Dustin Stevens-Baier

Comp 449

9-29-05

Assignment #5

The assignment requires you to write a critique of the persuasive impact of virtual sales agents on customers.  Consider what it would take for a virtual sales agent to be believable, trustworthy, and convincing, so that customers would be reassured and happy to buy something based on its recommendations.  

    (a) Look at some e-commerce sites that use virtual sales agents and answering the following:

        What do virtual agents do?

            The virtual sales agents attempt to make the site cool and useful. They try to encourage sales of their products.  Some of them offer tours of their companies sites.  In the case of Elbot he communicates with you.  Alice moves her head a little and talks less.

        What type of agents are they?
            Typically they appear to be the animated agents.  A few could also be considered emotional agents, these are the ones typically used for tutorials as they get excited when you click on the right link.  Some could be considered synthetic characters maybe, depending on how you define realistic.  The Elbot and Alice are embodied conversational agents that try to have human conversation.

        Do they elicit an emotional response from you? If so, what is it?

        The emotional agents are usually funny or cute for a little bit but they get annoying if I want to peruse the site at my leisure and they get sad that I am not clicking on their links.  The normal animated agents are usually irritating and seem either stupid or condescending.  The Elbot can get a little annoying and Alice appears to be pretty simple.  

        What kind of personality do they have?

        They are usually goofy or personable when they are animated or emotional.  The ones that I would consider synthetic characters are kind of stiff and come across as not very personable.  Elbot is easily agitated.  While Alice is very simple and rigid in her answers.

        How is this expressed?

        This is expressed by the agent jumping up and down spinning around raising their hands if they have them.  Sometimes the eyes get really big and some even made noise.  Alice says things and her eyes move while Elbot changes faces and stances to show how he feels.

        What kinds of behavior do they exhibit? 

       They are excited easily and sometimes unnecessarily.  The synthetic characters seemed to show little or no emotion and thus it was difficult to tell what behavior they were having.  Elbot gets wild and Alice doesn't do much.

        What are their facial expressions like?
        Their eyes get big they sometimes smile or frown.  Their eyebrows raise and sink.  

        What is their appearance like? Is it realistic or cartoon-like?

        Most seemed to be cartoon like but a few where realistic.  In the case of Elbot he seemed to be an animated robot while Alice is a person. 

        Where do they appear on screen?

        Elbot was on top but Alice was on the bottom left.

        How do they communicate with the user?

           Most seemed to use text in bubbles like they were talking but a few can actually talk.

       Is the level of discourse patronizing or the right level?
        It seems like it would be patronizing to me but maybe to somebody that hasn't shopped online before it would be helpful.

        Are the agents helpful in guiding the customer towards making a purchase?

        They appear like they could be but they are unnecessary. In the case of Alice and Elbot they aren't really for purchases. 

        Are they too pushy?

        Sometimes but most of the time they are just this is were you go next or if you liked this then you will like this also.

        What gender are they? Do you think this makes a difference?

        The one female agent I came across seemed to be the least patronizing but the most boring.  While the robot was cool but I could see it being patronizing.

        Would you trust the agents to the extent that you would be happy to buy a product from them? If not, why?

        No I wouldn't trust them.  I would buy a product from them if I was already going to do this.

        What else would it take to make the agents persuasive?

        It would take me hearing from one of them that maybe their store isn't the best place to get the item for me to trust them.  Otherwise I am always cognizant of them trying to sell me something.  If I don't really trust a sales person then how can I trust one that is programmed to be the best sales person.

    (b) Next, look at an e-commerce website that does not include virtual sales agents but is based on a conceptual model of browsing.      

        How does it compare with the agent-based sites you have just looked at?

        For me personally I like them much better you can search for the items you want and if you want to get advice on what to order then some offer at the bottom of your shopping cart a list of items that were also ordered by people who ordered what you did.

        Is it easy to find information about products?

        As long as your product is a common product it is easy to find info.

        What kind of mechanism does the site use to make recommendations and guide the user in making a purchase?

        This site provides info on what other people have also bought that bought what is in your cart.

        Is any kind of personalization used at the interface to make the user feel welcome or special?

        Yes there is if you have an account the site calls you by name.

        Would the site be improved by having an agent? Explain your reasons either way.

        I don't think so.  Personally I think that the agents are a good thing the just get in the way and some take too long and are very irritating.  I prefer to search for my items or ask questions over email.

(c) Finally, discuss which site you would trust most and give your reasons for this.

       I trust a site like Amazon way more than a site with an agent.  I can see that the items that Amazon recommends to me are every close in nature to the stuff that I do buy.  They also state that they get the information from an accumulation of data from people that buy the same items.  I also am more likely to trust a site that is as big as Amazon because they don't live and die by making twenty more dollars off of each order.