Mobile technologies use. The balance between personal and collective benefits

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. PSYCHOSOCIAL FRAMEWORK
1.1. The origin of social psychology
1.2. Studying the person as social being
1.3. The attitudes study

CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH INSTITUTES
2.1. European situation
2.2. Extra European Union experiences

CHAPTER 3. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY
3.1. Technological development in light of the psychosocial approach
3.2. From personal computer to psychotechnologies
3.3. The social impact of mobile technologies

CHAPTER 4. REAL AND COMPUTER MEDIATED PERSUASION
4.1. The persuasive communication
4.2. Captology and psychosocial theories
4.3. Ethics of persuasive technologies

CHAPTER 5. FIRST STUDY: FOCUS GROUP
5.1. Triangulation methods
5.2. The Focus Group
5.2.1. Focus group implementation and analysis

CHAPTER 6. SECOND STUDY: PILOT STUDY
6.1. The augumented reality
6.2. Social relevance of environmental issue
6.3. The pilot project
6.4. Results

CHAPTER 7. THIRD STUDY: ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE
7.1. The online survey
7.2. Questionnaire construction
7.3. Analysis and results

CONCLUSIVE THOUGHTS

APPENDIX

A1. First study - “Vivere nel Web 3.0”
A1.1. Invito Partecipanti
A1.2. Consenso Informato firmato dai partecipanti
A1.3. Griglia domande Focus Group

A2. SECOND STUDY - “AR FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING”
A2.1. Ethics application form “AR for sustainable living”
A2.2. Recruitment material
A2.3. Participant information sheet
A2.4. Consent form
A2.5. Screening questionnaire
A2.6. Interview Guide

A3. THRID STUDY - “QUESTIONARIO SULL'UTILIZZO DI TECNOLOGIE MOBILI”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

SITOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Pervasiveness, ubiquity, interconnection, speed, innovation are all terms that often accompany the concept of information and communications technology, which well describe the characteristics of the modern society. Similarly in different subject areas there are concerns about the influence and the changes that technology is inevitably contributing to society; the sociologist Bauman speaks of liquid society referring to the fragility and instability of human relationships¹. In psychology Turkle has defined the new generations no longer millenialls but only “generation-M” to indicate the controversial multitasking skills, that is focus on more tasks simultaneously². The information philosopher Floridi talks about info-organisms and “onlife”: he is referring to the increasingly marked predisposition of individuals to sharing and producing information³. He also adds a third dimension to the concepts of online and offline: our contemporary life takes place onlife, there is no longer a clear difference between the two realities because the dominant technology in our lives gives us the ability to be constantly connected to the online world⁴.

In support to these theories there are statistical surveys that confirm this exorbitant spread of technology: in 2014 eMarketer⁵ estimates that in 2017 all mobile phone users (two billion in 2014) will own a smartphone⁶. According to a Pew Research Center⁷ research from 2000 to 2016 it has doubled the number of American households that use the Internet and that have a private connection, the number of people who possess a smartphone or a tablet and that are present on social media⁸.

In Europe, where according to the GSMAlliance Mobile Economy Report 2016⁹ the percentage of the average mobile phone penetration is already high (85% in 2015, 88% in 2020), the amount of smartphone of the latest 4G generation will increase in the same period from 23 to 58 % becoming the preferred platform for users to access to the internet (web-browsing, e-mail), the information channels (News, RSS, etc.), social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), messaging (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.). In particular in Italy the smartphone penetration is attested to 60%¹⁰ and the use of the Internet even if sporadic is over 72%.

For some scholars actually it is not an excessive or unusual development in the technology field, but rather a different reaction of individuals to innovation; so much that in this regard Floridi states that humans are no longer adapting technology to suit their needs, but on the contrary they are adapting themselves in order to encourage technological developments. Equally Putnam in 2000 referring to the development of the Internet exhorted to worry about what the society would do with this tool and not the contrary, what the Internet would do for society¹¹. Turkle expresses her concerns on the emotional and relational side claiming that «we always expect more from technology and less from others»¹² ; Carr in his book expresses criticism about the way the Internet is changing our brains, stressing that now we want to be interrupted by the constant suggestions and notifications of technology because otherwise we risk to be excluded from the continuous flow of information¹³.

The development of this work is born by an interest in the effects that technological progress and its inevitable foray into our lives are producing in society; attention is directed in particular to the so-called mobile technologies that individuals got used to always have with them, from the simple cell phone to the smartphone, from the tablet to the smartwatch or wearable devices.

In literature there are some works which have inspired this research work, in particular those of the psychologist and sociologist Sherry Turkle, of the psychologist B.J. Fogg, of the social psychologist and sociologist Richard Ling and the psychologist Larry Rosen. Turkle studies society, individuals and technology since thirty years, in her studies it is central the interest for communication and interpersonal relationships. She describes the contemporary society observing different generations and their relationship with the digital life, online and offline. One of the issues addressed refers to the progressive loss of communication skills that is increasingly characterizing the new generations, threatening interpersonal relationships. Among the causes the author identifies the climate of continuous partial and divided attention and the feeling of emotional cognitive and social fulfillment offered by connecting and sharing moments, but absolutely not comparable to a real face-to-face conversation¹⁴. The theoretical framework developed by Turkle fits precisely in the frame of this study because it has contributed to the understanding of those risk factors which characterize the relationship with technology: online interactions through social networks, communications via SMS, the relationship with robot toys and even those defined caring robot¹⁵.

Fogg has initiated a new area of research that fits across psychology, sociology and technology; in particular he is interested in the study, development and implementation of persuasive technologies. His studies and those conducted by other researchers of the same laboratory research, deepen the interaction between user and technological devices from several points of view: from the design of interactive technologies created with the intention of encouraging a change in attitude or behaviour in the user; but also from a cognitive and psychosocial point of view since it has been investigated the reactions of users, the impact on society and he also developed new applications of persuasive communication to technology¹⁶. The empirical part of this work takes origin from persuasive technologies field.

Ling is a media communication expert, in particular mobile phones; one of the important social issues he addressed and that contributes to the foundation of this research concerns the role that mobile phones, and more recently smartphone, performs in contemporary society. The cell phone is a connecting link between the individual and society, it represents a dimension of social capital, a way of communication and connection with the rest of the world accessible for everyone. But at the same time the cell phone encourages individualism, it hinders social relations vis-à-vis and makes it difficult or less likely interactions with strangers that are not already part of the network of contacts and friends online¹⁷. Based on these assumptions is the idea of emphasizing the cell phone dimension of online and offline social connection.

Rosen is internationally recognized as a technology psychology expert, together with other authors he operationalized the concept of technostress and technology dependence. The importance of his contribution to the purposes of our research concerns mainly the methodological sphere, Rosen is in fact co-author of the study that led to the validation of the scale constructed to measure attitudes and usage behaviours of technology, Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale (MTUAS)¹⁸.

In this research work the focus is on the possible positive effects that technological development can have on individuals and society, through the simple and everyday use of mobile devices.

CHAPTER 1. PSYCHOSOCIAL FRAMEWORK

1.1. THE ORIGIN OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

The birth of social psychology as a discipline is relatively recent, by convention it is indicated in 1908, but already in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle is possible to trace two theoretical trends that will represent different approaches to the study of individual and society. On the one hand Plato recognizes the primacy of society over the individual, on the other hand Aristotle has a more anthropocentric view, he also defines man as a social being by nature.

It is also possible to distinguish two main areas in the development of social psychology, identified on the basis of theories and models which still have different areas of application; they are the sociological social psychology and psychological social psychology¹⁹. Scholars belonging to the first area focus their attention on the actions and functions of individuals within social structures, there are for example Mead, Goffman and Bales; authors like Lewin, Festinger, Asch and Allport instead have focused their work on the cognitive processes underlying individuals' behaviour. The two paradigms are affirmed equally in America and Europe but with a slightly different weight: the psychological social psychology will find more space in America where individualistic and ethnocentric dimensions are predominant, unlike sociological social psychology will emerge with more force in Europe, where the relationships between social groups and social influence are issues most felt and developed²⁰.

A very broad definition of the object of social psychology put the attention on the individual living in a social context, this is a common issue to many other disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, but also geography and urban planning²¹ ; the very wide area of interest marked the discipline making its borders and application areas very poorly defined. For this reason Legrenzi argues that the psychology in particular, compared to other contemporary scientific disciplines, it is necessary to adopt a systemic approach to the study of its historical evolution as a discipline, there should be a coordination between the so-called external history and the internal one²². This need to pay attention to the external environment is made explicit if we compare the psychology to the hard sciences (mathematical or physical), their models, theories and procedures are focused on a static object, on the contrary, the fulcrum of psychology is always been the individual, that is instead an object characterized by dynamism. This interest will be declined differently based on the orientation of the researcher, which can be behaviourist, cognitivist or a personality psychologist.

Amerio is interested in verifying the epistemological foundations of the discipline, aiming at define theories, models and empirical data²³ ; over the years social psychology affirms its disciplinary identity as a discipline able to merge psychological aspects of individuals and social aspects of groups.

Amerio proposes to overcome the objective reductionism, that is the mode that an object of study is used to explain a complex social phenomenon; the overcoming could be achieved through the recovery of the concrete, «calibrating the assumptions on real problems, entering them into not artificial analysis patterns, and supporting them with theories linked to coherent visions of individuals and society»²⁴.

Comte in his sciences classification the study of living organisms and their organization is assigned to the biology and sociology, a term coined by the author himself in 1838; psychology is excluded from the classification because of the method of study of the mind, that was the introspection.

Few years later in Germany spreads a theoretical socio-cultural psychological current defined Volkerpsychologie, its exponents (Lazarus, Steinthal and then Wundt) were carriers of the principle that the basis of human interaction was made of cultural exchanges and language was the most valued and investigated. These issues represented the main objective of the popular magazine founded in 1860 Zeitschrift für Volkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft²⁵.

In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig. By consensus in the literature this event is associated to the birth of psychology as a discipline; the merit of Wundt was not so innovative (as was that of Freud for example), but rather cultural and epistemological, he implemented the inductive method based on experiments and observations²⁶. Wundt studied medicine and philosophy, in the course of his studies he managed to create a work that included all the empirical results of research in psychology also from different areas: philosophy, physiology, ethics, anthropology. In 1873-74 it was published the first edition of Fundamentals of physiological psychology, which is considered the first work of modern scientific psychology²⁷.

In the same years Le Bon published his famous work Psychologie des foules (1895), which is according to some scholars the first attempt to formalize a social psychology in Europe. Le Bon defines the characteristic features of the crowds: the multitude of individuals who joins has its own soul, it is not anymore obvious the single personality but are emerging new marks of common thought and action²⁸. At the same time we witness two great turning points in the evolution of social psychology thanks to the works of Durkheim: in 1895 he states that the observation and study of a group or a society cannot be separated from the psychic analysis as well. The big news is that Durkheim believed, as Le Bon had also theorized, that most individuals together give rise to an entity, such an organism, to a new individuality; which will be defined in the future as group identity. Here's how Durkheim believes in the continuity and in the close relationship between sociology and psychology, the same closeness that occurs between biology and the physical and chemical sciences²⁹.

