Virtual agents are increasingly being used for communication training such as public speaking-, job interviews-, as well as negotiation training. In these use-cases the agent is generally taking on the role of interviewer and its behaviour is altered according to the nonverbal cues of its human interlocutor. However, understanding how the agent's non-verbal cues influence human behaviour, perception or interactions outcomes is equally important. This contributes to appropriate behaviour generation in agents, but also to our understanding of the intricate interplay of non-verbal behaviours on human perception and interaction outcomes. This study focuses specifically on the perception of vocal dominance in human-agent negotiation. Earlier research showed that the perception of dominance influences decision making in the course of negotiations, as do concessions tactics. However, the effect of voice as well as the effect of the negotiator type in this regard have been so far under-explored. To close this gap, an online experiment was conducted, in which a total number of 121 participants negotiated with conversational agents displaying either low or high vocal dominance, and an individualistic or neutral concession tactic. The results showed that when taking into account the self-reported type of negotiator, significant differences caused by vocal dominance were evident in regard to the number of negotiation rounds and perceived fairness. The number of rounds was significantly higher for the competitive participant type negotiating with the low vocal dominance agent, and the perceived fairness was significantly lower with the collaborative participant type negotiating with the high vocal dominance agent.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.