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Abstract: Individuals often experience incidental device-delivered haptic feedback (e.g., vibrational alerts accompanying messages on mobile phones and wearables), yet almost no research has examined the psychological and behavioral implications of this technology-mediated touch on users. Drawing from theories in social psychology, computer science, and communications, we begin to address this gap by exploring how device-delivered haptic feedback can influence consumer responses. Across four studies, we find that haptic alerts accompanying messages can improve consumer performance on related tasks and demonstrate that this effect is driven by an increased sense of “social presence” in what can otherwise feel like an impersonal technological exchange. These findings provide applied value for mobile marketers and gadget designers, and carry important implications for consumer compliance in health and fitness domains.

Keywords: haptic feedback, consumer performance, social presence.

Short Bio: Ana Valenzuela has a Part Time appointment at ESADE Business School. Her regular appointment is as Full Professor at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, CUNY. She holds a PhD from University of Madrid, Autónoma and an MBA from Georgetown University. She was a Research Fellow at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley for three years. She has also served as a faculty member at INSEAD, Santa Clara University, China-Europe International Business School, Hong Kong Science and Technology University, Singapore Institute of Management, San Francisco State University, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Instituto de Empresa. Ana began her professional career with AC Nielsen, serving as a marketing consultant for multi-country projects informing consumer goods markets. In addition, she worked in marketing research for PubliEspana (TV5), The Advisory Board Company, Hello America and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).