The second innovation concerns the methodological approach: in 1897 Durkheim describes for the first time the comparative analysis method, later defined statistical correlation and which became a landmark in the study of social phenomena, also adopted from social psychology.

The birth of social psychology is identified by convention in 1908, when there was the publication of two handbooks, both in US country: Introduction to social psychology by the English psychologist W. McDougall and Social Psychology by the American sociologist E.A.Ross. Although they were not the first published texts dealing with the issue, they represent respectively the two approaches of psychological social psychology and sociological social psychology.

McDougall's work is still far from modern concepts of social psychology: he speaks of instincts (later defined as propensities), referring to innate tendencies present in every individual that guide actions and thoughts and that constitute the foundation of social life; the result is a very individualistic view of the discipline.

The point of view of Ross is instead much closer to the concept of influence and social control, he recognizes that all individuals are mutually influenced and among the factors that would facilitate such an influence he distinguishes imitation and suggestion, present in McDougall too. Already in 1890 Tarde had theorized the equation for which social man is like a sleepwalker, ideas and actions are guided as happens in dreams or under hypnosis³⁰.

During the Twenties and Thirties social psychologists work to ensure that the discipline can have a recognition of science, they observe and describe psychosocial phenomena but above all they must explain in order to make them predictable³¹. The psychological Gestalt tendency will make a substantial contribution to the fundamental basis of social psychology, especially for those theories that are detached from the behaviourism (typically American) to give rise to theories of the field able to highlight the social context. Kurt Lewin was a Gestalt scholar, in his theories the behaviour is interpreted as a function of the environment and of the person; the same approach will be applied to the study of the groups along with one of the principles of the Gestalt: the total is more than the sum of the individual parts.

Lewin introduced the method of action research, he also had the insight to develop some research on leadership and on group decision-making. A contemporary of Lewin and responsible for an equally important impact in the history of social psychology was Mead, who proposed the study of individual experience from a new point of view: according to accomplished socially relevant actions, his objective was expanding the individualistic vision to a collective one³².

In Germany in 1921 Hellpach founded the first Social Psychology Institute and in 1933 was also the author of a handbook, but these activities had no major impact on the European social psychology schools. The first major European association of professionals was established in 1966: the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology, at the beginning they had to acknowledge their dependence on American activities, then gradually the association gains an European identity and promotes a fruitful exchange among experts through organizing conferences and publication of magazines.

From its origins social psychology has shared a lot with sociology even if at the same time it has been necessary to draw a boundary line; now some believe that this clear separation can be realized only in extreme cases³³. Moscovici (1984)³⁴ argues that the individual is the object of study of psychology and the society is the object of study of sociology, but in which cases can we really separate one from the other? No society exists that is not made up of a collection of individuals, as there is no human being who has no social relations³⁵. If the object of interest is often shared the level of analysis remains different: social psychology is focused on the individual and on the psychological processes shared by people, while sociology frames the society as a whole³⁶.

A well-structured psychosocial approach should certainly take into account some sociological theoretical models, for an even more comprehensive and profound vision it should also be considered other epistemological approaches derived from different psychological addresses. For example it is important to consider the evolutionist psychology for the adoption of the principle of natural selection that can offer a wider vision of human nature; but also from developmental psychology it can be learned that social phenomena relevant to the individual are not limited in a given period of time but they affect the entire duration of its existence^{37 38}.

To conclude this brief introductory overview we provide a definition of social psychology proposed by Galimberti in the Encyclopedia of Psychology: «social psychology studies human interactions and interpersonal relations at different levels: individuals, groups, institutions. It is interested also in those themes raised from some situations such as social influence, social attraction, communication, cohesion, change. These are all social dynamics in the life of groups, organizations and social 38 institutions» .

1.2. STUDYING THE PERSON AS SOCIAL BEING

Charles Darwin made an important contribution to the development of psychology with studies on the evolution of the species and expression of emotions in man and animals, especially here we are interested in the definition he gave of man as a social being.

The interest of social psychology for social relations and groups has always been marked and it also represents a proper hallmark of the discipline; the first studies derive from the field of symbolic interactionism, in particular Cooley in 1909 defined the primary groups: some characteristic elements were the face-to-face interaction, the identification of the individual with the groups shared goals and the creation of a common identity, namely the creation of us³⁹.

The social influence is considered the heart of social psychology, which Allport (considered the first behaviourist social psychologist) defined as «the scientific study of the ways in which thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others»⁴⁰.

In 1938 Lewin approaches to the study of groups applying its model and showed a particular interest in the group dynamics; he defined the group as a phenomenon, a unit to be intended as an object of study just as the person. A few years later in 1945, Lewin founded the Research Center for Group Dynamics at MIT, with the intent to pursue the following objectives: to promote the study and production of theories related to the integration in a group, the individual-group relationship and the relationship between groups; make closer theory and practice of social action; implement training programs⁴¹.

Asch was interested in influence among people in the same group, he was able to demonstrate that sensory perceptions are influenced by perceptions of other individuals, it is interesting to note that in 1952 the author emphasized the difference between interacting with a single subject and interaction between several people: in the first situation emotions, thoughts and feelings are unidirectional; in the second case they are multidirectional and influence each other⁴².

Heider was the first to develop the theory of causal attribution, relevant for the explanation of an event based on conditions or underlying motivations, it was also useful for the interpretation of the social context⁴³. Later on other authors conducted similar research to the Heider work, emphasizing a separation between personal causes or dispositional and situational causes or environmental in order to explain the meaning of an action⁴⁴.

Among the first authors who take an interest in interpersonal relationships as the foundation of social psychology we can refer to Thibaut and Kelley who in 1959 published The social psychology of groups and later in 1978 Interpersonal Relations. The authors define the interaction as a behaviour of an individual in the presence of another who will have consequences on one or both participants and there will be a possible mutual influence⁴⁵. The guiding principles for the intensity of the interaction and which represent the motivational drive are those deriving from the economic field, relative to costs and rewards⁴⁶. The contribution of Thibaut and Kelley can be considered relevant for subsequent studies focused on social interactions and for pointing out the dynamics of social influence; also represented the fundamental basis for the development of the Bem theory of self-perception developed in 1972, he argues that to know and understand his attitudes and feelings man can become an observer of himself and infer the meanings of actions from the observation, as would do an outside observer⁴⁷.

In European social psychology from the Sixties onwards a significant contribution was made by Tajfel work on social identity, social categorization and group definition; which will represent for years the focus of many studies and the basis for many theories on the formation of stereotypes and prejudices⁴⁸. In 1969 Tajfel identifies two major consequences of social categorization process: the maximization of cross-categories differences and minimization of intra-categories differences⁴⁹. The consequent need for differentiation expands the concept of social comparison on a cross-categories level, already discussed in the past by Festinger on an a cross-individuals level.

There will be many authors to undertake further research in this direction (especially Sherif, Doise, Turner) and the value that they leave to the social psychology is relevant in order to bring the attention of the discipline to the social dimension, rather than the individual and solitary dimension of human being⁵⁰.

1.3. THE ATTITUDES STUDY

The concept of attitude is one of the most studied and as Allport said, «is probably the most characteristic and necessary of contemporary American social psychology»⁵¹.

Mead was one of the first to talk about attitudes, defining them as in Darwin's work (from research on the expression of emotions in man and animals) as a state of expression but at the same time they are precursors and organizers of an act and it is for this aspect that they aroused great interest among psychologists; in fact one of the main assumption is that attitudes influence individuals' behaviour⁵².

In 1918 Thomas and Znaniecki introduced the expression social attitudes in a study focused on the observation of the behaviour of Polish peasants emigrated to America compared to other remained in Poland.

Throughout the history of psychology and relatively to the study of the attitudes we can identify two approaches: the first is based on a tripartite definition of attitude, consisting of a cognitive, affective and behavioural dimension; the latest theory based on this model is by Eagly and Chaiken in 1993⁵³.

The second approach can be described as one-dimensional as the definition of attitude is focused on just one component and is accompanied by the concepts of belief and behavioural intention⁵⁴, Fishbein and Ajzen theorized this approach.

Since the Thirties the first interest in this area of research was devoted to the measurement of attitudes (Likert, 1932; Thurstone, 1931; Osgood, 1957); simultaneously there were researches aimed at giving an answer to the functionalist matter, that was about the possible utility and consequences of an attitude (Katz, 1967; Fiske and Taylor, 1991). A further research question concerned the relationship between attitude and behaviour, in particular, the interest was in checking the influence of one on the other; one of the first studies that reported an unexpectedly negative outcome was the one conducted by LaPiere in 1934⁵⁵, which confirmed the mismatch between attitude and behaviour. Later further researches have investigated this relationship in order to respond to a different research question: in what situations there is a correlation between attitude and behaviour and what factors influence the intensity of the correlation⁵⁶.

In 1975 Fishbein and Ajzen elaborate the most famous theory in the study of attitudes and that will be a guide for all future studies on the subject; the theory of reasoned action which will later be revised, expanded and renamed theory of planned behaviour (1991). The theory of reasoned action explains what are the predictors of behaviour: the first is the intention to implement a given behaviour; the intention is in turn predicted by the attitude toward the behaviour and by subjective norms, defined as beliefs that significant others have with respect to the behaviour⁵⁷. Finally the attitude is determined by behavioural beliefs and subjective norms are determined by normative beliefs⁵⁸.

The theory of planned behaviour also takes into account the behaviours that are not under the total control of the individual; therefore it is added a new variable to the previous model, it is the subjective perceived control that has a direct influence both on the intention and on behaviour⁵⁹.

The interest of many scholars turned quickly to attitudes change and behaviour as a consequence, in this way a close connection with studies on persuasive communication was created and also the use of reinforcements or incentives in order to encourage the change of attitudes.

In 1957 Festinger formulated the famous theory of cognitive dissonance, explaining the discomfort that occurs when there is not consistency between actions and thoughts. Thanks to various experiments conducted he created a different vision from behaviourists: the modification of an attitude is more closely related to intrinsic motivations (eg. consistency between attitude and behaviour) rather than to external reinforcements (eg. rewards)⁶⁰. For this reason the theory of cognitive dissonance has been repeatedly criticized, but it also represented a theoretical basis for further research, for example, the Bem theory of self-perception.

CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH INSTITUTES

In order to provide an overview of what are the major research centers in Italy and abroad which have as a central concern the interaction between technology and society, it is necessary to identify the several relationships between these two objects of study; we will just consider some of the realities that promote interest in the pervasive dimension of technologies and their influence on society and those research products that can contribute to create the theoretical framework for this work.

Technological development proceeds quickly and in different directions and it is inevitable that the research field is quite broad; McLuhan launched a vast area of investigation that covers just communications technologies analysed as media⁶¹. These are studies concerning the computer mediated communication in social interactions and human activities: from interpersonal relations, education and to the world of information. Some researches in this area include online social interactions, their creation, the influence on offline relationships and social capital⁶² ; other observations have as their object the characteristics of computer mediated communication and the differences with the face-to-face communication⁶³.

