Effects of Smiling and Gender on Trust Toward a Recommendation Agent

This study seeks to determine whether a recommendation agent´s smile and gender affect users´ trust toward the agent. We also investigate gender differences in trust toward recommendation agents of different genders and facial expressions. We present findings from a 2x2 experiment (male vs. female and smiling vs. non-smiling agents). In the context of laptop shopping, we found that on average smiling agents are perceived to be more competent than non-smiling agents and male agents are perceived to be more competent than female agents. There is a significant interaction effect between an agent´s smile and gender on trust in benevolence. Specifically, male subjects tend to believe that smiling agents are more competent than non-smiling agents, while female subjects are less sensitive to the agent´s smile. Interestingly, female subjects perceive male agents to be more competent than female agents, while male subjects are almost indifferent toward the agent´s gender. Among the female subjects, trust in benevolence is highest toward a smiling male agent. Our results suggest that the gender and facial expressions of a recommendation agent should be considered when designing a virtual salesperson for online stores.