & Hale, 1988) betrachtet. Abschließend wurde im Rahmen eines Laborexperimentes, der Effekt tatsächlicher Berührung durch einen humanoiden Roboter auf das subjektive Empfinden und beobachtbare Reaktionen wie Lachen, Einwilligungsbreitschaft und Hilfeverhalten untersucht (Studie 4). Zusammenfassend lässt sich feststellen, dass Eigenschaften des Roboters (Morphologie und Größe), Merkmale der Person (z.B. Einstellungen gegenüber zwischenmenschlicher Berührung, Einstellung gegenüber Robotern, Berührungserwartungen), die Intimität und Richtung der Berührung, d.h. wer berührt wen, und die zugeschriebene Bedeutung der Berührung einen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung und Akzeptanz on Mensch-Roboter Berührung nehmen. Schlussendlich konnte im Rahmen eines Laborexperimentes gezeigt werden, dass positive emotionale Konsequenzen und eine erhöhte Einwilligungsbereitschaft auf die echte Berührung durch einen Roboter folgten

Development of a simulation tool for measurements and analysis of simulated and real data to identify ADLs and behavioral trends through statistics techniques and ML algorithms

openCon una popolazione di anziani in crescita, il numero di soggetti a rischio di patologia è in rapido aumento. Molti gruppi di ricerca stanno studiando soluzioni pervasive per monitorare continuamente e discretamente i soggetti fragili nelle loro case, riducendo i costi sanitari e supportando la diagnosi medica. Comportamenti anomali durante l'esecuzione di attività di vita quotidiana (ADL) o variazioni sulle tendenze comportamentali sono di grande importanza.With a growing population of elderly people, the number of subjects at risk of pathology is rapidly increasing. Many research groups are studying pervasive solutions to continuously and unobtrusively monitor fragile subjects in their homes, reducing health-care costs and supporting the medical diagnosis. Anomalous behaviors while performing activities of daily living (ADLs) or variations on behavioral trends are of great importance. To measure ADLs a significant number of parameters need to be considering affecting the measurement such as sensors and environment characteristics or sensors disposition. To face the impossibility to study in the real context the best configuration of sensors able to minimize costs and maximize accuracy, simulation tools are being developed as powerful means. This thesis presents several contributions on this topic. In the following research work, a study of a measurement chain aimed to measure ADLs and represented by PIRs sensors and ML algorithm is conducted and a simulation tool in form of Web Application has been developed to generate datasets and to simulate how the measurement chain reacts varying the configuration of the sensors. Starting from eWare project results, the simulation tool has been thought to provide support for technicians, developers and installers being able to speed up analysis and monitoring times, to allow rapid identification of changes in behavioral trends, to guarantee system performance monitoring and to study the best configuration of the sensors network for a given environment. The UNIVPM Home Care Web App offers the chance to create ad hoc datasets related to ADLs and to conduct analysis thanks to statistical algorithms applied on data. To measure ADLs, machine learning algorithms have been implemented in the tool. Five different tasks have been identified. To test the validity of the developed instrument six case studies divided into two categories have been considered. To the first category belong those studies related to: 1) discover the best configuration of the sensors keeping environmental characteristics and user behavior as constants; 2) define the most performant ML algorithms. The second category aims to proof the stability of the algorithm implemented and its collapse condition by varying user habits. Noise perturbation on data has been applied to all case studies. Results show the validity of the generated datasets. By maximizing the sensors network is it possible to minimize the ML error to 0.8%. Due to cost is a key factor in this scenario, the fourth case studied considered has shown that minimizing the configuration of the sensors it is possible to reduce drastically the cost with a more than reasonable value for the ML error around 11.8%. Results in ADLs measurement can be considered more than satisfactory.INGEGNERIA INDUSTRIALEopenPirozzi, Michel

Making intelligent systems team players: Case studies and design issues. Volume 1: Human-computer interaction design

Initial results are reported from a multi-year, interdisciplinary effort to provide guidance and assistance for designers of intelligent systems and their user interfaces. The objective is to achieve more effective human-computer interaction (HCI) for systems with real time fault management capabilities. Intelligent fault management systems within the NASA were evaluated for insight into the design of systems with complex HCI. Preliminary results include: (1) a description of real time fault management in aerospace domains; (2) recommendations and examples for improving intelligent systems design and user interface design; (3) identification of issues requiring further research; and (4) recommendations for a development methodology integrating HCI design into intelligent system design

Human factors in instructional augmented reality for intravehicular spaceflight activities and How gravity influences the setup of interfaces operated by direct object selection

In human spaceflight, advanced user interfaces are becoming an interesting mean to facilitate human-machine interaction, enhancing and guaranteeing the sequences of intravehicular space operations. The efforts made to ease such operations have shown strong interests in novel human-computer interaction like Augmented Reality (AR). The work presented in this thesis is directed towards a user-driven design for AR-assisted space operations, iteratively solving issues arisen from the problem space, which also includes the consideration of the effect of altered gravity on handling such interfaces.Auch in der bemannten Raumfahrt steigt das Interesse an neuartigen Benutzerschnittstellen, um nicht nur die Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion effektiver zu gestalten, sondern auch um einen korrekten Arbeitsablauf sicherzustellen. In der Vergangenheit wurden wiederholt Anstrengungen unternommen, Innenbordarbeiten mit Hilfe von Augmented Reality (AR) zu erleichtern. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf einen nutzerorientierten AR-Ansatz, welcher zum Ziel hat, die Probleme schrittweise in einem iterativen Designprozess zu lösen. Dies erfordert auch die Berücksichtigung veränderter Schwerkraftbedingungen