Theme 4: Quantitative research

Journal: Journal of Computer-mediated Communication

Impact factor: 3.5

Article: Virtual Customer Service Agents: Using Social Presence and Personalization to shape Online Service Encounters

The researchers of this paper argue that Virtual Customer Service Agents (VCSA’s) can influence online service experiences positively. By adding human characteristics that you would expect from personnel too the VCSA’s such as friendliness, expertise and smile, online service satisfaction should improve.

The 296 respondents were told that they called and texted more than their current phone provider limited them too and that switching to another company would save them money. To find out if they could really save money and how much, they needed to interact with VCSA’s (male and female based) to get more information.

1.The researchers held an experiment to let the respondents experience the VCSA’s and a survey to ask them how their experience was.

Experiment benefits & limitations

It is a good way to see if certain factors cause a change or not, in this case the researchers wanted to test if VCSA’s have a positive impact on the online shopping experience. The experiment could be done again to verify the results.

Because the task that they needed to perform was something they were familiar with, the respondents didn’t need specific knowledge to carry it out.

Limitations are that not all the variables could be tested; examples are their health, mood or other life experiences. Even tough this is not relevant for the research it could influence the results of the test.

It can’t verify ‘why’ the respondents were positive about the VSCA’s.

Survey benefits & limitations

Surveys are easy to administer and effective, in this case it was an online survey that was held on the same computer that the respondents had the experiment on. A survey is cost-effective. The researchers had the opportunity to ask as much questions as they wanted to gain a large amount of data.

Limitations of a survey are respondents might not be honest or they can interpret the questions different, this influences the results. The respondents might not have answered all the questions or errors might have occurred while filling it in.

2.I learned how combining an experiment and a survey are beneficial depending on which field is researched. And that it is important to have a heterogeneous group, especially because that is one of the benefits of quantitative methods. I also learned that it is a good method if you want to collect data to explain a subject that is not well known. By experimenting first and then having the respondents fill in the survey, helps to get the data needed to know their opinion and experience.

3.The survey was held online so errors may have occurred or maybe not all the questions were answered. Another point is that the VCSA’s were based on the gender of the respondent- in real life store personnel are (often) not based on the gender of the customer. It’s not clear ‘why’ the respondents had a more positive experience with the VCSA’s, because an experiment can’t answer that question.

The experiment could have been done in an environment that is more appropriate, now it was held in a laboratory. Maybe in a more informal environment.

They only had students as respondents; the answers that were given might have been different if the socio-demographics of the participants were more differ.

The factors that they discussed, friendliness, expertise and smile could have been broader, like speech or emotional communication.

Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality: The Body Shapes the Way We Play

The key point of the study is that people feel attached to a body regardless if it is their real body or a virtual body that doesn’t look like their real body. As long as the virtual body moves like them they feel a sense of ownership. This feeling of ownership can also influence their behavior. Caucasians who were virtually represented by a Causal-Dark-Skinned body felt that they were more expressive than that they normally are.

I found it interesting to read the results I didn’t expect that the group that was represented by the Causal-Dark-Skinned body would feel that they were more expressive than they normally are, but I did expect them to say that their avatar is more appropriate to play the Djembe.

I learned that the combination of two different kind of research method is a good way to research if the research is about human behavior. I also think that the given answers are more accurate as the respondents just went trough the experience, so the information is still clear on their mind.

Quantitative method
Benefits
Causal relationships can be made and it also allows the researcher to focus on one thing. The researcher is objective and can test his/ or her hypotheses on a large amount of people. This study made good use of this advantage and had a representative group to test their assumption. Another benefit of the method is that the gained data can be analyzed and measured for the results.
Limitations
A quantitative method doesn’t answer ‘why’. In the case of the previous discussed research I was curious about why this difference occurred, but with the quantitative method this answer is not given. And as I said earlier a large amount of people can be studied. This is an advantage as a disadvantage as it can have a negative impact on the results.

Qualitative method
Benefits
Detailed information in written or visual data is gained. Another point is that there is more freedom.
Limitations
The researcher needs to be heavily involved, this can make the view of the researcher subjective and it consumes a lot of time.

Sources:

Abawi, K. (2008) Qualitative and Quantitative research. Research methodology workshop. Switzerland: Geneva

Verhagen, T. Van Nes, J. (2014) Virtual Customer Service Agents: Using Social Presence and Personalization to shape Online Service Encounters. Computer -Mediated Communication: Volume 9, issue 3.

Kilteni, K Bergstrom, I. (2013) Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality:

The Body Shapes the Way We Play.