Systematic Review: Trust-Building Factors and Implications for Conversational Agent Design

Abstract

Minjin Rheua*, Ji Youn Shina, Wei Penga & Jina Huh-Yooba Media and Information, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USAb Department of Information Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAMinjin Rheu is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. Her research delves into how specific designs or features of communication technology influences users’ motivational and cognitive processes through which people change or adopt their health and prosocial behaviors.Ji Youn Shin is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. Her research includes human-computer interaction, human-centered design, and health communication. She designs and evaluates technologies for supporting individuals’ health and wellness in various health contexts, including family caregiving and pediatric chronic illnesses.Wei Peng is a Professor in the Department of Media and Information, Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the psychological and social mechanisms of behavior change and their application in the design of interactive media for health and wellness promotion.Jina Huh-Yoo is an Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Drexel University's College of Computing & Informatics. Her research areas include human-computer interaction, health informatics, and research ethics of health informatics technologies. She was a PI of NIH and NSF-funded projects in promoting health and wellness through consumer-facing technologies.CONTACT Minjin Rheu rheuminj@msu.edu Media and Information, Michigan State University, 404 Wilson Rd, Room 414, East Lansing, MI 48823, USAABSTRACTOff-the-shelf conversational agents are permeating people’s everyday lives. In these artificial intelligence devices, trust plays a key role in users’ initial adoption and successful utilization. Factors enhancing trust toward conversational agents include appearances, voice features, and communication styles. Synthesizing such work will be useful in designing evidence-based, trustworthy conversational agents appropriate for various contexts. We conducted a systematic review of the experimental studies that investigated the effect of conversational agents’ and users’ characteristics on trust. From a full-text review of 29 articles, we identified five agent design-themes affecting trust toward conversational agents: social intelligence of the agent, voice characteristics and communication style, look of the agent, non-verbal communication, and performance quality. We also found that participants’ demographic, personality, or use context moderate the effect of these themes. We discuss implications for designing trustworthy conversational agents and responsibilities around on stereotypes and social norm building through agent design.