The Impact of Different Embodied Agent-Feedback on Users' Behavior

This study investigated whether emotional expressions of an ECA influence the participants ́ nonverbal and verbal behavior. 70 participants took part in a small talk (10 min.) situation with the ECA MAX who was presented with two different types of feedback: emotional feedback (EMO), which provided a feedback about the emotional state of MAX (including smiles and compliments) and envelope feedback (ENV), which provided a feedback about the comprehension of the participants ́ contributions. In general we found that participants showed frequent behavior known from human-human-communication, such as proactive greetings or waving goodbye. Additionally, with regard to some behaviors, the agent ́s behavior had an impact: Participants in EMO significantly gave more compliments and exhibited more phrases of politeness (“Thank you!”) than in ENV.