Designing Culture-based Persuasive Technology to Promote Physical Activity among University Students
13 Jul 2016-pp 321-324
TL;DR: In an effort to address students' sedentary behaviors, the approach and the preliminary results of two user studies among 218 and 292 subjects from a Canadian and a Nigerian university respectively are presented.
Abstract: Overweight and obesity are taking a huge toll on nations' financial and health resources annually. Student populations are at risk due to their sedentary lifestyles and the high demands of academic scholarship, leaving them with little or no time to exercise. Recently, persuasive technology, promoting physical activity, has been proposed. However, the traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach has not been effective among the student population. This calls for a newer and more effective approach, which leverages the available recreational and technological resources in the university at personal, social and cultural levels. In an effort to address students' sedentary behaviors, I aim to combine user behavior models, persuasive technology design and cultural strategies from Health Sciences for a more personalized and effective intervention. This paper presents the approach and the preliminary results of two user studies among 218 and 292 subjects from a Canadian and a Nigerian university respectively.
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01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: Competition, a powerful driver of intrinsic motivation, is most effective in bringing about behavior change in younger males, but least effective in older females, and these findings provide designers with insight into effective ways of tailoring persuasive applications based on age and gender.
Abstract: Research has shown that social influence is a strong motivator of behavior change. However, in persuasive technology research, limited studies exist showing the influence of age and gender on its effectiveness. To bridge this gap, we conducted a study among 323 participants on the level of susceptibility to four social influence strategies: Social Learning, Social Comparison, Competition and Reward. Our results reveal that 1) males and females vary in their level of susceptibility to Reward and Competition, with males being more susceptible than females; and 2) younger and older individuals vary also, with younger individuals being more susceptible to Competition, Social Comparison and Social Learning. Specifically, our results reveal that Competition, a powerful driver of intrinsic motivation, is most effective in bringing about behavior change in younger males, but least effective in older females. These findings provide designers with insight into effective ways of tailoring persuasive applications (using commonly applied gamification mechanics) based on age and gender.
35 citations
Cites methods from "Designing Culture-based Persuasive ..."
...In this paper, as part of our ongoing research [7], aimed at investigating possible effective social influence strategies to motivate people to change their behavior in the physical activity domain, we carried out a study among 323 participants to uncover the most effective persuasive strategies participants are most susceptible to and the role gender and age play....
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14 Nov 2018
TL;DR: An empirical study among 659 participants resident in North America using social cognitive theory as a framework to uncover the determinants of the performance of bodyweight exercise behavior and provides a set of guidelines for the design of persuasive technologies for promoting regular exercise behavior.
Abstract: Research has shown that persuasive technologies aimed at behavior change will be more effective if behavioral determinants are targeted. However, research on the determinants of bodyweight exercise...
30 citations
TL;DR: Neuroticism is the most consistent determinant of users’ susceptibility to social influence, followed by Openness and Cons conscientiousness, and a number of design guidelines for personalizing persuasive applications to users who are high in Neuroticism, low in Conscientiousness and/or low in Openness are provided.
28 citations
03 Jul 2018
TL;DR: The results show that the perceived persuasiveness of behavior models significantly influences all of the three SCT factors; the behavior model design has a stronger effect on females' self-efficacy and males' outcome expectation if personalized to their gender.
Abstract: Behavior modeling has become a very important behavior change technique employed in most fitness apps. However, its effect as a persuasive strategy on users has not been well investigated. Consequently, we conducted an empirical study among 669 participants to uncover: (1) how the perceived persuasiveness of behavior model design influences three social cognitive theory (SCT) determinants of behavior: self-efficacy, self-regulation and outcome expectation; and (2) the moderating effect of gender-based personalization. We based our study on user evaluation of prototypes of behavior models performing push-up and squat exercise behaviors as a case study. Our results show that, overall, the perceived persuasiveness of behavior models significantly influences all of the three SCT factors. The effect of persuasiveness on self-regulation (β = 0.42, p
27 citations
Cites methods from "Designing Culture-based Persuasive ..."
