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Hi, I’m Cecil(y) the Smoking Cessation Chatbot: The Effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing and Confrontational Counseling Chatbots and the Moderating Role of the Need for Autonomy and Self-efficacy

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Chatbot Research and Design (CONVERSATIONS 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13815))

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate if and how chatbots can increase smokers’ intention to quit, specifically looking into the effectiveness of two communication styles (i.e., motivational interviewing (MI) and confrontational counseling (CC)) and the moderating role of individual differences (i.e., need for autonomy and perceived self-efficacy) that may affect smokers’ experience with the chatbot. In an online between-subjects experiment (N = 233), smoking participants were assigned to interact with either a MI chatbot (n = 121) or a CC chatbot (n = 112) for one 8-min session. Their need for autonomy and perceived self-efficacy were measured, as well as their satisfaction with the conversation and pre- and post-test intention to quit smoking. No significant effects of different communication styles were found regarding the outcomes, nor did the need for autonomy moderate these results. However, the effect of MI on user satisfaction was more profound among smokers with higher self-efficacy, and a positive effect of self-efficacy on user satisfaction appeared. Additionally, interacting with the chatbots about one’s smoking behavior significantly increased participants’ intention to quit, regardless of its communication style. As such, this study sheds light on the potential of conversational chatbots for smoking cessation interventions, as well as pathways for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Lotte Leeuwis & Linwei He

Authors
  1. Lotte Leeuwis
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  2. Linwei He
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Correspondence to Linwei He .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. SINTEF, Oslo, Norway

    Asbjørn Følstad

  2. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Theo Araujo

  3. CERTH-ITI, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Symeon Papadopoulos

  4. Durham University, Durham, UK

    Effie L.-C. Law

  5. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Ewa Luger

  6. University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway

    Morten Goodwin

  7. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Petter Bae Brandtzaeg

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Leeuwis, L., He, L. (2023). Hi, I’m Cecil(y) the Smoking Cessation Chatbot: The Effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing and Confrontational Counseling Chatbots and the Moderating Role of the Need for Autonomy and Self-efficacy. In: Følstad, A., et al. Chatbot Research and Design. CONVERSATIONS 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13815. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25581-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25581-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-25580-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-25581-6

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