Questioning Our Attitudes and Feelings Towards Persuasive Technology

Abstract

Definitions regarding Persuasive Technology are often introduced with the accompanying remark: without using coercion and deception. For this position paper, we investigated, evaluated, and discussed the term Persuasive Technology and its connotations. We invesstigated whether Persuasive Technology is perceived with negative connotations such as coercive and deceptive, and, how in comparison, similar labels (such as Behavior Change Support System and Digital Behavior Change Intervention) were perceived. We conducted an online survey where participants (N = 488) rated their attitude towards these systems in the context of a system description, indicated to what extent they agreed with 10 descriptors (such as, manipulative, motivating, or supportive) in the context of a system description, and whether this system in general, is at risk of being perceived as coercive, manipulative, deceptive, or propagandistic. We found that when considering risks of systems in general, labeling them as PT results in them being perceived significantly more forceful than all other labels, and switching the labeling of a system to Digital Behavior Change Intervention results in them being perceived significantly more captivating compared to a neutral system label. The findings suggest that when choosing labels to use for technology or systems it is essential to consider the impact labels can have on how the system or technology is perceived, regardless of the actual function of the system. These findings are relevant for the field of Persuasive Technology and the Persuasive Technology conference specifically. This paper is meant to spark further discussion in the field and at the conference.

A Design Space of Sports Interaction Technology

“…This includes the terminology we use for these kinds of system. Delden et al (2019) argue, based on a survey with 488 respondents, that different terms (e.g., steering, persuasion, or support) are perceived differently in relation to descriptors of real world interventions regarding perceived level of deception, coercion and manipulation, which may have many ramifications.…”

SpiroPlay, a Suite of Breathing Games for Spirometry by Kids & Experts

“…Based on our experience and interests so far, we start closer to a serious games perspective, namely persuasive games, where the focus is on developing an actual game rather than augmenting the task with game elements as explained by Deterding et al [8]. We will refrain from labeling our game with the term persuasive games nor serious games, as persuasive can have negative connotations [58] and arguably seriousness has inner-contradictions and sets wrong expectations [49]. We do build on (game) design principles such as rewards and (lack of) punishments, affordance, juiciness, and game modes [49].…”