...This study builds on our prior studies on SCT model of physical activity [17] and using persuasive technology, such as social influence [18–21], to promote engagement in physical activity....
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...Prior research [2, 17] on SCT has shown that social support is a significant determinant of self-efficacy in the context of exercise behavior....
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06 Jun 2019
TL;DR: The empirical findings that informed the design and implementation of both versions of the BEN'FIT app, their features and how they intend to evaluate them in a pilot field study among the target audience once the implementation of the app is complete are described.
Abstract: Physical inactivity has been recognized as one of the leading causes of non-communicable diseases and mortality globally. Though persuasive technology has been identified as a potential tool for tackling physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors, very little attention has been paid to investigating the effectiveness of culture-tailored interventions in the wild. To bridge this gap, we designed and implemented two versions of a fitness app we called BEN'FIT [personal version (PV) and social version (SV)] targeted at encouraging regular bodyweight exercise behavior on the home front. The PV and SV versions are targeted at users from individualist and collectivist cultures, respectively. In this paper, we describe the empirical findings that informed the design and implementation of both versions of the BEN'FIT app, their features and how we intend to evaluate them in a pilot field study among our target audience once we complete the implementation of the app.
23 citations
Cites methods from "Designing Culture-based Persuasive ..."
...For this reason, using the Design Science Research framework [12], we attempted to investigate how persuasive health apps, aimed at motivating exercise behavior change, can be tailored to users from the two main types of cultures we covered in the background section: individualist and collectivist....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: In this article, the differences in the way strategists and their followers think are discussed, and practical solutions for those in business to help solve conflict between different groups are proposed, with a focus on how to find common problems which demand cooperation for the solution of these problems.
Abstract: Despite calls for better co-operation between countries and different cultures, there is still confrontation between people, groups and nations. But at the same time they are exposed to common problems which demand cooperation for the solution of these problems. This book helps to understand the differences in the way strategists and their followers think, offering practical solutions for those in business to help solve conflict between different groups.
16,894 citations
TL;DR: Considering the diverse samples in this study, IPAQ has reasonable measurement properties for monitoring population levels of physical activity among 18- to 65-yr-old adults in diverse settings.
Abstract: CRAIG, C. L., A. L. MARSHALL, M. SJOSTROM, A. E. BAUMAN, M. L. BOOTH, B. E. AINSWORTH, M. PRATT, U. EKELUND, A. YNGVE, J. F. SALLIS, and P. OJA. International Physical Activity Questionnaire: 12-Country Reliability and Validity. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 35, No. 8, pp. 1381-1395, 2003. Background: Physical inactivity is a global concern, but diverse physical activity measures in use prevent international comparisons. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was developed as an instrument for cross-national monitoring of physical activity and inactivity. Methods: Between 1997 and 1998, an International Consensus Group developed four long and four short forms of the IPAQ instruments (administered by telephone interview or self-administration, with two alternate reference periods, either the "last 7 d" or a "usual week" of recalled physical activity). During 2000, 14 centers from 12 countries collected reliability and/or validity data on at least two of the eight IPAQ instruments. Test-retest repeatability was assessed within the same week. Concurrent (inter-method) validity was assessed at the same administration, and criterion IPAQ validity was assessed against the CSA (now MTI) accelerometer. Spearman's correlation coefficients are reported, based on the total reported physical activity. Results: Overall, the IPAQ questionnaires produced repeatable data (Spearman's clustered around 0.8), with comparable data from short and long forms. Criterion validity had a median of about 0.30, which was comparable to most other self-report validation studies. The "usual week" and "last 7 d" reference periods performed similarly, and the reliability of telephone administration was similar to the self-administered mode. Conclusions: The IPAQ instruments have acceptable measurement properties, at least as good as other established self-reports. Considering the diverse samples in this study, IPAQ has reasonable measurement properties for monitoring population levels of physical activity among 18- to 65-yr-old adults in diverse settings. The short IPAQ form "last 7 d recall" is recommended for national monitoring and the long form for research requiring more detailed assessment. Key Words: MEASUREMENT, SURVEILLANCE, EPIDEMIOLOGY
15,345 citations
"Designing Culture-based Persuasive ..." refers background in this paper
...(PA) [6] During the last 7 days, on how many days did you...
