When in Rome: The role of culture & context in adherence to robot recommendations

In this study, we sought to clarify the effects of users´ cultural background and cultural context on human-robot team collaboration by investigating attitudes toward and the extent to which people changed their decisions based on the recommendations of a robot collaborator. We report the results of a 2×2 experiment with nationality (Chinese vs. US) and communication style (implicit vs. explicit) as dimensions. The results confirm expectations that when robots behave in more culturally normative ways, subjects are more likely to heed their recommendations. Specifically, subjects with a Chinese vs. a US cultural background changed their decisions more when collaborating with robots that communicated implicitly vs. explicitly. We also found evidence that Chinese subjects were more negative in their attitude to robots and, as a result, relied less on the robot´s advice. These findings suggest that cultural values affect responses to robots in collaborative situations and reinforce the importance of culturally sensitive design in HRI.