Other research interests are within the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) which is focused on the study of user interaction with the technological devices, the bi-directionality of this relation is increasingly important: a study has been recently conducted in order to understand the perception of interactive machines, so that they can be designed to offer users a service in an even more efficient way and be able to anticipate our needs⁶⁴. An elaborated analysis of the relationship between man and interactive computer was made by the American psychologist Sherry Turkle who is also interested in the relationship between humans and technology that surrounds us and how this interaction changes the way we perceive the world around us and ourselves⁶⁵. The author observed and interviewed children, young and elder people who had the opportunity to interact with robots specially designed to offer support and companionship, they are defined social robots or smart toys; she utilized an ethnographic approach. What is interesting, but at the same time worrying and that requires further investigation, is the propensity of humans to interact empathically with a robot, sometimes even attributing it human characteristics, so that the author addresses the related issue about the expectations we have from technology⁶⁶.

Another thread of research has to do with mobile technology and the so- called wearable technologies; in this category are often applied the theories that refer to technologies as behavioural modification tools, the American psychologist B.J. Fogg has coined the term captology in 1997 (the acronym of Computers As Persuasive Technology) outlining the principles and assumptions underlying this discipline⁶⁷. Another very important issue from the social point of view is certainly the phenomenon of diffusion of technology, both Rogers in 1962 and then Davis' studies on acceptance of technology⁶⁸ were relevant; their models are still applied in research involving the social sciences, but also in medicine, engineering and computer science.

Last but not less important and in great diffusion in recent years is the development of technologies capable of enriching the surrounding reality with virtual contents, with particular reference to augmented reality and virtual reality which instead allows a total immersion in a space created by technology. The applications are many and in several areas: in medicine these technologies are used as a training tool and evaluation of surgical skills⁶⁹, in education developing supporting applications for learning often enriched with entertainment content⁷⁰ ; in the tourist sector the aim is to promote artistic heritages in a vivid and immersive way⁷¹ ; in the field of environmental psychology the goal is to stimulate and promote behaviour in order to protect the environment⁷².

2.1. EUROPEAN SITUATION

The encounter between technology and social psychology as already mentioned, stimulates the interest of many scholars, researches reflect different theoretical and methodological approaches, but there has been an increasingly frequent desire to demonstrate social utility of the technology; parallel are proceeding also studies focused on the negative effects that new technologies bring in a micro and macro dimension of the society.

According to the ranking relative to the research institutes elaborated annually by the European Research Ranking⁷³, processing the data made available by the CORDIS (Community Information Service Research and Development), the indicators taken into consideration are: the amount of projects funded by the European Commission, the presence of collaborations between institutions and the differentiation of research areas. With reference to the 2014 data the first places are occupied by Germany and the United Kingdom.

In 2005 at the Department of Computer Sciences, University of Salzburg, was founded the Center for Human Computer Interaction⁷⁴and under the guidance of Prof. Manfred Tscheligi, considered one of the top experts in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), are carried out several researches conducted with interdisciplinary and constant attention to the methods and the context. Some projects are particularly relevant in a psychosocial perspective, for example in the program concerning the contextual persuasion are designed and tested persuasive interactive technologies able at changing the target behaviour, one of the latest examples concerns an application designed to stimulate a more economical driving style to reduce CO2 emissions⁷⁵. It is proposed a challenge to the driver as it was a game, the aim is to maintain a certain speed of the engine; the exploratory study was carried out with five participants observing and recording their driving behaviour, offering the foundations for a real future implementation. Among the most significant researches it is worth mentioning the study which through direct observation of 201 interactions between man and robot has led to the identification of behavioural patterns verbal and non-verbal, frequent in human or technical error situations⁷⁶ ; from a psychosocial point of view the study indicates the direction that future technological developments will take in the field of HCI.

Even in Britain there are several examples of research in progress: at the historic and prestigious University of Oxford since 2001 the Oxford Internet Institute⁷⁷conducts studies which focus on the informative aspect of the technology, that is the production and use of data and information. The projects address issues related to big data, open data, open government, online social networks and psychosocial implications regarding civic participation, health, education, economics and ethics of information. According to the philosopher of information Luciano Floridi, Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, the distinction between online or virtual and offline or real world, it is increasingly dissolving⁷⁸. It is for this reason that to explore the relationship between man and technology it is not possible to ignore online behaviours and the strength of informational technologies with which we interact on a daily basis.

Another British research center particularly dedicated to socially relevant issues is the Center for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare (CATCH) at the University of Sheffield⁷⁹. The activity of the center is built around the design, development and implementation of technologies grouped under four main themes:

1. social robots and robots that can provide care for elderly or persons with disabilities;
2. smart personalized supports, such as shoes that have already been tested with special sensors for people in rehabilitation after a stroke;
3. technologies to foster communication: recognition and voice processing for the disabled;
4. complex behavioural interventions: using customizable technologies, such as smartphones and wearable technology, it is possible to promote behaviours for a right and balanced lifestyle.

The center activities are oriented at the promotion of quality of life with special consideration for aging, they have applied the principles relating to human­technology interaction, in particular to make sure that certain actions can be implemented in an efficient and safe way⁸⁰.

Finally about the UK region it is worth to cite the Intel initiative that has set up in 2012 the research center Intel Collaborative Research Institute (ICRI) for Sustainable Connected Cities⁸¹ together with the London Imperial College and the University College London, the aim is to promote collaboration between academia and industry. The primary focus of the center is the exploration and design of technologies that facilitate the transformation process of our cities into sustainable environments, foster collaboration and civic participation and increase the quality of life of citizens. ICRI is one of the few centers in Europe which proposes a research on a community level, it intervenes in public spaces with a direct impact on the community instead of on the individual; according to our review of the literature it is the first research group that aims to investigate the connection between technology and prosocial behaviour⁸². One of the most frequent research designs in this area is the implementation of screens or interactive surfaces in public spaces - urban displays - that promote collaboration among users as well as fostering a sense of social participation. In addition to social, psychological and cognitive theories relevant for these researches, it also important the concept of open data and their importance in transforming data publicly available in valuable information to society⁸³.

In contrast to this research there is the work of Abraham and colleagues that instead shows a correlation between the use of the cell phone and a temporary decrease in prosocial behaviour⁸⁴. Mobile phones are considered facilitators of interaction and communication with others and the authors' assumption is that the user can feel a very strong sense of connectivity with others, hence the human belonging need theorized by Maslow would be temporarily satisfied, thus decreasing the tendency to help others⁸⁵. There are other initiatives, in Italy as well, which are mainly oriented to the promotion of sustainable environments and the use of technological tools primarily for the monitoring of pollution levels, energy use and sharing of data and information.

In Italy the Nexa Center for Internet and Society is a multidisciplinary research center at the Department of Control and Computer Engineering of the Polytechnic of Turin⁸⁶. It was founded in 2006, but since 2003 the founders of the center started one of the most important activities of the future research group: the translation and adaptation to the Italian legal system of the Creative Commons licenses. The research interests are mainly of legal, economic and technical origin, but from some years the initiatives promoted by the center express a decisive opening too soft disciplines, such as sociology and social psychology; for example an important project in terms of social and institutional relevance is the exploratory research on the use of social media by the universities and the Italian public authorities⁸⁷.

In Trento, the Bruno Kessler Foundation hosts the Center for Information and Communication Technolgy - ICT⁸⁸, whose three most deepen research topics are: the creation of applications to promote smart communities in Trentino; the study and implementation of technology to support health and well-being; the development of new methods and forms of transfer of digital contents to improve communication between scientific academic research and business world.

The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa⁸⁹ is internationally renowned and well-aligned to European levels, they manage interesting research projects at the Institute of BioRobotics. The impact that advances in engineering, particularly in robotics, are providing to the social sphere is the object of interdisciplinary research in recent years; the study by Fong and colleagues provides a detailed theoretical framework, outlines some principles and definitions of the concept of interactive social robots and defines theoretical and practical implications that the interaction human-robot will raise in the various disciplines involved⁹⁰. For example the center of BioRobotics has a multidisciplinary approach in studying the ethical implications of social robots from a socio-psychological and anthropological point of view.

For what concerns the ethics issue applied to the development of robots is necessary to cite Gianmarco Veruggio, an electrical engineer who in 2002 proposed the concept of roboethics, he is currently honorary president of the School of Robotics in Genoa⁹¹ where in 2004 was organized the first International Symposium on Roboethics; main objectives of the school are the education and the dissemination of the principles of robotics and roboethics.

Furthermore in the Italy there is the Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCI Lab), founded in 1998 by Prof. Luca Chittaro at the University of Udine⁹². The center is working on technologies that might facilitate the physical and mental health of users, but also on applications and tools used in emergency situations (air crashes, earthquakes, robberies, etc.), there are also current researches in the field of persuasive technologies, in particular scholars are interested in developing effective methods of evaluation of interactive persuasive systems.

2.2. EXTRA EUROPEAN UNION EXPERIENCES

Beyond Europe's borders most of the research activities in this area takes place in the United States; Cambridge is home to the famous and historic Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), founded in 1861, it has always been considered one of the best centers of excellence in scientific research. The works of Sherry Turkle mentioned above are part of the research program of the Department of Science, Technology and Society⁹³. In 1985 was born the MIT Media Lab, the scientific interest in the course of these thirty years has always been devoted to the link between technology and the human sphere, meant as the set of activities, emotions, behaviours and cognitions. Some of current projects at the MIT Media Lab are: Affective Computing (exploration of technologies for the expression and the communication of human emotions), Living Mobile (study of graphical interfaces and applications to optimize the use of mobile devices), Personal robots (design of social robots designed to provide assistance), social Computing (technological systems for the urban environment that can stimulate human interaction).

The Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute⁹⁴at the Stanford University has a vast range of research interests covering the link between technology and society. The psychologist B.J. Fogg founded here the Persuasive Tech Lab⁹⁵in 1998, in order to undertake research on the intersection area between social influence and the human-computer interaction; Fogg assumes that technology can be intentionally designed to change human behaviour and from this concept derives the creation of the term captology. The captology is object of interest in different disciplines, from the humanities and social sciences to computer science with regard to the design, construction and the study of the relationship with the user, even up to affect the philosophy and ethics.

Among the current projects a rather ambitious example is the Peace Innovation⁹⁶: the project invites individuals, public and private organizations from all over the world to publish within their webpages a contribution expressing their concept of peace. In the course of time researches concerning the construction of peace through social media have been developed as well, such as the design of measures to detect prosocial behaviours through social media and also the correlation between certain videogames and altruistic behaviour.

The aforementioned Pew Research Center is a private research group active since the Nineties, originally the main activity consisted of surveys on political issues, in 1999 it starts the Pew Internet & American Life Project, over the years the research interests and investigation involved various social and cultural issues, such as health, religion, economy, education, technology. Of relevance to the present work are the studies on the impact that new technologies produce on American society, for example about the use of the smartphone: how it is used, perceived usefulness, attitudes and emotions related to the use⁹⁷. Equally interesting is the study on the so-called mobile etiquette: the socially shared rules regarding the use of smartphones in public⁹⁸.

