arXiv subjects

Takao Fujii

Publications and source records attributed to Takao Fujii.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Unease, Ambivalence, and Endured Disloyalty in Japanese Consumer Experiences with Dark Commercial Patterns

Dark commercial patterns and deceptive user interface (UI) designs (or DPs) trick consumers into actions that benefit the shareholders. The legal and ethical implications of DPs are shaped by the sociocultural context. Special types of DPs exist in Japan, but the impact of these DPs on consumer attitudes and behaviour remains underexplored. We report on the first comparative mixed methods user study with Japanese consumers (N = 84), half of whom (n = 40) experienced a range of DPs---including the Japanese varieties---in a simulated e-commerce website. We discovered that the Japanese DPs were among the least noticeable and caused the highest simulated financial harm, with Untranslation perceived as highly disruptive and Alphabet Soup highly deceptive. Comparative analyses with a group that experienced the DP-free version of the online store (N = 44) revealed a sharp negative difference in positive emotions and acceptance. Qualitative analyses surfaced cultural norms in consumer-business relationships, notably unease, ambivalence, and endured disloyalty (fuseijitsu). No evidence of sampling biases was found for the participants involved in a publicly broadcast programme on the study (n = 10), indicating true deception and unacceptability. Our findings suggest that while reactions toward and ability to recognize a given DP may vary across individuals, the mere presence of DPs tends to have negative effects on most Japanese consumers.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Inter(sectional) Alia(s): Ambiguity in Voice Agent Identity via Intersectional Japanese Self-Referents

Conversational agents that mimic people have raised questions about the ethics of anthropomorphizing machines with human social identity cues. Critics have also questioned assumptions of identity neutrality in humanlike agents. Recent work has revealed that intersectional Japanese pronouns can elicit complex and sometimes evasive impressions of agent identity. Yet, the role of other "neutral" non-pronominal self-referents (NPSR) and voice as a socially expressive medium remains unexplored. In a crowdsourcing study, Japanese participants (N = 204) evaluated three ChatGPT voices (Juniper, Breeze, and Ember) using seven self-referents. We found strong evidence of voice gendering alongside the potential of intersectional self-referents to evade gendering, i.e., ambiguity through neutrality and elusiveness. Notably, perceptions of age and formality intersected with gendering as per sociolinguistic theories, especially boku and watakushi. This work provides a nuanced take on agent identity perceptions and champions intersectional and culturally-sensitive work on voice agents.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Deceptive, Disruptive, No Big Deal: Japanese People React to Simulated Dark Commercial Patterns

Dark patterns and deceptive designs (DPs) are user interface elements that trick people into taking actions that benefit the purveyor. Such designs are widely deployed, with special varieties found in certain nations like Japan that can be traced to global power hierarchies and the local socio-linguistic context of use. In this breaking work, we report on the first user study involving Japanese people (n=30) experiencing a mock shopping website injected with simulated DPs. We found that Alphabet Soup and Misleading Reference Pricing were the most deceptive and least noticeable. Social Proofs, Sneaking in Items, and Untranslation were the least deceptive but Untranslation prevented most from cancelling their account. Mood significantly worsened after experiencing the website. We contribute the first empirical findings on a Japanese consumer base alongside a scalable approach to evaluating user attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours towards DPs in an interactive context. We urge for more human participant research and ideally collaborations with industry to assess real designs in the wild.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Silver-Tongued and Sundry: Exploring Intersectional Pronouns with ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a conversational agent built on a large language model. Trained on a significant portion of human output, ChatGPT can mimic people to a degree. As such, we need to consider what social identities ChatGPT simulates (or can be designed to simulate). In this study, we explored the case of identity simulation through Japanese first-person pronouns, which are tightly connected to social identities in intersectional ways, i.e., intersectional pronouns. We conducted a controlled online experiment where people from two regions in Japan (Kanto and Kinki) witnessed interactions with ChatGPT using ten sets of first-person pronouns. We discovered that pronouns alone can evoke perceptions of social identities in ChatGPT at the intersections of gender, age, region, and formality, with caveats. This work highlights the importance of pronoun use for social identity simulation, provides a language-based methodology for culturally-sensitive persona development, and advances the potential of intersectional identities in intelligent agents.

cs.HC↗