  Achieving homophily, or association based on similarity, between a human user
and a robot holds a promise of improved perception and task performance.
However, no previous studies that address homophily via ethnic similarity with
robots exist. In this paper, we discuss the difficulties of evoking ethnic cues
in a robot, as opposed to a virtual agent, and an approach to overcome those
difficulties based on using ethnically salient behaviors. We outline our
methodology for selecting and evaluating such behaviors, and culminate with a
study that evaluates our hypotheses of the possibility of ethnic attribution of
a robot character through verbal and nonverbal behaviors and of achieving the
homophily effect.
