The effect of virtual agent warmth on human-agent negotiation

Pooja Prajod, Mohammed Al Owayyed, Tim Rietveld, Jaap Jan Van Der Steeg, Joost Broekens

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The perception of warmth and competence in others influences social interaction and decision making. Virtual agents have been used in many domains including serious gaming and training. In this work we study the effect of warmth expressed in the behavior of a virtual agent on a human-agent negotiation. We design and conduct an experiment where participants negotiate with two versions of the same agent displaying varying levels of warmth. The results show that humans are more satisfied with the warm agent, are more willing to renegotiate with it, would recommend the agent more to their friends and had a better interaction experience, even though there is no difference in negotiation outcome (utility, agreement or rounds needed). While studies have shown effects of emotional displays on negotiation and collaboration, this is - to our knowledge - the first time that a clear effect of behavioral style is shown on the post-hoc appraisal of a human-agent collaboration, in our case a negotiation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS 2019
PublisherInternational Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS)
Pages71-76
Number of pages6
Volume1
ISBN (Electronic)9781510892002
Publication statusPublished - 2019
EventAAMAS 2019: The 18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems - Montreal, Canada
Duration: 13 May 201917 May 2019

Conference

ConferenceAAMAS 2019
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period13/05/1917/05/19

Keywords

  • Agent modelling
  • Negotiation
  • Virtual agents
  • Warmth

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