Mood expression by seniors in digital communication: Evaluative comparison of four mood-reporting instruments with elderly users

Abstract

Elderly users have widely adopted digital communication. Digital communication is often text-only, e.g. instant messaging (IM) and e-mail. Text-only communication has been found less effective than communication that uses richer channels such as audio and video. Mood expression instruments, such as emoticons, are used to increase the communication bandwidth and to compensate for the less-effective text-only communication. It is however unknown if elderly are able to express their moods using emoticons, nor what instruments they prefer. In the present study, four mood-reporting instruments were evaluated by 38 senior participants. The tested mood reporting instruments were Emoticons, Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM), Pick-AMood (PAM), and a text-based variant of PAM. Each mood-reporting instrument was evaluated with four realistic scenarios, each representing a different basic mood type. The study showed a significant preference for PAM and text compared to SAM and emoticons. Interestingly, emoticons were considered most difficult to use because most participants had difficulties recognizing the intended moods. Text was seen as clear and straightforward, though participants mentioned that PAM was more personal. The study suggests seniors can use text-only instruments for mood-reporting. However, if the communication channel allows for visual cues, PAM is a better alternative, as PAM increases the communication bandwidth.