Tell me your story, robot. Introducing an android as fiction character leads to higher perceived usefulness and adoption intention

Abstract

In a field experiment with N = 75 participants, the android telecommunication robot Telenoid was introduced in three different ways: participants either read a short story presenting the Telenoid as character, a non-narrative information leaflet about it, or they received no preliminary introduction at all before interacting with the robot. Perceived usefulness and behavioral intentions to adopt the robot were significantly higher in the story condition than in both other conditions. In line with the Technology Acceptance Model, reported usefulness additionally served as a mediator between treatment and adoption intention. This study is the first to apply findings from Narrative Persuasion to HRI and can prompt further discussion about stories as means to increase user acceptance of new robotic agents.