A Typology of the Receptivity of Humanoid Robots by Students in a Thai International University: Results of a Multivariate Cluster Analysis

Abstract

Despite the rapid advances in the development of humanoid robots (HRs), inquiries regarding their receptivity (user acceptance) by humans is still quite limited with no studies involving a substantial number of respondents being conducted in Southeast Asia and, specifically, Thailand. Therefore, this a pioneering study that examined students in the MBA program of an English-medium division within an international university in Bangkok, Thailand. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was developed to generate data. A typology of receptivity to humanoid robots was then created by using a factor analysis that generated four significant factors (HRs viewed as beneficial, viewed as potential friends, viewed with fear, and viewed as potential sex partners) which were then used for a multivariate cluster analysis with demographic classifications. The results indicated that none of the clusters displayed significant difference in demographic make-up. However, the groupings involving gender and nationality were close to significance and may be worthy of further examination in subsequent studies.