Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do

Front Cover
Morgan Kaufmann, 2003 - Computers - 283 pages
Can computers change what you think and do? Can they motivate you to stop smoking, persuade you to buy insurance, or convince you to join the Army?

"Yes, they can," says Dr. B.J. Fogg, director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University. Fogg has coined the phrase "Captology"(an acronym for computers as persuasive technologies) to capture the domain of research, design, and applications of persuasive computers.In this thought-provoking book, based on nine years of research in captology, Dr. Fogg reveals how Web sites, software applications, and mobile devices can be used to change people's attitudes and behavior. Technology designers, marketers, researchers, consumers-anyone who wants to leverage or simply understand the persuasive power of interactive technology-will appreciate the compelling insights and illuminating examples found inside.

Persuasive technology can be controversial-and it should be. Who will wield this power of digital influence? And to what end? Now is the time to survey the issues and explore the principles of persuasive technology, and B.J. Fogg has written this book to be your guide.

* Filled with key term definitions in persuasive computing
*Provides frameworks for understanding this domain
*Describes real examples of persuasive technologies
 

Selected pages

Contents

Persuasion in the Digital Age
xxvii
Persuasion on the Web
xxviii
The Emergence of Captology
3
Interactivity
4
Advantages over Human Persuaders
5
2 Computers Allow Anonymity
6
4 Computers Can Use Many Modalities
7
5 Computer Software Can Scale
8
Operant Conditioning in Computer Games
49
Shaping Complex Behaviors
51
Notes and References
52
Computers as Persuasive Media Simulation
59
Offering Exploration and Insight
61
A CauseandEffect Simulator
62
Learning Social Skills
64
Implications of Designer Bias
65

How to Read This Book
9
Notes and References
10
Overview of Captology
13
Macro and Micro
15
Microsuasion on the Web
17
Summary of Key Terms and Concepts
18
Applying the Functional Triad to Captology
25
Notes and References
27
Computers as Persuasive Tools
29
Seven Types of Persuasive Technology Tools
30
Persuading through Simplifying
31
Guided Persuasion
32
Persuasion through Customization
35
Ethical Concerns
38
Intervening at the Right Time
39
Timing Is Critical
41
Taking the Tedium Out of Tracking
42
Eliminating a Language Quirk
43
Persuasion through Observation
44
Surveillance Must Be Overt
45
Rewarding through Surveillance
46
Public Compliance without Private Acceptance
47
Technology Applications of Operant Conditioning
48
Creating Spaces for Persuasive Experiences
67
Competing in a Virtual Environment
68
Managing Asthma in a Simulated Environment
70
Using Simulation to Overcome Phobias
72
Helping Doctors to Empathize with Cancer Patients
74
Providing Experiences in Everyday Contexts
75
An Infant Simulator
76
Drunk Driving Simulator
77
Notes and References
80
Computers as Persuasive Social Actors
87
Credibility and Computers
119
Credibility and the World Wide Web
145
Increasing Persuasion through Mobility and Connectivity
181
The Ethics of Persuasive Technology
209
Captology Looking Forward
239
Looking Forward Responsibly
248
Notes and References
249
Summary of Principles
253
Figure Credits
261
Index
265
About the Author
281
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

B.J. Fogg directs research and design at Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab. An experimental psychologist, Dr. Fogg also teaches in Stanford's Department of Computer Science and School of Education. He holds several patents, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

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