Typology of Social Robots Based on Age-specific Needs and Communication Styles

Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study develops an exploratory, user-centered typology of social robots by examining the relationships among needs reported for different age groups, product-level communication styles, and robot types. Eleven commercially released or publicly demonstrated social robots were purposively selected and assigned to analytical age-group contexts-older adults, young adults, and children-based on manufacturers' stated targets, documented users and usage settings, and empirical studies. Five categories of needs were examined: cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative, and escapist. The unit of analysis was the gratification opportunities afforded by products, not the gratifications sought or obtained by actual users. The analysis yielded five non-exclusive types: companion robots, care robots for older adults, healing robots, entertainment robots, and care robots for children. Four products were classified as touch-centered and seven as having hybrid styles; none was voice-centered, and an AI speaker served only as a comparative reference. Affective functions were observed consistently in touch-centered products, whereas cognitive functions co-occurred with affective or social functions in some speech-enabled hybrid products, and products that addressed multiple needs tended to employ hybrid styles. The link between entertainment robots and young adults' escapist needs is based on indirect evidence from general media-use research. Based on these findings, the study puts forward three conceptual propositions-rather than empirically verified relationships-and presents an integrated needs - communication style - robot type framework with provisional design targets derived from prior literature. By reconceptualizing social robots as interactive media rather than mere technological tools, the study provides a user-centered interpretive framework beyond technology-centered classifications. Because the analysis rests on product affordances and analytical age-group assignments rather than user-level data, the typology should be considered exploratory and subject to empirical validation.