Exploring factors influencing the acceptance of social robots among early adopters and mass market representatives
2022 (English)In: Robotics and Autonomous Systems, ISSN 0921-8890, E-ISSN 1872-793X, Vol. 151, article id 104033Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
When designing social robots, it is crucial to understand the diverse expectations of different kinds of innovation adopters. Different factors influence early adopters of innovations and mass market representatives’ perceptions of the usefulness of social robots. The first aim of the study was to test how applicable the technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3) is in the context of social robots. Participants’ acceptance of social robotics in a workplace environment in the fuzzy front-end (FFE) innovation phase of a robot development project was examined. Based on the findings for the model, we developed a reduced version of the TAM3 that is more applicable for social robots. The second objective was to analyze how early adopters’ and mass market representatives’ acceptance of social robots differs. Quantitative research methods were used. For early adopters, result demonstrability has a significant influence on perceived usefulness of social robots, while for mass market representatives, perceived enjoyment has a more significant influence on perceived usefulness. The findings indicate that users’ innovation adoption style influences the factors that users consider important in the usefulness of social robots. Robot developers should take these into account during the FFE innovation phase.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2022. Vol. 151, article id 104033
Keywords [en]
Diffusion of innovations, Early adopter, Mass market representative, Robots, Technology acceptance model, Workplace, Acceptance tests, Commerce, Robotics, Fuzzy front end, Perceived usefulness, Social robotics, Social robots, Workplace environments
National Category
Business Administration Robotics and automation
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-55895DOI: 10.1016/j.robot.2022.104033ISI: 000820361300006Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85123936921Local ID: HOA;;796256OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-55895DiVA, id: diva2:1637870
2022-02-152022-02-152025-02-05Bibliographically approved