Is Alexa Happy or Angry? Perceptions and Attributions of Emotional Displays of Smart Technologies in Residential Homes

Hayden Barber, Torsten Reimer (), Damin Zhang and Julia Rayz
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Hayden Barber: School of Communication & Journalism, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Torsten Reimer: Communication and Cognition Lab, Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Damin Zhang: Department of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Julia Rayz: Department of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: Digital assistants such as Alexa can provide feedback to residents that affect energy consumption. One important characteristic of feedback refers to the emotionality of the provided feedback. Research on social cognition and attribution theory suggests that effects of emotional messages on behavior are contingent on the inferred cause of the emotion (e.g., why a message was said in a happy or neutral voice). As a prerequisite, to have the intended effects on energy saving behaviors, Alexa’s emotional messages have to trigger three basic social cognitions: (1) the emotional display has to be identified by residents; (2) residents have to correctly identify their behavior as a target of the emotional display; and (3) residents have to attribute the emotional display to that behavior. In two studies ( N = 194 and N = 353), several conditions were identified that triggered these three basic social cognitions in a simulated environment.

Keywords: emotion and communication; attributions; human–computer interactions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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