Background: Despite the increasing attention for the positive effects of physical activity (PA), nearly half of the Dutch citizens do not meet the national PA guidelines. A promising method for increasing PA are mobile exercise applications (apps), especially if they are embedded with theoretically supported persuasive strategies (e.g., goal setting and feedback) that align with the needs and wishes of the user. In addition, it is argued that the operationalization of the persuasive strategies could increase the effectiveness of the app, such as the actual content or visualization of feedback. Although much research has been done to examine the preferences for persuasive strategies, little is known about the needs, wishes, and preferences for the design and operationalization of persuasive strategies.Objective: The purpose of this study was to get insight in the needs, wishes, and preferences regarding the practical operationalization of persuasive strategies in a mobile application aimed at promoting PA in healthy inactive adults.Methods: Five semistructured focus groups were performed. During the focus groups, the participants were led into a discussion about the design and operationalization of six predefined theory-based persuasive strategies (e.g., self-monitoring, feedback, goal setting, reminders, rewards, and social support) directed by two moderators. The audio-recorded focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analyzed following the framework approach.Results: Eight men and 17 women between 35 and 55 years (mean age, 49.2) participated in the study. Outcomes demonstrated diverse preferences for implementation types and design characteristics of persuasive strategies in mobile applications. Basic statistics (such as distance, time and calories), positive feedback based on easy-to-achieve goals that relate to health guidelines, and motivating reminders on a relevant moment were preferred. Participants had mixed preferences regarding rewards and a social platform to invite other users to join PA.Conclusions: Findings indicated that in mHealth applications for healthy but inactive adults, persuasive strategies should be designed and implemented in a way that they relate to health guidelines. Moreover, there is a need for an app that can be adapted or can learn based on personal preferences as, for example, preferences with regard to timing of feedback and reminders differed between people.
Although it appears increasingly important yet potentially challenging to attract customers to physical stores, location-based messaging, i.e., delivering mobile phone messages using data about the recipient's location when that recipient is near the sender, has been said to enable such attraction. Still, existing studies offer very limited insight into which particular location-based persuasion approach retailers should use. Drawing on persuasion theory, this exploratory study aims to investigate and compare the potential of two discrepant persuasion techniques (scarcity and social proof) to influence customers' experiences and thereby stimulate them to visit the retailer's physical store. A factorial survey design was applied to test the research model. Data were collected from a sample of actual customers of a Dutch fashion retailer (n = 579). The results suggest that scarcity is a more effective persuasion technique in the studied context than social proof; scarcity-focused messages appear to be experienced as more informative, more entertaining and less irritating, seem to be valued more because of this, and are thus more likely to incline customers to visit the store. We discuss these findings and their implications for theory as well as for practice.
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Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality technologies are embraced by designers, scholars and charities alike, some primarily for their entertaining properties, others also for the opportunities in education, motivation or persuasion. Applications with the latter objective, that of persuasion, are designed not only to be entertaining, but are also designed (or framed) to shape how players think and feel about issues in reality. However, despite the growing interest in the persuasive opportunities of these immersive technologies, we still lack the design strategies and best-practices that could support in the design of these ‘immersive persuasive games’. To address this still-unexplored and fragmented design space, we organize a design-oriented workshop that brings together academia and industry. The workshop is informed by a Research through Design approach in which the primary focus is to generate knowledge through designing. Participants design and evaluate ideas on-the-spot in an iterative manner using low-fidelity, life-size, prototyping and role-playing techniques, thereby mimicking an embodied interactive immersive environment. By reflecting on design practices and player experiences, we construct a body of knowledge, built exemplar work and distil best-practices to formulate design strategies for the design of immersive persuasive games.
Measuring and designing user experience in retail and gaming virtual reality using a CAVE set-up In this project we designed and measured user experiences in a CAVE virtual reality set-up. Virtually all studies have taken the form of experiment studies and have been conducted among consumers (in total more than 1500 consumers) who had to visit the virtual world with assignments based on which behaviour has been observed and after which a survey was conducted afterwards. The studies were carried out within the three lines of inquiry: a. Branded games / in-game advertising, revealing (positive) effects of in-game advertising on attention and attitude based on logos and faces incorporated into the games. Various applications (prototypes) have been developed that stimulate the shopping experience and the interaction between shop and consumer. (b) FMCG: studies answered the question which factors influence search and choice behaviour in the supermarket. On the basis of the studies, the clients have designed new packaging and adapted existing designs, deployed new shelf layouts, developed and implemented new Retail strategies, optimized instore communication and (e) the knowledge about consumer behaviour in the supermarket within the organization has been increased. (c) Location Based Advertising: recommendations have been made for the partners concerned and the field of work on (a) development of non-intrusive pervasive/ubiquitous advertising concepts (2nd screen, LBA, gaze-based advertising etc.), (b) development of virtual test environments and associated interaction methods and (c) exploration and review of theoretical models for persuasive communication and behavioural influence. Partners: Heinz, Nokia, DVJ-Insights, Radboud University, Brand Loyalty, IRI, Talpa, TU/e, Philips
