Help please! Deriving social support from Geminoid DK, Pepper, and AIBO as companion robots

Rooted in the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm, this study explored the possibility of robots to serve as companions. Two research questions were investigated: (1) How do people’s perceptions of companion robots help them obtain social support from the robots? (2) To what extent does robot appearance affect the relationship between people’s perceptions of companion robots and social support? Three different robots were considered: Geminoid DK (a human-like robot), Pepper (a human/machine-like playful robot), and AIBO (a zoomorphic robot). A scenario-based online experiment (N = 306) was conducted with robot appearance as a between-participants factor. Perceived anthropomorphism of robots had a negative curvilinear relationship with social support. Perceived safety was a significant mediator that explained the effects of perceived anthropomorphism on social support for all three robot types. The study further revealed how perceptions of a robot vary as a function of its appearance. Perceived likeability mediated the effect of perceived anthropomorphism on social support for Pepper but not for Geminoid DK or AIBO. The study adds to the human-robot interaction literature by revealing the underlying mechanism of how robots’ perceived anthropomorphism predicts the extent to which they can offer social support as companions.