Technological determinism and behaviour change

Technological Determinism and Behaviour ChangeAdam N Joinson Bristol Social Marketing CentreBristol Business School

Technological determinism• 'The belief in technology as a key governing

force in society ..’ (Smith, 1977)• Became unpopular in 1990s – socio-technical

perspectives…but…– Now, the question is no longer: does technology

shape human communication, but rather: under what circumstances, in what ways, and to what extent? (Herring, 2004, 26-27)

– Everyone wants to be healthier, but most don’t have enough time for it, so the [Samsung] S5 can now do it for you.

Technology and behaviour change

Tools and Behaviour• First tool use around

3 million years ago.• Early tools

transformed abilities (e.g. to remove flesh from animals)

• May have heralded evolution of energy hungry brain

Tools, Technology and Behaviour

Affordances

• A quality of the object

• An ‘action possibility’

• A ‘perceived’ affordance - relational

Assemblage

• Shove & Southerton, 2000

• Impact (and use) a combination of technological, cultural and social factors

Persuasive technology

• B J Fogg

E-A-S-T framework

Extension• Based on McLuhan’s definition of

media• Technology and tools…

• Make things faster, easier, more efficient.

• Remove barriers to completing an action – ease of completion

• Makes new actions possible• Changes the reward structure

Extension

Amplification

Shaping

Shaping via constraints

Shaping: Rewards

But….. Determinism != Designability

Behavioural Design vs. Unpredictability…

• The Frankenstein Syndrome: One creates a machine for a particular and limited purpose. But once the machine is built, we discover, always to our surprise - that it has ideas of its own; that it is quite capable not only of changing our habits but... of changing our habits of mind (Postman 1983, p. 23)

• Lao Tzu 6th Century BC, "Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge”

Telephone• Dismissed as an ‘electrical toy’• Seen as a broadcast device...

– “dancing party...with no need for a musician” (Nature, 1876)

– Telephone newspapers• Social chat discouraged

– 30% of telephone use ‘unnecessary idle gossip’ (1909)

• …in order to make money out of those users and satisfy the denizens of Wall Street, it has to become ever more intrusive and manipulative. It's condemned, in other words, to intrusive overstretch. Which is why, in the end, it will become a footnote in the history of the internet.

• John Naughton, Guardian, 27th January 2013

Health gadgets and behaviour

Health wearables and behaviour

capture

analyse

Self-monitoring

motivation

share

comparison

Social proof

Ease / simplicity

kairos

Social actors

consistency

Biases / nudges

So…There’s another side to behavioural design and determinism

The inherent unpredictability of human behaviour and adoption of technology

B = f (P, E)

Thanks

[email protected]@joinson (Twitter)