CHAPTER 3. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY

3.1. TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN LIGHT OF THE PSYCHOSOCIAL APPROACH

The massive development of sciences and inventions at the basis of modern information and communication technologies (ICT) dates back to the years between 1840 and 1940, in this period numerous inventions were born, most of which is still in use today. Samuel Morse in 1835 invented the Morse communication code, which represented a revolutionary method for the transmission of information, it is often identified as the predecessor of digital communication. The invention of the telephone in the Seventies of the IXX century was attributed to Alexander Graham Bell: it was officially recognized the contribution of Antonio Meucci only in 2002, he patented the device in 1871 but as he had not subsequently renewed the patent, this was later recorded by Bell. The telephone is one of the most popular means of communication even today after having suffered many changes and developments over the centuries, due in particular to the invention of mobile phones and the Internet. Guglielmo Marconi patented the first radio in 1894: the instrument had a strong social impact and at first also a great success as a status symbol for the upper classes, and later it was used as a powerful communication tool for propaganda and psychological influence against the enemy populations or for the benefit of troops and allied populations during the second world war. The war expansion gave more than one reason for the creation of first computers, defined calculators in that time: British needed to create a machine capable of decrypting radio messages of the Germans, instead US government wanted to have a system capable of tracking the routes of ballistic rockets. So it was born Colossus (or Mark I) in Britain in 1943, it was created to decrypt the German code generated by Enigma, whose working group was mainly led by Alan Turing, who is considered the father of modern computer science. The first electromechanical programmable calculator was presented in America in 1945: ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) which had a strong echo also in public opinion. Newspapers and radio disseminated the news and it influenced even the cinematographic world thanks to the light effects of the various indicators, it inspired some science fiction films; it was also the first to be called “electronic brain”.

These early models of computers are not yet comparable to what is commonly called computer today: they occupied entire rooms or buildings, they were operated by qualified staff who did run the machines directly to the binary code, usually entered via punch cards without any communication interface or management tool. The power consumption was one of major problems, so much that the ENIAC was abandoned because of the excessive costs of operation and maintenance.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1. ENIAC calculator. [Source: U.S. Army]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Eniac.jpg

The first magnetic drum memory unit was presented by the ERA in 1953: the advertising represented the memory block in place of a human brain.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 2.The computer memory was advertised as an artificial brain by the ERA. [Source: ERA]. https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/462/retro-scan-of-the-week-peer-inside-the- cyborg-brain

The computer revolution began during the Sixties, it will have a strong impact even on the society, since the innovations were not addressed only to military or specialized technical environments, but they were oriented to amateurs and to the masses.

The psychologist and computer scientist Licklider published his work entitled Man-computer symbiosis in 1960, he wanted to highlight this relationship of strong union, almost intimate, as it exists between two entities even though of different origin in nature. Until then computers were built and used to solve problems that were pre­formulated by man or to perform calculations according to established procedures; Licklider argues that the challenge for the following years will be to create machines able to formulate problems, almost like the human mind, and face up to questions in real-time⁹⁹. Hypothesizing that future development the author also considers the needs for the construction and the possible problems that may arise: the different processing speed between man and computer may be a problem, as well as the computer memory capacity which at that time was considered not sufficient, the difference in language between humans and computers is partly still today a problem difficult to solve;

Licklider emphasized the different approach to solving a problem. In order to give instructions to undertake a task or solve a problem the computer will need a communication focused on procedures and steps to follow, instead for humans the message should be focused on goals. Finally he suggests solutions to get unified tools for input and output, so that the man's commands may have the same shape and way of communication of the computer's response; just as we are currently used.

The first video game in history was born in 1962, it was called Spacewar!: the game was a rocket fire from the positions of two players, it exploited the ability of the PDP-1 computer to design elaborated elliptical shapes on a screen of an oscilloscope. The first arcade video game (so-called coin-op) as we know it today arrived in homes and arcades only in 1972 thanks to Atari, with two horizontal bars on the sides of the screen that served from rackets and a ball was bounced from one side to other side: Pong!

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Figure 3. Pong, the first arcade video game. [Source: PongMuseum.com]. http://pongmuseum.com/faq/

After the invention of the mouse for computer¹⁰⁰ in the Seventies at the research center PARC¹⁰¹ of the Xerox in California were taken the first step in order to elaborate the first user interfaces based on a graphical representation of the interactions components, with the advent in the early Eighty of graphical operating systems: Apple Lisa in 1981, Apple Macintosh in 1984 and in 1985 Microsoft with the first Windows, Commodore with the Amiga 1000 and the Athena Project of MIT^{102 103}.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 4. The first mouse. [Source: SRI103 International]

Today we are accustomed to daily use of graphic interfaces: using the mouse or touchpad we command a pointer on the screen that moves bringing our movements inside desktop; clicking the left mouse button we select a folder, we visualize its content by clicking twice, we open a document or we surf on a website, we use the right button to access contextual menus and we operate the different devices, USB flash-drives, network printers, all with a facility and immediacy very far from the complications of first computers.

complicazioni dei primi computer.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 5 (left). Apple Macintosh (1984). [Source: Apple]

Figure 6 (right). Microsoft Windows 1.0 (1985). [Source: Microsoft]

In 1969 the American Department of Defense asked the creation of a military network that would allow an exchange of communications between different nodes and sites, distant and different from each other, and that also could assure the operation with part of the systems out of order. From the name of the department that followed the project, ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency) then derived the name of the network ARPANET: the first form of Internet network. The interest from academic research comes only around 1970, when the first institutes and universities start to connect with each other in order to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge. That which was initially a technical tool becomes a platform for communication through messaging tools such as email, born in 1971 and still in use without big modifications to the protocols and functionalities.

The first home computer is brought by Apple Computers in 1977, it is the Apple ][, among other things the most long-running: it was for sale in the various versions until 1993. The development and the rapid spread, almost sudden, of the Internet as a tool and a type of mass communication goes back to the mid-nineties, a period that is identified by Wellman as the first era of Internet studies. The first scholars and analysts of this phenomenon were limited to considering only what happened online¹⁰⁴, in 1995 the reporter Robert Fox externalizes the preoccupation that is currently connected to the use of mobile devices and their pervasiveness: although the technology is able to connect to each other without limits of time and space, it seems that most frequently we communicate with computer screens and televisions, rather than with other human beings¹⁰⁵.

The second period began approximately in 1998, when the use of computers and the Internet has become ordinary in the lives of most of the world's population and the world of academia, commerce and politics became interested in the study of users and uses, with the aim of documenting their rise, habits and trends¹⁰⁶.

Meanwhile, the fear reported by Fox vanishes and it is instead replaced by the fact that the increased use of the Internet is correlated with an increased frequency of relations and face to face interactions¹⁰⁷. We are currently in the third period related to internet studies, characterized by the increasing customization of devices, connectivity and ubiquity, thus facilitating a shift from relations between online groups to the creation of individualized networks. Every single user becomes a web portal, or a source of information and contacts¹⁰⁸.

From a psychosocial view this evolution is particularly significant with regard to the approach to technology and the relationship established with it: the interaction with a desktop computer not necessarily connected to the Internet and the activities that the user can do, are completely different from the relationship that is established with a mobile device connected to the Internet; it is a continuous relationship since most of the people have the smartphone always with them, moreover they are able to satisfy our relation and social membership needs. In the relationship with a smartphone it is preponderant the communicative potential of the device itself¹⁰⁹.

The communicative potential of the technology have considerably improved since the advent of the Internet, so that we live in a state of hyper-connectivity and the concept of Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming familiar: this concept expresses the fact that we are surrounded by objects equipped with a network connection that are potentially able to interact and cooperate for a common purpose, in response to an external command¹¹⁰.

The history of technological progress seems to have developed through a continuous dialectical debate between extreme positions: the Luddites and neo­Luddites versus transhumanism, technological determinism versus social determinism; technophiles versus technophobes¹¹¹ ; apocalyptic and integrated as Umberto Eco defined them¹¹². Numerous epithets that identify the same critical positions and differ essentially for the disciplinary origin.

The luddite movement was born during the industrial revolution as a form of protest from the working class towards the introduction of machines and instruments which inevitably reduced the human contribution to the work; currently neo-luddites are those who do not accept the modern technological development and define it as responsible of dehumanization, loss of values and social relations. The theme of work deprivation was born between eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and it is still a hot topic, for example the replacement of human work with robot is a recent concern: Amazon in 2014 announced the activation of 10,000 robots to perform tasks previously performed by warehouse workers; or even the use of drones for delivery of goods purchased, it is certainly a more advertising practice that actually applied, but already under trial in Britain.

In contrast transhumanism was born as a cultural movement that aims to improve the human condition from the genetic, physiological and intellectual point of view, through the use of emerging technologies; it is defined by one of the members as «the idea that new technologies will likely change the world in the next century or two, to the point that our descendants will not be human for many features»¹¹³. The future scenario imagined by transhumanists is quite positive and optimistic: it refers to medical nanotechnology, manipulation of brain to intervene on diseases, climate monitoring, programmable robots for interventions seemingly simple as household activities or highly specialized and delicate as surgery interventions¹¹⁴.

Similarly technological and social determinism are on the one hand a theoretical thread that expresses structures, culture and social values dependent on new technologies; on the other the need of social forces necessary to technological progress.

Technophiles are those people who express a positive attitude, confidence and enthusiasm for technology, while noticing the potentially negative aspects of technological development they are not a rejection reason¹¹⁵. Instead technophobes feel a real fear of technology, justified by the negative impact that it can cause to cognitive, emotional and physical dimensions (for example the case of dependences). This phobia can become a pathological form or be a clear rejection, as is the case in the Amish culture in which the feeling of rejection is dictated by the desire to preserve their traditions.

Umberto Eco, fifty years after the publication of Apocalyptic and Integrated concerning the issues of mass culture and the media, defined techno-integrated those who accept technological innovations as a good thing for society and capable of giving greater openness and sharing of knowledge. The techno-apocalyptic would rather be those who accuse the growing digital culture to deprive the traditional society of its cultural foundations, fearing a future where the machines will rule the humans¹¹⁶.

The author Neil Postman might fall within the techno-critics groups: those who are trying to take a neutral position, not focusing exclusively on the benefits nor the negative sides of technology. He argues that we need to overcome the marked dualisms since the real comparison is between the technology and all the others¹¹⁷ ; he expresses a balanced position with the following words «it is wrong to assume that every technological innovation has a one-way effect. Every technology is both a blessing and a loss: it is not one or the other, is the one and the other thing»¹¹⁸.

extreme position which falls partly within the techno-utopians class and partly in the current of the transhumanism is that identified with the concept of technological singularity expressed by technologist Raymond Kurzweil: the technological development will come to a time when artificial intelligence will exceed human beings intelligence. The author forecasts are particularly detailed and precise: by 2030 computers will have intellectual and emotional capabilities like the human beings who in the meantime will suffer a hybridization process, that is the intellectual faculties will be derived from organic portions and not. The Italian philosopher Luciano Floridi believes that the so-called exponential growth of technology mentioned by Kurzweil is actually a fallacy, it is rather a logistic growth (sigmoid function). He also offers a different point of view: it is not the technology that is adapting to the world, thanks to the artificial intelligence development, it is actually the world which is turning into machine friendly, we are changing our attitude towards technology to adapt to it. The same thought is expressed in a certain way by the American psychologist Sherry Turkle about our growing expectations towards technology.

Castells expresses its opinion regarding this eternal conflict by defining the issue a «false problem», he states: «the technology is the society: it does not determine but it embodies the society, which in turn does not determine technological innovation 119 but uses it» .

3.2. FROM PERSONAL COMPUTER TO PSYCHOTECHNOLOGIES

The American sociologist Barry Wellman invited professionals to focus on a new aspect relating to computer studies during the Conference CSCW (Computer- Supported Cooperative Work) in 1992: he observed that social networks were not the only mode of computer mediated communication, users began to use the technology for all kinds of interaction and communication, for example telephone, fax or written text. Participants remained focused on developing of applications, defining this area as user studies and not of interest to them. Actually in the following years the scope of studies concerning the modalities of interaction between man and machine with the¹¹⁹ focus on the user, had a great development in various fields: from information and communication sciences to psychosocial sciences.

Two authors in particular focused on the power of connection between people and information typical of technologies and Internet, from which originates inevitably the socializing power as well. Lévy theorized the concept of collective intelligence¹²⁰ in 1994, according to which knowledge, information and experience stored by each individual come together to be placed at the disposal of society, the fundamental prerequisites are culture and social community or a group that is recognized as such¹²¹ ; Lévy then recognizes to the individual the role of knowledge carrier and sees in technology the excellent transmission medium¹²². A few years later the sociologist De Kerckhove further developed the theory of Lévy to hypothesize a practical dimension, based on the idea of knowledge sharing, he defined the connective intelligence¹²³. He shared the idea of Lévy but he stressed the fact that the personal dimension of each intelligence should not be belittled and that it could get more value from the networking of different intelligences.

More recently De Kerckhove was interested in the ways in which technology changes the environment around us and simultaneously changes users, he talks about a real transformation shaped by the media which is also caused by the fact that the screens with which users interact have become an intimate element, as much to compare them to biotechnologies¹²⁴. From this metaphor develops the concept of psychotechnologies, meant as extensions of the mind and thought, as well as other physical tools that literally extend the body such as glasses, an automobile, a fork¹²⁵.

With a similarity with De Kerckhove theories the name for the smartphone in Finland is the term känny, it means extension of the hand. According to the theory of the author you can interpret these extensions as an enhancement of human thinking abilities, of language processing and communication; observing the current reality it seems that the smartphone in particular is intended and managed by most users as a part of their body and their identity. From a psychosocial point of view this behaviour has raised many concerns by scholars and of course has also stimulated a further theoretical and empirical closer examination of the phenomenon; among the evidences emerged it is important for example the so-called nomophobia: it is a term that combines the words no-mobile-phobia and it refers to the fear of being without a mobile device¹²⁶.

The possible negative consequences arising from the relationship with the technology are now known and there are in different countries and in different ways initiatives of social intervention, in Italy for example a laboratory was dedicated specifically to internet addiction disorder from 2009 at the University Polyclinic “Agostino Gemelli” in Rome. In Milan was established the centre Hikikomori in 2012 with the aim to observe, analyse and take care of new addictions, relational disorders largely linked to the use of technologies and the Internet addiction. The name of the centre is particularly indicative, it is a Japanese term for the phenomenon, that was born in Japan, whereby young teenagers decide to withdraw from social life and spend long periods in isolation in their own rooms; some authors associated this disorder to the estrangement caused by excessive online presence¹²⁷.

Bauman instead has observed some negative effects of technology on a social macro-level expressing his preoccupation regarding the fact that technological progress can be an obstacle to freedom, to free information and to interpersonal communication, therefore human relations can become more fragile and superficial representing the so called liquid society¹²⁸.

3.3. THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES

The definition of mobility technology embodies three characteristic elements¹²⁹:

1. Connectivity: the primary function of mobile devices is to connect people anytime, anywhere; it is a possibility that no instrument before had ever offered to man. Probably it also represents an indicator of the shared fear about experiencing a feeling of loneliness¹³⁰.
2. Globalization: mobile technologies are certainly a global phenomenon; even countries that still have difficulties to implement a fixed telephone network and data transmission network are utilizing the Internet through smartphones.
3. Accessibility: a mobile device is available to everyone; just think of the cost of the first computers appeared on the market, they were technologies to which a few segments of the population could aspire.

These three characteristics contribute to the definition of the concept of pervasiveness, that is intrinsic to the concept of mobile technologies; but exactly what is meant by pervasiveness?

The literal meaning of the term refers to something that spreads in penetrating way, as for example the diffusion of a gas. Over the past ten years technology has adopted the same behaviour, particularly mobile technology was included in almost every aspect of our lives, acquiring gradually a decisive role in influencing and making changes in many aspects of social action: interpersonal relationships, social identity, cognitive styles, buying behaviours.

The social impact on interpersonal relationships was probably the first visible sign of the strong presence of mobile technologies and one of the first objects of study in scientific research. We will deepen just two aspects present in the vast literature about it: the influence of technology on communication modes and the influence on interpersonal relationships not mediated by technology (vis-à-vis). The first ways of online interaction attainable thanks to the Internet made possible both a synchronous and an asynchronous communication between people located in different parts of the world. Currently the way we communicate is becoming more impersonal because of frequent use - sometimes abuse - of digital modes that impose brevity and simplicity of expression, text messages are now used by all smartphone owners, although it was a predominant cultural phenomenon among teenagers¹³¹. Often the written language is enriched or replaced by the use of emoticons¹³², often considered a viable alternative to the rich expressiveness of the non-verbal language¹³³.

Some academics were interested in the relationship between user and smartphone, assuming that a smartphone could be considered almost a surrogate for a human being: for some women the cellphone is used as an element of self-defense in case of need, like pepper spray. Cumiskey and Brewster evidenced that using a cellphone contributes to the feeling of security in ambiguous places or situations which causes fear and preoccupation; women use the smartphone as a tool for self­defense perceiving it as even more effective than other conventional weapons¹³⁴. The motivation behind such behaviour is related to the fact that the smartphone transmits a psychological security rather than a physical one, derived from the possibility of contacting the police or others¹³⁵.

A recent trend of research concerns the influence of the smartphone on personal face-to-face interactions: Cumiskey and colleagues have argued that the mere presence of the cell phone can divert people involved in the communication, since it has become an habit and an automatic behaviour make a look to the smartphone to check for notifications of calls or messages, even when there was no beep sound. For this reason Cumiskey has added the digital element to the classic paradigm of Lewin for the interpretation of human behaviour¹³⁶.

In addition to these empirical evidences we have to highlight the social phenomenon that has affected worldwide about thirty million users of smartphones between 2015 and 2016: the game “Pokémon GO” became a hobby and favourite application. Only in the USA there are about 21 million daily users who walking and pausing occasionally with their eyes fixed on the display of their device detect and fight virtual entities into the surrounding environment, playing with what the so-called augmented reality offers.

With regard to the impact on social identity the concern is for the ways of expression of identity that are gradually changing, it seems essential and priority the management of online presence particularly among young people. There are many claims made by authors or by spontaneous groups born on the web regarding the link between identity and internet or technology in general: «Facebook, therefore I am» it is the expression that indicates the current tendency to publish every moment of own life on the social network, with the risk, in this way, of living with the aim of making known to others what we are doing and updating the profile that represents the digital mirror of identity¹³⁷. There is also a revisited representation of the traditional pyramid of man's primary needs created by Maslow, it comes with an ironic intent but represents some truth. In the original model Maslow identified five levels corresponding to categories of essential needs for the man as a social being: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem and finally of self-realization¹³⁸. It was published a pyramid representation in 2014 with a new layer added to base: Wi-Fi¹³⁹. Connecting to a wireless network seems to have become an essential condition for any professional and personal activities.

Another aspect concerning the identity expression is tied to the users' loyalty to a particular brand of smartphones, in the literature it has already been shown that people identify themselves with values and characteristics of the brand selected¹⁴⁰ ; the smartphone becomes also an expression of identity through the possible customizations, even only with the choice of the ringtone¹⁴¹. So choosing a brand often equates to sharing features and messages advertised, furthermore it also affects the sense of belonging and social identity of the user¹⁴².

With regard to the impact on cognitive styles we refer in particular to the new ways of learning implemented through technological supports, for example mobile learning and personalized learning. Mobile learning means that the individual has the opportunity to consult the study material anywhere, anytime¹⁴³, it is a way to expand the conventional environments for learning and to leave to the individual free will the consumption of culture and knowledge. Another definition of mobile learning frames this phenomenon as the power of learning through different contexts¹⁴⁴.

Personalized learning is based on the design of specific technologies dedicated to different needs, through a particular interface or different content or just a different hardware support, it is possible respect the cognitive and social differences of the users about the ways of learning and their respective requirements in this regard¹⁴⁵.

The application of technological innovations in the field of education rises new issues from a psychosocial point of view: although the use of technology in this sector can foster the involvement of people with specific needs, on the other hand it is a further cause for worry regarding the pervasiveness of technology. Furthermore it is very important an appropriate education dedicated both to teachers and to students for the correct use of tools in support of learning.

Finally the impact of technology is observable on purchase and consumption behaviours: from a computer or a simple application it is possible to buy everything, online all kinds of gods are purchasable often with competitive prices hardly comparable to the cost of offline purchases in traditional stores. Online shopping is influenced by personal factors, such as susceptibility to the Internet use or the risk perception related to online shopping; but it is also affected by external factors, as for example the ease of use of the tool used, the convenience in terms of time and money and the perceived utility¹⁴⁶. On shopping web sites there are often many persuasive techniques, one above all is made possible thanks to the individual profiling of research carried out by a user, so the purchase suggestions, discounts or special offers are tailored to what the software identifies as user preferences. Another persuasive feature of online shopping is the ease with which you can complete the purchase, it is just through few clicks with your mouse. This ease compared to the amount of actions for a purchase at a traditional store may be one of the causes of online compulsive shopping¹⁴⁷.

CHAPTER 4. REAL AND COMPUTER MEDIATED PERSUASION

4.1. THE PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

The rhetoric of Aristotle is defined as the art of persuading in every situation different people with different instruments, therefore it is in the fourth century b.C. that probably is defined persuasion for the first time and Aristotle framed it as an ability to be used for either good or evil; but in his theory he put a strong emphasis on the moral aspect of persuasion. Furthermore in ancient Greece the oratory was the basis of democracy, through speeches in the agora was possible to influence people. The concept of persuasion is central even today for scholars interested in the art of rhetoric, but it is necessary make two distinctions: the first concerns the type of approach that is different from that of empirical or scientific research; the second distinction refers to two threads of research, one connected to the role of persuasion in political and social life, the other one related to the ethical and moral aspects of the source of persuasive communication¹⁴⁸.

