“They’re always wrong anyway”: exploring differences of credibility, attraction, and behavioral intentions in professional, amateur, and robotic-delivered weather forecasts

ABSTRACT

Weather-related communication lends itself well to various styles of delivery and medium. Yet, new communication technologies have changed information consumption in this domain and created changes for broadcast media. Some new media platforms allow the participation of nonprofessional (amateur) agents, whereas others, such as social robotics or chatbots, allow for the removal of a human-element entirely. As these platforms further proliferate in society, it is vital to understand individuals’ perceptions about both the content and the medium, especially in messages which can ultimately remove an individual from danger such as those about weather risks. This experimental study examines differences when individuals view a video/broadcast weather forecast delivered by a professional, an amateur, or a social robot. Results suggest that individuals find professional meteorologists significantly more credible than amateur or robotic counterparts.

KEYWORDS:

• Social robotics
• broadcast meteorology
• weather information
• credibility
• human–machine communication

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patric R. Spence

Patric R. Spence (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is a Professor in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida Downtown. He is the current editor of Communication Studies and is affiliated with the Communication and Social Robotics Labs.

Chad Edwards

Chad Edwards, (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is Professor of communication in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University. Chad Edwards co-directs the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (www.combotlab.org). He is the Past President and Past Executive Director of CSCA.

Autumn Edwards

Autumn Edwards (PhD, Ohio University) is Professor in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University and Co-director of the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (www.combotlabs.org). Her research addresses human-machine communication with an emphasis on how ontological considerations, or beliefs about the nature of communicators and communication, both shape and are shaped by interactions with digital interlocutors.

Adam Rainear

Adam M. Rainear (Ph.D, University of Connecticut) is an Assistant Professor of media and culture in the Department of Communication and Media at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. His research interests examine communication during times of weather crises, with a particular interest in how users utilize mediated forms of communication and new technology.

Xianlin Jin

Xianlin Jin, (M.A., Arizona State University) is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication Studies at the University of Kentucky. She is also an Integrated Research on Disaster Risks Young Scientist fellow and a research assistant with the Communication and Social Robotics Labs.