Drawbacks of Persuasive Technology - Dissertation Example

Drawbacks of Persuasive TechnologyIntroduction:In an era where people are so deeply attached to their portable devices, persuasive technology is seen as one of the most prominent methods of marketing. Persuasive technology can be defined as the methods that are used to change the perception of a user with the help of technology (Fogg, 2002). Use of persuasive technology is constantly seen in the field of sales, politics, and management etc (Luo, 2012). Persuasive technology affects the way a person buys they think and the way they perceive a brand (Fogg, 2002).

There is no arguing that persuasive technology has had a huge impact on marketing (Luo, 2012), but there have been some drawbacks regarding the effects of persuasive technology on the users. Drawbacks of persuasive technology:Through persuasive technology vendors have also been promoting faulty items. For example, a vendor could show off a product that may seem to have excellent specifications, but in reality its performance would not be all that the vendor claims it to be. This leaves the buyer feeling misled and betrayed.

Such promotion has a negative impact on the company’s image and the brand image (Fogg & Tseng, 1999).Moreover, there have been great concerns over the ethical issues that are faced by persuasive technology (Berdichevsky & Neuenschwander, 1999). As the field of persuasive technology is relatively new the persuasive factors from the advertisements is masked. Users most of the time are unaware of the fact that they are being persuaded into acting or behaving in a certain manner. Sometimes users are even unaware of the persuasive medium that is being used.

Companies on a number of occasions have used video games and simulations to target children (Fogg, 2002).Other than that there is a general concept among the masses that computers are fair and intelligent machines. Taking advantage of this concept companies develop biased software that confirm the claims of a particular vendor or company (Fogg, 1998). Other than that computers can be used by companies as a scapegoat when companies face a problem. For example, if a person is persuaded by a piece of software and during the persuasion the consumer suffers some loss the company could easily blame the software as being faulty or could blame the consumer for making a mistake as the software cannot make a mistake (Fogg, 2002).

Conclusion:Persuasive technology has been one of the most widely tool used by companies to market their products. However, a majority these companies ignore the issues that arise with the implementation of persuasive technology. These issues not only harm the end user, but also harm the image of the company. Moral issues such as misleading the consumers are commonly found with the use of persuasive technology (Fogg, 2002). Companies must take these issues seriously and must find ways to tackle them.

The government must also monitor the methods that are used to implement persuasive technology. There are various methods that have been deemed as acceptable by various experts (Davis, 2009). Reference ListBerdichevsky, E., & Neuenschwander, E. (1999, May). Toward an ethics of persuasive technology. Communications of the ACM , 51-58.Davis, J. (2009). Design methods for ethical persuasive computing. Persuasive '09 Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Persuasive Technology.Fogg, B. J. (1998).

Persuasive computers: perspectives and research directions. Kansas City: ACM Press.Fogg, B. J. (2002). Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann.Fogg, B., & Tseng, H. (1999). The elements of computer credibility. CHI '99 Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 80-87.Luo, Z. (2012). Innovations in Logistics and Supply Chain Management Technologies for Dynamic Economies. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.