Behavioral Economics and Persuasive Technologies at ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction
VANCOUVER, BC -- (May 2) Leading interaction designers have identified important variables to consider when applying behavioral economics principals to persuasive technologies. These findings will be presented at ACM’s Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, (CHI 2011) , May 7-12, at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University applied three behavioral economics persuasive techniques to promote healthy snacking in the workplace. "We tested the default, planning and asymmetric choice strategies in three experimental case studies using snacks delivered by a human, by a robot (named SnackBot by the researchers) and by the use of a snack ordering website," explains PhD candidate Min Kyung Lee. "The default strategy was consistently effective in promoting healthy choices across different systems, even for participants with less healthy diet lifestyles (cookie lovers).” The findings suggest that these persuasive techniques could be useful tools to encourage healthy snacking for those unaware of their eating habits. In addition, the planning strategy worked well, but only with those who already had healthy eating habits.
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology, Philips Research and Accenture have discovered large differences in individual responses to persuasive strategies. Two studies show the effects of choice, disclosure, and multiple strategy usage on user compliance to persuasive attempts. Involving users in the selection of a specific influence strategy can increase compliance, while disclosing the persuasive intent can reduce compliance. It is not only feasible, but optimal to choose the single correct influence strategy for a given context. The results of these studies will be presented at CHI 2011.
About CHI
The annual conference on Computer-Human Interaction (www.chi2011.org) is the premier worldwide forum for exchanging information on all aspects of how people interact with computers. Workshops and sessions explore the future of computer-human interaction with researchers, practitioners, educators and students. Presentations will address the concerns of design, engineering, management and user experience professionals. This year's conference additionally highlights research on child-computer interaction, entertainment, health and sustainability.
More than 2,500 professionals from over 40 countries are expected at CHI 2011, which is sponsored by ACM’ s Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI). The conference marks 29 years of research, innovation and development of the Computer-Human Interaction community. Financial support for the conference is provided in part by Bloomberg; eBay; Google, Inc.; Microsoft Corp.; SAP and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
About SIGCHI
The ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (www.sigchi.org) is the world’ s largest association of professionals in the research and practice of computer-human interaction. SIGCHI serves as a forum for ideas on how people communicate and interact with computer systems. This interdisciplinary group of computer scientists, software engineers, psychologists, interaction designers, graphic designers, sociologists, and anthropologists is committed to designing useful, usable technology which has the potential to transform individual lives. SIGCHI has more than 60 local chapters for HCI professionals across five continents, publishes the SIGCHI Bulletin quarterly, and co-sponsors conferences and workshops to advance the field of computer-human interaction.
About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery (www.acm.org), is the world’ s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’ s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.