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TL;DR: This article examines health promotion and disease prevention from the perspective of social cognitive theory, a multifaceted causal structure in which self-efficacy beliefs operate together with goals, outcome expectations, and perceived environmental impediments and facilitators in the regulation of human motivation, behavior, and well-being.
Abstract: This article examines health promotion and disease prevention from the perspective of social cognitive theory. This theory posits a multifaceted causal structure in which self-efficacy beliefs operate together with goals, outcome expectations, and perceived environmental impediments and facilitators in the regulation of human motivation, behavior, and well-being. Belief in one’s efficacy to exercise control is a common pathway through which psychosocial influences affect health functioning. This core belief affects each of the basic processes of personal change—whether people even consider changing their health habits, whether they mobilize the motivation and perseverance needed to succeed should they do so, their ability to recover from setbacks and relapses, and how well they maintain the habit changes they have achieved. Human health is a social matter, not just an individual one. A comprehensive approach to health promotion also requires changing the practices of social systems that have widespread effects on human health.
6,004 citations
"Designing Culture-based Persuasive ..." refers background or methods in this paper
...By leveraging the socio-cultural background, the wide availability of recreational and technological and mobile devices, e.g., clothingembedded sensors, step-counters, smartphones, etc., which are becoming less expensive and ubiquitous over time, my thesis aims to address the following overarching research question: Moreover, I have carried out user studies among 218 students from a Canadian university and 292 students from a Nigerian university to model the PA of students using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) [3]....
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...I discussed two SCT models of 218 Canadian and 292 Nigerian students’ PA, which will inform a tailored intervention....
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...This suggests that while BI and SS motivate both groups to participate in PA, the awareness of the health benefits of PA alone does not, as other motivators are also essential [3]....
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...Moreover, I have carried out user studies among 218 students from a Canadian university and 292 students from a Nigerian university to model the PA of students using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) [3]....
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...SCT physical activity constructs and examples Construct Examples of Instrument’s Item SelfEfficacy (SE) [25] How confident are you right now that you can exercise three times per week for 20 minutes if: 1) You felt tired....
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TL;DR: An expert report aiming to design strategies in promoting healthy diets and physical activity behaviours was published a year ago by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Abstract: An expert report aiming to design strategies in promoting healthy diets and physical activity behaviours was published a year ago by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and t...
2,883 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a list of techniques and definitions was generated from techniques published in two systematic reviews, supplemented by "brainstorming" and a systematic search of nine textbooks used in training applied psychologists.
Abstract: Theory provides a helpful basis for designing interventions to change behaviour but offers little guidance on how to do this. This paper aims to illustrate methods for developing an extensive list of behaviour change techniques (with definitions) and for linking techniques to theoretical constructs. A list of techniques and definitions was generated from techniques published in two systematic reviews, supplemented by “brainstorming” and a systematic search of nine textbooks used in training applied psychologists. Inter-rater reliability of extracting the techniques and definitions from the textbooks was assessed. Four experts judged which techniques would be effective in changing 11 theoretical constructs associated with behaviour change.
Thirty-five techniques identified in the reviews were extended to 53 by brainstorming and to 137 by consulting textbooks. Agreement for the 53 definitions was 74.7 per cent (15.4% cells completed and 59.3% cells empty for both raters). Agreement about the link between the 35 techniques and theoretical constructs was 71.7 per cent of 385 judgments (12.2% agreement that effective and 59.5% agreement that not effective). This preliminary work demonstrates the possibility of developing a comprehensive, reliable taxonomy of techniques linked to theory. Further refinement is needed to eliminate redundancies, resolve uncertainties, and complete technique definitions.
1,480 citations
"Designing Culture-based Persuasive ..." refers background in this paper
...Research has shown that interventions based on behavioral theories and models are more likely to succeed [19]....
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...However, research [19] has shown that theory-informed PT interventions, targeted at specific users and individuals, are more likely to succeed....
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