Persuasive technology is broadly defined as technology that is designed to change attitudes or behaviors of the users through persuasion and social influence, but not through coercion (Fogg 2002). Such technologies are regularly used in sales, diplomacy, politics, religion, military training, public health, and management, and may potentially be used in any area of human-human or human-computer interaction. Most self-identified persuasive technology research focuses on interactive, computational technologies, including desktop computers, Internet services, video games, and mobile devices (Oinas-Kukkonen et al. 2008), but this incorporates and builds on the results, theories, and methods of experimental psychology, rhetoric (Bogost 2007), and human-computer interaction. The design of persuasive technologies can be seen as a particular case of design with intent (Lockton et al. 2010).
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Persuasive technologies can be categorized by their functional roles. B.J. Fogg (1998) proposes the Functional Triad as a classification of three "basic ways that people view or respond to computing technologies": persuasive technologies can function as tools, media, or social actors – or as more than one at once.
As tools, technologies can increase people's ability to perform a target behavior by making it easier or restructuring it (Fogg 2002, ch. 3). For example, an installation wizard can influence task completion – including completing tasks (such as installation of additional software) not planned by users.
As media, interactive technologies can use both interactivity and narrative to create persuasive experiences that support rehearsing a behavior, empathizing, or exploring causal relationships (Fogg 2002, ch. 4). For example, simulations and games instantiate rules and procedures that express a point of view and can shape behavior and persuade; these use procedural rhetoric (Bogost 2007).
Technologies can also function as social actors (Reeves & Nass 1996, Turkle 1984). This "opens the door for computers to apply [...] social influence" (Fogg 2002, p. 90). Interactive technologies can cue social responses through e.g. their use of language, assumption of established social roles, or physical presence. For example, computers can use embodied conversational agents as part of their interface. Or a helpful or disclosive computer can cause users to mindlessly reciprocate (Fogg 1997b, Moon 2000).
Persuasive technologies can also be categorized by whether they change attitude and behaviors through direct interaction or through a mediating role (Oinas-Kukkonen & Harjumaa 2008): do they persuade through e.g. human-computer interaction (HCI) or computer-mediated communication (CMC)? The examples already mentioned are the former, but there are many of the latter. Communication technologies can persuade or amplify the persuasion of others by transforming the social interaction (Licklider 1968, Bailenson et al. 2004), providing shared feedback on interaction (DiMicco 2004), or restructuring communication processes (Winograd 1986).
Persuasion design is the design of messages by analyzing and evaluating their content, using established psychological research theories and methods. Chak 2003 argues that the most persuasive web sites focus on making users feel comfortable about making decisions and helping them act on those decisions.
One feature that distinguishes persuasion technology from familiar forms of persuasion is that the individual being persuaded often cannot respond in kind. This is a lack of reciprocal equality. For example, when a conversational agent persuades a user using social influence strategies, the user cannot also use similar strategies on the agent (Fogg 2002).
While persuasive technologies are found in many domains, considerable recent attention has focused on behavior change in health domains. Digital health coaching is the utilization of computers as persuasive technology to augment the personal care delivered to patients, and is used in numerous medical settings (Elton 2007).
Numerous scientific studies show that online health behaviour change interventions can influence users' behaviours. Moreover, the most effective interventions are modelled on health coaching, where users are asked to set goals, educated about the consequences of their behaviour, then encouraged to track their progress toward their goals. Sophisticated systems even adapt to users who relapse by helping them get back on the bandwagon (Cugelman et al. 2011).
Other subjects which have some overlap or features in common with persuasive technology include: