Type in the terms behavior modification into your Google search engine and it will come back with “about 340,000,000” results.
Typing in persuasive technology yields “about 72,000,000” results.
Persuasive design in the search bar will get you 77,000,000.
Internet loves persuasion
The Internet is awash with persuasion. When it’s not researchers studying it, it’s tech companies integrating it into your latest applications, marketers utilizing it in advertising, or former tech employees whistle-blowing about the danger of the very persuasive technologies they masterfully helped incorporate into every social media out there today. Needless to say, there’s a lot to say about persuasive technology.
Though I’m reluctant to add to an already saturated Internet landscape on persuasion, no study of social media would be complete without at least a cursory look at the concepts of behavior modification that underpin so much of our daily interactions with social media.
Is behavior modification new?
Behavior modification has been around for a long time. Many of the behaviorist techniques are so well known that the names of their inventors have entered into common language, such as the expression Pavlovian response, named after Ivan Pavlov who, although not a behaviorist himself, influenced greatly the early behaviorists with his work on dogs. Other famous names would be John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. Though their work may seem very distant from our subject today, their names are worth mentioning.
If the subject interests you and you would like to learn more about behaviorism here is a very good, albeit alarming, documentary on the subject.
From persuasive technology to the Fogg Behavior Model
For our purposes, looking at social media, we’re going to focus briefly on persuasive technology in general and the BJ Fogg Behavior Model more specifically.
Persuasive technology is exactly what it sounds like. Technology designed to change what we think and do.
Persuasive technology can take the form of apps or websites where traditional modes of persuasion are woven into the new capabilities technology offers. So we can see examples of this where behavior-oriented design persuades us to buy more on commerce websites such as Amazon with the Buy now with one-Click button, or to stay logged on social media such as Facebook by manipulating social media feeds.
Though the discipline of persuasive technology existed before BJ Fogg came along, his is the name most famously associated with the discipline now. Based on his research done at Stanford in the 1990s, BJ Fogg published his first book in 2003, Persuasive Technology: Using Computers To Change What We Think And Do.
Behavior modification made easy
From there, BJ Fogg went on to develop the BJ Fogg Behavior Model in 2009 which is a simple tool used to explain the three elements necessary to bring about behavior. The Fogg Behavior Model surprises with its simplicity.
In order for behavior to occur, according to the model, three conditions must be present:
- motivation
- ability and
- a prompt
Each of these three elements has subcomponents.
Motivation is made up of three core motivators, each of which has two sides.
| Core Motivator | Positive side | Negative side |
| Sensation | Pleasure | Pain |
| Anticipation | Hope | Fear |
| Belonging | Social acceptance | Social rejection |
Ability can be impacted by six simplicity factors.
| 1) Time | Time is a limited resource for some people so if a target behavior is time-consuming these people, no matter their motivation, may not be able to do it. |
| 2) Money | As people’s disposable income can be very different, what they are willing and able to spend money on will vary. Wealthy people will sometimes use money to simplify their lives. While people with less available money will have to rely on more time-consuming or effort-demanding methods to obtain what they want. |
| 3) Physical effort | If a behavior demands great physical effort we may not be able to do it. |
| 4) Brain cycles | If behavior requires hard thinking it may not be simple. Especially if we have used up all our energy for thinking with other preoccupations. |
| 5) Social deviance | Social deviance is going against the norms, and this is not easy. If a target behavior requires that you break the rules of society it is no longer simple. |
| 6) Non-routine | Routine behaviors are easy to do. These are habits that we do on autopilot. People will sometimes spend more time or money to continue routine behaviors rather than break from routine. |
And there are three different types of prompts, also referred to as triggers, that work depending on the level of motivation and ability.
| Types of prompts | When effective |
| Facilitator | When motivation is high but ability is low, a facilitator prompt can help facilitate, make easier, the target behavior. |
| Spark | When motivation is low but ability is high, a spark can light a fire under the low motivation to push to do the target behavior. |
| Signal | When motivation is high and ability is high, a prompt need only be a signal, a reminder, to do something. |
Furthermore, the Fogg Behavior Model shows that Motivation and Ability can be traded off. For example, if motivation is very high, ability can be very low. Motivation and ability are said to have a compensatory relationship.
What does this have to do with social media?
Persuasive technology is taught and developed in leading universities all over the world. BJ Fogg, himself a professor at Stanford University in California and the creator of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, is credited with training many of the people who have gone on to make millions creating the applications you love and use. His former students have taken jobs at Google, Facebook, Twitter to name just a few; Mike Krieger, the co-founder of Instagram was a student of his. In 2007, Fogg famously ran a “Facebook Class“ that made fortunes for more than two dozen students and teachers.
With the goal of behavior-change or habit formation, these techniques of persuasive design are implemented across the e-platforms, e-commerce sites and social networks we use every day. User experiences are designed to trigger our fear of rejection or missing out, our need for social acceptance and approval, our penchant for competing and comparing.
But is it ethical?
Many detractors have criticized the use of these techniques without the user’s consent, asking: Where do we draw the line between persuasion and manipulation? Some philosophically minded thinkers try to differentiate between “good” persuasion, meaning persuasion done for the good of the user, and “bad” persuasion which would be solely for profit. Unfortunately, this brings up the question: Who is deciding what is good for us?
To his credit, Fogg addressed the issue of ethics early on in his career and has continued to use his work for good, for example, to get people to develop good habits, to promote peace with the Stanford Peace Innovation Lab, or fight climate change with his Behavior Design For Climate Action.
Many tech millionaires have also left the profit-maximizing world and now dedicate their lives to raising awareness about the dangers of social media, Tristan Harris is one vocal example, but there are many more. Other important voices are Nicholas Carr, Douglas Rushkoff, Jaron Lanier, or Zeynep Tufekci just to name a few.
Whether or not you are shocked or fascinated by the possibilities of persuasive design may depend on which side of the design you find yourself. As a tool for marketers it’s fabulous. When we consider children or teenagers who develop unhealthy habits or even addictions because of these techniques it’s much harder to be excited about persuasive technology.
Probably, as with all innovations that change our lives, it’s best to cultivate a healthy awareness of our reactions to new technologies and take a step back to reflect on whether we are better for it or not.
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