Gaze behavior between customers and clerks in conversations:

Effects of using remote communication system or an avatar system, and effects of customer's age

Abstract

In recent years, usage of remote conversation has increased, and difficulties of non-verbal communication in such situations has been widely recognized. In this study, we conducted an experiment to compare communication at a travel agency desk, using remote communication system with live-action images or with avatar images, and face-to-face conversation. Here we reported the gaze behavior comparison between customers and clerks, including the effect of customer's age, too. Results showed that the duration of each gaze was longer in remote system, indicating that visual processing may take more time than the face-to-face situation. In addition, regardless of conversation environments, younger customers showed collaborative problem-solving behavior, in which a clerk and a customer looked at each other equally. On the other hand, with older customers, clerks looked at customers more often, implying that because older customers were easy to become more problem-solving oriented, communication loads on clerks were placed asymmetrically.