In more recent times mass persuasion it has been discussed with reference to the revolutions we have witnessed in the world of communication: the press, radio, television, the Internet. In all these cases there was a twofold reaction: on the one hand an initial enthusiasm for the power of communication and especially for the informative value of topics related to civic and political sense, but almost simultaneously the ambivalence of all these tools was depicted and it is due to the inevitable presence and distribution of content of little civic, political, ethical and social relevance¹⁴⁹ ; with the risk that the educational value of Aristotelian origin could get completely lost.

There are many definitions of the concept of persuasion in social psychology, in the review curated by Roloff and Miller they try to offer a well-defined framework for the expression to be persuaded¹⁵⁰. The first important distinction that is generally accepted is that in respect of the coercive communication, in particular it is emphasized the fact that the persuasion can be coercive in an indirect way or a coercion may be anticipated by a persuasive communication. The second assumption highlighted by the authors is related to the fact that persuasion is often built on a symbolic negotiation; some authors in the past (Woolbert, 1917; Rowell, 1932) have argued the distinction between persuasive communication and an oriented conviction communication, associating the former with a basis of emotions and irrational thoughts of the receiver and associating the latter with rational and logical aspects of reasoning. More recent studies confirm that persuasive communication is based on both types of reasoning, logical and irrational or emotional, that can follow two different processing paths or join in a unimodal process¹⁵¹.

Nilsen identifies the goal of persuasion in «inducing beliefs or actions in other people» giving a meaning entirely negative because persuaders would care just about their own interests¹⁵² ; most recently Cavazza suggests the following definition for persuasion: «the communication process in which a source presents arguments and facts, reasoning and conclusions directed to induce a change in the receiver»¹⁵³, it is meant the process culminating in an effective and measurable change of an attitude, a behaviour or a belief in the receiver, target of persuasive communication.

The first researchers who were interested in the formation and change of attitudes and behaviours were convinced that they were the result of a learning process¹⁵⁴ and that this process could be strengthened through classical and operant conditioning actions, according to the behaviourist theories155,156. Cognitive approaches have instead highlighted the link between a persuasive communication and the change of attitudes and behaviours, these theories differ in the type of cognitive processing activated for the received information: they are theories based on the systemic processing^{155 156 157} and theories based on two processes already presented in this work¹⁵⁸.

In 1981 Petty, Cacioppo and Goldman realized an experiment to test the hypothesis that the personal motivation would represent an important variable in the change of attitudes; manipulating the level of personal involvement and subjective relevance of persuasive arguments researchers confirmed the hypothesis.

The theme of persuasive technologies binds particularly well to the concept of indirect pressure exerted by an active source of influence, which is characterized by the presence of messages that evoke the advantages and disadvantages linked to a specific action¹⁵⁹ ; on the contrary in a direct pressure the messages push the target with different pressure levels to assume a certain behaviour.

4.2. CAPTOLOGY AND PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORIES

Some central element of captology are present in Hovland studies and Yale school: persuasion should not be construed as manipulation, but as an act or communication aimed at encouraging the change in attitudes or behaviours.

The birth of captology as a discipline is identified by convention in 1997 when Fogg presented his theory during a Special Interest Group within the Computer Human Interaction Congress (CHI-SIG), the neologism stands for Computers As Persuasive Technologies. Previously various disciplines were interested in persuasive technology issue, such as ergonomics, psychology, sociology; but from this moment the construction of an independent sector took origin. In order to frame the discipline and its object of study can be helpful the work published in 1989 by Bench Capon and McEnery where it is deepen the difference between interaction through technology and interaction with technology¹⁶⁰. The distinction is between two areas of study: Human Computer Interaction is interested in human interaction with computers; the Computer Mediated Communication is interested instead in human interactions through computers; therefore the first meaning is that which defines the field of action of the captology.

It is necessary to better define some key concepts: Fogg defines persuasion as the attempt to change attitudes, behaviours or both¹⁶¹. It is carefully distinguished from coercion practices, which forces a change of behaviour, and from deception, which can cause a change in behaviour because of a misinformation; the change produced by the persuasion is instead voluntary.

Other central element in the Fogg theory is intentionality: a technology can be defined persuasive when it is designed with a persuasive intent and in this sense the eventual effect will be evaluated as planned rather than collateral. The intent is defined endogenous, because it resides in the technology design; the intention exogenous does not fall between the interests of the captology, since it refers to the arbitrary use of a technology in order to voluntarily modify a behaviour.

It is necessary a further differentiation between macro-persuasion and micro­persuasion: in the first case it is the overall aim of a technological product, in the second case are rather small details or features which are within the technology. For example the feedback system offered by the e-commerce platform eBay is a type of micro-persuasion: user comments facilitate the adoption of appropriate behaviour from a commercial point of view.

According to Fogg the functional view of persuasive technologies concerns the triple role that technology can play as a source of persuasion, it can be understood as tool, media or social actor¹⁶².

1. Tool: as it can increase the user's ability or facilitate a process.
2. Media: technology can provide information and expertise in a symbolic way (through diagrams, texts, graphics, visual information) or a sensory way (for example through a virtual reality simulation).
3. Social Actor: when technology assumes a social role, creating relationships between people and technology.

Regarding the first point of the Fogg functional triad he identifies seven different types of persuasive technologies intended as tools, any technological application can implement two or more of these tools simultaneously¹⁶³. The first is defined reduction: simplifying a complex activity, for example by reducing the number of actions required, it will become easier to perform it and the benefits from the psychological point of view can be found in a self-efficacy increase and a positive perception of the cost-benefit balance.

The second tool often used in the design of persuasive technology is known as tunneling, which consists in creating a predetermined path of actions that the user must follow; the most common example of this tool is the path defined for the installation of a software. The tailoring is the process which provide relevant information to the user or also ad hoc and customized data that are personalized and contextualized. Fogg highlights that the only perception that an information has been personalized can lead the user to pay more attention and to adopt a deeper attentional process for the information provided; this aspect raises some ethical problems due to the design of interactive persuasive technologies, matter that will be detailed later.

The fourth tool type is always characterized by interactivity and the ability to provide suggestions at the right time; the guiding principle is the Greek kairos¹⁶⁴and an implementation example is given by speed detectors that also indicate the recommended speed to the driver. The major difficulty for the realization of this persuasive tool lies in the definition and the identification of the appropriate moment in order to suggest the behaviour to be implemented. Self-monitoring is the fifth type of persuasive tool: it promotes greater awareness and self-knowledge that can act as a guide in the attitudes or behaviours change intentions. Among the most widespread persuasive technologies there is the category of wearable devices, which are capable of monitoring physical activity, sleep, heart rate and other personal parameters.

The sixth instrument consists of the so-called surveillance technologies: the underlying psychological principle concerns the phenomenon that when people know they are being observed they tend to have different behaviours, but a personal motivation to change is needed in order to internalize these behaviours. A tool with these characteristics may be for example an automobile device to monitor the driving style; but a secret observation would have no outcome from the persuasion point of view (and therefore may not change any behaviour), there should be a declared and manifest intention of monitoring in order to have positive results. There is another open question concerning the motivation: persons might perform that behaviour only until they are monitored, without actually changing their beliefs and attitudes, therefore the result would be a compliance rather than an internalization (Kelman, 1958). The latest tool presented by Fogg, already known and widely applied in many fields is conditioning, it is based on the operant conditioning principles theorized by Skinner in 1974. Video games are probably the most common technology based on virtual rewards and punishments; despite being an easily and often implemented tool, some studies have confirmed the increased effectiveness - in terms of behaviour change - of more soft and gentler methods such as offering advice rather than reward and punishment¹⁶⁵.

The second point of the functional triad is represented by persuasive technologies as media. They are all those technological devices which can provide simulations of experiences, from the most simple way of interaction - such as with a mobile device - to the most technologically advanced way, that is virtual reality. Fogg identified three categories grouping these technologies: simulations of cause and effect scenarios; simulated environments; simulated objects.

The strengths of the first category are based on the possibility for the user to see in a short time the link between causes and effects of certain behaviours, in a safe environment, free from real threats. Very common examples are in the prevention and communication in health field, it is certainly not an innovation to show the consequences of smoking or improper lifestyle, but the feeling of immediacy and direct link that the user experiences is very effective.

There are examples of persuasive technologies that also offer simulations in other areas, for example the application designed for the development of social skills in adolescence (Rockett's New School) is interesting from the social point of view¹⁶⁶. In this case the user can choose attitudes and behaviours of the protagonist in the simulation, who is facing the first day of school in a new institute. Obviously there will be different consequences for each choice with different reactions also in terms of socialization¹⁶⁷. In such applications it is unavoidable the presence of the bias of the author of the simulation, which performs the function of vicarious experience for the user but may be limited in accuracy and relevance to reality.

The second category includes environmental simulations, in this case the user has the opportunity to have an experience or perform a certain behaviour in a virtual environment which is controlled and managed by the user.

Many applications come from the field of sport and health, some researches have shown that by practicing the actual physical activity accompanied by a virtual simulation takes the active person to a greater physical effort (in terms of heart rate and calories burned), but with a lower perceived exertion than those who carried out the same activities without the virtual simulation¹⁶⁸. Another interesting evidence concerns the increased self-efficacy to adopt a certain behaviour in those persons who have had experiences with virtual simulation environments rather than having passively observed the vicarious experience¹⁶⁹. Environmental simulations have been useful tools even in the doctor-patient relationship, for example to promote an empathetic attitude towards cancer patients; some doctors have used simulations through virtual immersive reality performing patients' role; the emotions felt during the simulation subsequently produced a change of attitude and behaviour in the real relationship with patients.

The third category consists of simulated objects: it a simulation in the real environment, users do not have to adapt their experience to a virtual environment as in previous cases, but an object is entered in their everyday environment. An example is the project launched in the US to educate adolescents to a safe driving style and above all to avoid driving after taking alcohol. Adolescents have the opportunity to drive a normal car in an ad hoc prepared circuit, during the second lap the car responds to commands simulating the driving under the influence of alcohol and giving to driver the feeling of loss of control¹⁷⁰.

We must emphasize, however, that the design and project of interactive technology are critical in determining the effects arising from the interaction with the instrument; as mentioned earlier the creator bias can affect the success of the project by producing an effective outcome in a persuasive way, but can also causing an unwanted or not expected change in attitude or behaviour.

For example the Baby Think It Over project started in America in 1993 was intended to prevent early pregnancies in adolescence; but in this case the message appear to be limited to only one aspect of the matter, namely that related to parental responsibility, not including other dimensions, such as the importance of a comprehensive training and sex education.

The last point of the functional triad is related to computers as social actors, Nass and colleagues in 1994 elaborated one of the first studies that investigate the type of social interaction between the user and technology; they demonstrated that even experienced computer users espoused social norms in the interaction with the technological tool¹⁷¹.

