Effects of "gender" of the computer on informational social influence: the moderating role of task type

The present experiment examined if and how ‘‘gender’’ of the computer, manifested in character representation, would affect its informational influence on individuals’ decisions on masculine (sports) or feminine (fashion) topics. In a 2 (participant’s gender) 2 (character gender) 2 (nature of topic: masculine vs. feminine) between-subjects experiment, participants played a trivia quiz game with the computer. During the game, they were given a chance to change their initial answer after seeing the computer’s answer, which they knew was not necessarily correct. Results supported the match-up hypothesis such that while the male computer elicited greater conformity on the masculine topic than on the feminine topic, the opposite was true for the female counterpart. In addition, men were less likely to yield to the computer’s suggestion than women on the masculine topic whereas women were less likely to succumb to the computer’s influence on the feminine topic. These findings are discussed in terms of the robustness of gender-stereotyping in human–computer interaction and the implications for Computers Are Social Actors paradigm. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.