Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. This area of inquiry explores the overlapping space between persuasion in general (influence,

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

, behavior change, etc.) and computing technology. This includes the

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

, and

program analysis In computer science, program analysis is the process of automatically analyzing the behavior of computer programs regarding a property such as correctness, robustness, safety and liveness. Program analysis focuses on two major areas: program op ...

of interactive computing products (such as the

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

desktop software A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

, specialized devices, etc.) created for the purpose of changing people's

attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a pro ...

s or behaviors.

B. J. Fogg Brian Jeffrey Fogg (born August 7, 1963) is an American social scientist and author who is a research associate and adjunct professor at Stanford University. He is the founder and director of the Stanford Behavior Design Lab, formerly known as ...

in 1996 derived the term ''captology'' from an acronym: Computers As Persuasive Technologies. In 2003, he published the first book on captology, entitled ''Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do''.Ian Leslie
"The scientists who make apps addictive"
''1843'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'', October/November 2016. Captology is not the same thing as Behavior Design, according to BJ Fogg who is the person who coined both terms and created the foundation for both areas.

References

External links

The Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab

The Web Credibility Project

Persuasive Computers: Perspectives and Research Directions
Computing culture 1990s neologisms Persuasion {{compu-sci-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links