Fogg identifies five categories of social indicators attributable to a computer:

1. Physical: this is the principle of the attractiveness associated with a source of social influence, already widely studied and confirmed. People often perceived as physically attractive benefit of the so-called “halo effect”, they are also perceived as credible, competent, reliable, thus resulting more persuasive. The same principle can be applied to computers that can be designed as attractive from both hardware and software point of view.
2. Psychological indicators: in this case it refers to real personality traits, a malfunctioning computer can be perceived as uncooperative or vindictive. Numerous studies have been carried out manipulating some features that define the perception about a computer personality; it is actually that users - even technologically savvy - interact with computers in different ways based on personality compatibility. There are again some ethical concerns: one may wonder whether it is right and to what extent, to design an interactive technology with relevant psychological traits, but Nass' research (which had no persuasive intent) shows that it is a human tendency to interact in a social way with technological tools.
3. Linguistic indicators: written or audio they are a way to determine a social presence. The most obvious example is represented by the dialog boxes that appear in a number of online shopping sites or games, the message is often a compliment or praise for users to entice them to continue. Some studies have shown that this type of praise, sincere or not, predispose users to a state of positive and open mind, which in turn makes the person more open to a possible persuasive intent¹⁷².
4. Social dynamics: are all those behaviours implicitly recognized and shared in every culture. Some researchers have made some studies and demonstrated that the social phenomenon of reciprocity also happens with a computer¹⁷³. If users perceive computer as particularly useful and helpful during the interaction, they will care to return the favour. It is a feature that can easily and dangerously be implemented as part of the online games or some paid services.
5. Social roles: as early as 1960 it was created ELIZA, the first program designed to interact with patients during the first therapeutic interview¹⁷⁴. Since then were developed several technologies that could represent a particular social role, the most popular are teachers and personal trainers. The outcome of persuasive intent in this type of interaction depends mainly on the user's reaction to the type of social characterization. Fogg suggests that in case of interactive technologies developed in order to increase user efficiency, it would be counterproductive to enter an indication of social role, it could slow down the process.

According to the Fogg model three elements would be required in order to have a change in behaviour: motivation, ability to carry out that particular action and the so-called trigger¹⁷⁵.

The main theories on persuasive communication define the characteristics of the source as one of the key factors in the persuasion success, as well as the characteristics of the receiver are relevant to the type of processing, availability or resistance to the received message.

The credibility is one of the fundamental characteristics that determine the persuasive power of the source, even if it is a human or a technological source: the higher the credibility of the persuader and higher will be the probability that the persuasion has success. This assumption is already known in the studies concerning the persuasion among individuals^{176 177 178} , we introduce some theoretical foundations necessary for understanding the extent of the phenomenon to the human-computer relationship.

Credibility is defined as a perceived quality: it is not a property of the person or object, but it is an attribute that is recognized in a completely arbitrary and subjective way and it is expressed only when an assessment is made on the person, on the object or on the information 177,178. Gili adds the relationship concept, it is possible to speak of credibility only when an interaction is established between two people or two entities .¹⁷⁹

Fogg implements some theories developed in the past (Hovland et al., 1953; Petty and Cacioppo, 1981) relative to the credibility dimensions: they are the competence and reliability or credibility, the latter is especially favoured by the perception of fairness and impartiality.

One might ask why or in which cases the perception of credibility can be considered decisive when attributed to a computer; Fogg facilitate the understanding of the phenomenon identifying seven different contexts.

1. Credibility is important when a computer must provide information or advices to users. For example the case of the Google search engine: in 2002 there have been controversies regarding the order of presentation of the results, it was feared that it could be determined by the amount of the gains obtained from advertising rather than the actual relevance of the information. This episode has certainly influenced the opinion of reliability and credibility of many users. Another possible example is the use of the navigation system in the car: persons who decide to follow the directions perceive the tool as credible based on the accuracy of the provided suggestions and based on the achievement of their destination.
2. The second context refers to the case where a computerized system should detect and communicate measures or parameters to users: for example the heart rate, exposure to ultraviolet rays, the travelled distance, the hours of sleep or wakefulness, the atmospheric temperature.
3. The third context includes more sophisticated data processing to provide information to the user in real time, some examples are the forecast weather conditions, the indication of the cheapest airfare available, the suggestion for an investment.
4. The fourth context refers to a report provided by the computer relative to some activities carried out by the computer itself: for the purposes of credibility is important that there is an actual correspondence between what is reported to the user and the activity that actually has been carried out.
5. The fifth context in which credibility becomes salient concerns information provided by the computer about its state: the remaining memory, the power reserve, the linked devices or identified via wireless.
6. The sixth context includes the case in which a computer provides a simulation to the user; in order to be a credible simulation it must be reliable and relevant to reality.
7. The seventh and last context identified refers to the representation of virtual environments, for which it is not so much significant the relevance with reality, but rather the internal consistency represented.

The credibility attributed to a computer in the seven contexts considered can best be analysed from different perspectives of interaction with technology, these are four types of credibility: alleged, apparent, estimated, deserved¹⁸⁰. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, in the same technological environment can coexist and influence each other two or more types of credibility, for ease of analysis we consider them separately.

In the first case referred to the alleged credibility the foundation of credibility lies in the user's beliefs and opinions regarding the computer; Waern and Ramberg conducted a study in 1996, they investigated the level of confidence in computer during problem solving situations, comparing it to the level toward other people. The survey results show that in cases where the participants had no prior knowledge about the problem to solve, they show more confidence in the computer rather than other people¹⁸¹.

The apparent credibility is based on the user's first impressions, it can also be determined by quality far from reliability concept, such as the font and colour of the text chosen for the presentation of information. It is therefore an automatic rating, processed quickly and extremely subjective; the more the computer confirms user's positive expectations the more it will be considered credible.

The third type of credibility is defined estimated and it refers to the evaluation on the computer provided by third parties; the same thing happens when it comes to credibility attributed to persons: the presence of awards, titles or positive ratings from other contribute to increasing the credibility level. This is called the transitive property of credibility: a person can “lend” credibility to another, becoming a sort of guarantor¹⁸². In the technological context the positive evaluation or a recommendation to the user does not come necessarily from a third party: for example the links between web sites or cross-tips on applications usage, they represent a real form of promotion and credibility recommendation.

The deserved credibility is based on a judgment carefully processed in the course of time, it can be positive or negative and it is usually tied to a consolidated and difficult attitude to change.

Kantowitz and colleagues found that users evaluate computers as credible and reliable as long as the information provided is reliable or deemed correct by users; another intervening factor in the assessment of credibility lies in the significance of the error committed, this judgment is closely related to the context of use¹⁸³. For example during the use of a navigation system in the car it is allowed a rate of 30% error, users still continue to use it and to accept the information provided. On the contrary it may not be permitted even a minimum percentage of error if it were a tool for laser incision for the ophthalmological or ecobiometria ultrasonic, used for calculating the power of the artificial lens¹⁸⁴.

In different contexts the loss of credibility can be recovered if the computer would provide accurate information for an extended period of time¹⁸⁵ or even if the computer would persist in executing consistently the same mistake, so users will become aware of it and able to anticipate or implement the countermeasures for that type of error, as long as it is an insignificant error in terms of consequences¹⁸⁶.

Although there are different routes for the formation of a credibility judgment of a technological device, more or less impulsive or reasoned, it should also consider the possibility that the judgment is wrong, as indeed it can happen even in a human interaction. Errors or pathologies, as were defined by Gili¹⁸⁷, are due to two biases related to the ingenuity and distrust. In the first case we tend to perceive a product as credible when actually it is not, showing an excess of confidence; when it is instead expressed excessive distrust or suspicion the risk can be in judging a product as not credible when on the contrary it is. Thinking about the design of persuasive technologies, in order to aim at maximum credibility, the effort of the creators should be focused on reducing errors due to excessive diffidence without increasing those deriving from ingenuity¹⁸⁸.

The concept of trust toward a technological device is described by Lee (1991) as a multi-dimensional construct: the first dimension depends on the performance of the product, the second dimension refers to the understanding of the operation by the user, the third dimension is based on the intentions that guided the creation of the technological product.

These early studies conducted in the Nineties have certainly provided the basis for investigations on the credibility and trust, but it is also worth noting that the technology world has gone through an intense period of rapid progress, so much that some of the latest features allow a persuasive impact of the tool definitely increased compared to previous devices and they also add other dimensions to the construct of trust. As mentioned above in relation to the persuasive tools, mobility and connectivity of new technologies increase their persuasive power, we see in more detail how this happens.

First of all the fact that users may have a mobile device always with them makes it easier to identify the most appropriate time for the transmission of a persuasive message, which can be a simple notification, an advice or a simulation¹⁸⁹ ; in this way the technology interacts with the user proactively. On the other side connectivity makes sure that the information provided are updated in real time and combined with other sources or devices if necessary. For example Amazon, the best known company for e-commerce, is able to provide its users with a personalized service: advices and suggestions on purchases are offered based on previous shopping experiences of the individual user or on previous researches done.

The persuasive power favoured by the continuous connectivity and mobility is confirmed theoretically by some phenomena related to the concept of social influence; primarily the theory developed by Zajonc on social facilitation, people better perform a specific action when there are other people involved¹⁹⁰, who observe or are simply present even virtually¹⁹¹. Moving in the technological field, connectivity makes it possible to create a virtual group of people who play the role of active participants or mere observers¹⁹².

Previous studies have shown that it is not necessary the effective representation of other people, simply an avatar or even indicators related to the activity carried out by others; there are areas of research concerned precisely the creation of a virtual presence representation systems¹⁹³. Persuasion can achieve his goal also through another psychosocial process defined social comparison: people form opinions and attitudes about their identity or their performance taking other individuals as reference and comparison¹⁹⁴. There are already some applications that implement this principle in order to improve proper study habits or a healthy lifestyle: the user will tend to make a comparison with similar people in terms of skills, gender or age.

As part of social learning theory the concept of modelling may be appropriate in strengthening the persuasive impact of certain technologies: there is a greater probability that a person perform a behaviour after the observation and learning deriving from vicarious experience of others¹⁹⁵. Additional phenomena arising from the real or virtual interaction between persons and groups may represent a stimulus or an intrinsic motivation in favour of the persuasive intent. In the case where more people interact through technological devices for achieving a common goal or to carry out an action at the individual level, it may be observed phenomena such as competition, cooperation or recognition¹⁹⁶. The competition is itself a powerful energizing and stimulating element; cooperation is as much motivating spontaneously in group work; recognition can be a motivating factor because persons who know that their performance will be known to others or that they could receive a reward, they will increase their commitment in order to not disappoint the expectations.

4.3. ETHICS OF PERSUASIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Our object of study includes two areas that are already at the centre of debates on the ethical aspect: persuasion is always been a grey area marked by conflicting opinions on the fairness and morality of the persuasive intent; technology, although from more recent times, it is at the same way in the centre of a animated debate between those who consider it necessary and beneficial to human progress and those who describe it as a threat. In 1999 for the first time two authors became interested in these two areas jointly from an ethical point of view and defined ethics as a coherent and rational system, to discern right and wrong in specific contexts related to actions or attitudes¹⁹⁷.

