Social Robots Acceptance and Marketability in Italy and Germany: A Cross-National Study Focusing on Assisted Living for Older Adults

Abstract

In the last years, social robots have become a trending topic. Indeed, robots which communicate with us and mimic human behavior patterns are fascinating. However, while there is a massive body of research on their design and acceptance in different fields of application, their market potential has been rarely investigated. As their future integration in society may have a vast disruptive potential, this work aims at shedding light on the market potential, focusing on the assistive health domain. A study with 197 persons from Italy (age: M = 67.87; SD = 8.87) and Germany (age: M = 62.15; SD = 6.14) investigates cultural acceptance, desired functionalities, and purchase preferences. The participants filled in a questionnaire after watching a video illustrating some examples of social robots. Surprisingly, the individual perception of health status, social status as well as nationality did hardly influence the attitude towards social robots, although the German group was somewhat more reluctant to the idea of using them. Instead, there were significant correlations with most dimensions of the Almere model (like perceived enjoyment, sociability, usefulness and trustworthiness). Also, technology acceptance resulted strongly correlated with the individual readiness to invest money. However, as most persons consider social robots as “Assistive Technological Devices” (ATDs), they expected that their provision should mirror the usual practices followed in the two Countries for such devices. Thus, to facilitate social robots’ future visibility and adoption by both individuals and health care organisations, policy makers would need to start integrating them into official ATDs databases.

Technology Acceptance of Socially Assistive Robots Among Older Adults and the Factors Influencing It: A Meta-Analysis

“…Four studies have investigated the correlation between perceived ease of use and the acceptance of socially assistive robots among older adults (Chen & Chan, 2014; Ezer et al, 2009; Fracasso et al, 2022; Heerink et al, 2008), including 1256 participants. In a random-effects model, perceived ease of use was positively associated with the acceptance of socially assistive robots among older adults (r = .417, 95% CI = .256–.554, p < .05).…”

“…Two studies have investigated the correlation between perceived hedonism and the receipt of socially assistive robots in older adults (Fracasso et al, 2022; Heerink et al, 2008) and included 128 participants. In a fixed-effects model, the effect of perceived hedonism on the receipt of socially assistive robots in older adults was positively correlated (r = .391, 95% CI = .223–.535, p < .05).…”

“…The influencing factors that were moderately correlated with technology acceptance were perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, technology experience, technology attitude, perceived hedonism, and convenience. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and technology attitude had positive effects on the acceptance of socially assistive robots by older adults (Chen & Chan, 2014; Fracasso et al, 2022; Heerink et al, 2008). Therefore, in the design and development of future socially assistive robots, attention should be focused on the functional utility of the robot and user experience, and personalized services should be conducted to improve the utility, meet user needs, and enhance user stickiness, thereby improving users’ perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and technological attitude.…”

User Profiling to Enhance Clinical Assessment and Human–Robot Interaction: A Feasibility Study

“…Important aspects to be investigated to enable the management, monitoring, and assessment of patient care in hospitals by SAR, is the trust in robotic decision support among nurses and doctors [ 25 , 26 ] and the expectation toward robots [ 27 ]. Even if several issues arouse about the actual use of robots in clinical practice (such as economic feasibility, acceptance among clinical staff, acceptance among patients) [ 28 , 29 ], the results obtained by Gombolay et al [ 30 ] sustained that the robot provided high-quality recommendations for delivery tasks, with a compliance rate of 90% respect to the clinical experts. Additionally, D’Onofrio et al [ 6 ] investigate the use of SAR in supporting the work of professionals in administering the comprehensive geriatric assessment that includes also physical and cognitive tests (e.g.…”

Cognitive Assistants and Intelligent Agents - Keynote Speech

“…One of the applications of particular interest, both at the research and commercial level, are cognitive assistants in the shape of companion robots. These companion robots, capable of assisting older adults in their daily tasks [5], keeping them company [5], organizing their activities [6], and monitoring their medication [7], and cognitive activities [8], are being widely marketed to individuals or senior centers. Several studies have demonstrated the applicability of CA for elderly care.…”