When the mouse betrays the mood
Emotions determine our daily interaction. What is revealed in facial expressions and gestures in a face-to-face conversation can also be seen on the Internet. Five researchers from Liechtenstein, the U.S., Hong Kong and Germany found out that the emotional state of an Internet user can obviously be read from the type and speed of his or her mouse movements.
Prof. Weinmann explains which feelings are traced during a corresponding mouse movement: "A relaxed computer user moves the mouse quickly in straight lines or slightly curved curves. The more frustrated or negative he is, the slower, but also more angular and longer the mouse movements turn out."
The researchers found this out through repeated experiments with different comparison groups. For example, in one of the experiments, some of the test subjects were frustrated in advance by unsolvable tasks in order to then complete the actual test, in which the mouse movements were measured. These were then compared with the movements of the group of participants who were able to solve the test without prior annoyance. Markus Weinmann explains, "We could tell with 82 percent certainty from the mouse movements whether the test subjects were experiencing negative emotions."
Who benefits from this knowledge
Knowing the mood of the Internet user is particularly useful for operators of online shopping platforms, because a dissatisfied visitor is unlikely to come back to make a purchase. By installing a plug-in on their website, website operators can quickly identify visitors in a negative mood based on their mouse movements and take countermeasures - whether by forwarding them to customer service or sending an automatically generated apology. Finally, decoding the mood of website visitors is also likely to be of great value to insurance providers, says Markus Weinmann: "It can be used to sound out suspicious cases of possible insurance fraud, which can then be checked in a targeted manner."