A key element to consider when forming a judgment on the ethics of persuasion is the fact that the very concept of ethics is closely linked to the culture of belonging, therefore, a persuasive communication can be at the same time ethical for some and not for others; furthermore the judgment cannot be expressed directly on the broad concept of persuasion but on the use made of it.

In order to outline a more precise frame around the ethics of persuasive technologies some authors (Berdichevsky and Neunschwander, 1999; Fogg, 2003) have identified three main relevant areas to assess the ethical basis:

1. The designers' technology intentions: most of the time they are technologies whose use can be functional to a healthy lifestyle, to promote safety or civic education and social participation. These objectives can be hardly judge unethical; it is a different matter when the intentions are related to the sale of products or to the promotion of violent behaviours.
2. The method used to transmit the persuasive message: the distinction between coercive and persuasive communication lies in the choice of method. So if the technological product provides false information or expresses threats or coercion toward users, it is not possible define it as an ethical persuasive communication, in this case the persuasive intent would have failed. An ethical persuasive communication should convey truthful and reliable information, a description of the recommended behaviours and indicate the causes and effects of possible choices.
3. The results obtained through the use of technology: in this case it is a double observation. On the one hand those who design technology must imagine and predict in advance, as far as possible, the use that users may make and the effects that technology can produce; on the other hand the real consequences must be effectively observed and evaluated. In general the results can be expected as early as the planning stage or they can be totally unexpected, reflecting the ethical intention or not, in both ways those who designed the technology are still responsible. If a negative impact is expected or detected, it would be needed to make changes to the product or at least make sure to limit the consequences that are harmful and unethical.

We would like to add a consideration that affects all three categories considered: the axioms of communication expressed by Watzlawick and the Palo Alto school are always valid. So the intentions, methods and results are linked to a subjective interpretation which includes several actors (those who design the technology, those who subsequently realize it, those involved in the advertising and sale of the product, end-users); a different punctuation of events can make the same technology for some ethical and definitely unfair and immoral to others¹⁹⁸.

Another questionable element in terms of ethics concerns the target population of persuasive technologies, there are certain segments of the population that can be defined more vulnerable than others as target of a persuasive communication. In fact address children, people with mental disabilities, elderly, people suffering from loneliness or other socially and psychologically debilitating diseases, it would make the technology definitely immoral¹⁹⁹. When evaluating the ethical dimension of a persuasive technology it can be helpful to use a specific method to minimize the subjectivity and variability of personal judgments; a possible method is the one that takes into account all the involved persons, the so-called stakeholder analysis²⁰⁰.

Stakeholders to be taken into account are all those who may have an interest in the use of technology, not only those directly involved, but also for example people close to the end users (family or friends); for each person it is necessary to identify what the possible interest can be, it could be related to economic or professional benefits, but also to a personal dimension such as self-esteem and learning. It may be useful to create a kind of ranking to see who among the people concerned would have the most benefits and also the largest losses, not only in material terms (such as time and money), but also more abstract losses as reputation and autonomy. At this point of the analysis personal and cultural values have to be included in order to determine if the balance between losses and gains is fair or whether it raises ethical questions; to conclude the analysis is necessary to identify and explain what values and theoretical assumptions have guided the observation and judgment.

The golden rule of persuasion is meant as the highest principle which persuaders should follow to be sure not to raise controversial issues from an ethical point of view²⁰¹. According to some of the assumptions set out in the political philosophy and ethics essay by Rawls, the authors suggest that persuaders should prepare their persuasive strategy placing metaphorically themselves behind a veil of ignorance to avoid acting for their own benefit²⁰². So in the context of ethics of persuasive technologies those who design a product should not build method and strategy for a purpose for which themselves would not be persuaded²⁰³. So it can be said that the design of persuasive technology should adhere to certain core values: absence of deception, respect for privacy and respect for personal freedom.

The care and concern for the creation of technologies that respect ethical principles are not so recent research interests, in 1986 Mason published an essay outlining some ethical standards for professionals in the field of information technology. The major ethical concerns identified at that time were related to privacy and information management in the sense of accuracy, ownership and accessibility²⁰⁴. Furthermore recently it has been coined a neologism intended to inaugurate a new discipline and research area: technoethics ²⁰⁵. Bennato defines its application field and scope: «it is the study of the relationships that develop between technology and society, with particular attention to the sphere of values, conceived within a pluralistic and liberal perspective»²⁰⁶ ; according to the author's opinion the continued presence of technology in many aspects of our lives put at risk the personal and collective values of society.

CHAPTER 5. FIRST STUDY : FOCUS GROUP

The empirical part was built with the intention to deepen and provide evidences relating to the use of persuasive technology for an altruistic purpose, the persuasive power could promote social interests through the use and action of the individual. The research questions from which the work has been started are as follows:

1. Do users perceive the impact of persuasive technologies that have a social aspect?
2. Are users more interested in using persuasive technologies for a collective or an individual benefit?
3. What are the main variables that influence the users' attitude towards the persuasive technologies?
4. What are the main variables that influence the usage behaviour of persuasive technologies?

In order to answer the first question evidences were collected from the literature and from the results of the first two qualitative studies: focus groups and pilot study conducted at the University of Salford.

The focus group was also useful to answer the second question, although results cannot be generalized, it has been a basis for the realization of the next step: the in-depth analysis with a questionnaire. The latter was built with the goal of understanding the preference of participants between a persuasive technology designed for personal benefits and one for collective benefits and identifying the variables that can affect the positive or negative attitude of the users towards these technologies and the subsequent behaviour.

5.1. TRIANGULATION METHODS

It has been preferred to follow an alternative route to the exclusive choice of a purely qualitative or quantitative method, opting for a triangulation of methods. In social sciences is quite wide and varied the literature regarding authority of one method over another, Corbetta identifies three different point of view: the first defines an incompatibility of the two approaches, so that the supporters of a methodology believe it the top in terms of validity than the other and vice versa²⁰⁷. The second case refers to an ancillary role of qualitative methods: their usefulness is recognized by neopositivists just in the preliminary stages of research. Finally the third position supports a parity between the two methodologies, assuming that a social scientist can apply a method rather than another according to the needs dictated by the type of the ongoing research²⁰⁸.

Gradually it was developed a thread of research related to the effectiveness, applicability and necessity of triangulation as a method of equally viable in the social sciences.

To better frame the concept of triangulation we refer to the definition provided by Fielding and Fielding: it is a union of different points of view, referring to social scientists but also to other experts from other disciplines, favouring also an interdisciplinary approach²⁰⁹ ; it is also possible to refer to methods of different origin, for example put together qualitative and quantitative methods independently for the stages of collection or data analysis. For other authors instead it is correct to speak of triangulation only in the event that multiple methods are applied, exclusively for the validity check²¹⁰ ; but the historical evolution of this approach also suggests other applications and a broader definition of the concept.

The development of so-called triangular theory places its roots on the limits that in the course of time several authors have identified in both qualitative and quantitative methods, trying to develop successful integration of the two so to fill the respective gaps.

It is often said that quantitative methods have led the researches to develop their computing skills and knowledge of statistical software, risking to limit social research and the work of the researcher to a mere calculation skills²¹¹. It is around the Sixties that quantitative methodological certainties begin to falter, especially when purely subjective methods of investigation started to emergence, they had no validity but they were directly indicative of the social reality: it is the advent of qualitative methods. Mead's symbolic interactionism was a first hint in 1934, then in 1967 with the birth of ethnomethodology by Garfinkel and with the development of the Theory of Speech Acts developed by Austin and the Pragmatics of Human Communication formulated by the School of Palo High. So a new method that gives value to the here and now of the analysis and to the subjective interpretations of researchers, expanding the social research field, it is contrasted with some force to the pragmatic approach, based on cold calculations but considered valid and shared by the scientific world.

As was the case for quantitative methods, in this case as well there is a progressive development of qualitative methods but not everyone felt a real progress, rather a worsening of the weaknesses that the methodology was already bearing. In the early Nineties in fact there has been an excessive interpretive attitude in researchers, who seemed to want to limit the observation of social reality in exchange for more space in their subjectivity.

The first to suggest a cooperation between the two opposing methods was Wilson: «qualitative and quantitative approaches are complementary rather than competitive methods [... and the] use of a particular method [...] rather must be based on the nature of the actual problem at hand»²¹².

Later in 1990 Patton expanded the concept with the intention of persuading social researchers to choose a method of analysis that is suitable for the type of object of study (methodological appropriateness), he alleged that the choice of method should not be defined only by researchers' ability and when researchers were not equipped with the appropriate knowledge to a particular type of methodology they could use an interdisciplinary approach, unfortunately it is still not adopted in the world of the social sciences²¹³. The intervention of Patton represents a turning point in the debate between superiority of qualitative or quantitative, so that the supporters of the respective methods by this time proved to be open to a debate and a constructive comparison.

The precursors of the triangular method were social psychologists (Campbell and Fiske, 1959; Webb et al., 1966; Sechrest and Phillips, 1979) who from the Fifties onwards have structured some studies with a multi-method approach - albeit remaining mainly in quantity field - their objective was to test a hypothesis with different methods and observe the comparison.

The first to use the term triangulation was Smith who, inspired by the military world²¹⁴, he wanted to show the simultaneous use of different analysis techniques²¹⁵. Also starting from the Seventies another very prolific author in this regard was Denzin, he deepened the triangular method from the technical and theoretical point of view.

The first methodological integrations were closely linked to the phases of a social research: relegating qualitative methods to the exploratory objectives of a research and quantitative methods to the time of validation. But in this way there is the risk that the qualitative method is diminished or that can be bounded only at the supporting and preparation role for the final stage of statistical and scientific validation of a theory, a task intended solely for quantitative methods. The real opportunity offered by the triangulation is realized with a constructive synthesis of different methods, by using both in different stages of research and trying to fill the gaps and doubts inevitably left by each method of research and analysis²¹⁶.

5.2. THE FOCUS GROUP

The first phase of the research was exploratory and the first technique adopted was the focus groups, wishing to explore the theme of research and expand the vision of the topic as much as possible thanks to the collective dimension of opinions emerged. There are suggestions in the literature regarding the use of a triangulation that includes focus groups as a method: for example Bezzi argues that the focus group on its own does not represent an independent analysis tool, for this reason he suggests to sustain it with other methods to get an informative completeness²¹⁷. The application of the focus group in support to other techniques of analysis dates back to 1926, when Bogardus - believed to be the precursor of this technique - used it in the ancillary function for processing of other data collection instruments. The instrument paternity has long been attributed to Merton who in 1941 elaborated with Lazarsfeld the group focused interviews technique, but the author refused this awarding noticing a marked difference with the technique he implemented and the modern focus group and admitting only an intellectual but not a historical continuity²¹⁸. It is assumed that the Merton refusal may be due to the immediate development of the technique in the world of marketing and market research, only in the Eighties it was once again common in academic and social research²¹⁹.

Since a long time there has been an open debate about the role that the focus group should play in a research: it is described and used both as an instrumental technique which supports or completes other, and as an independent technique able to produce valid information²²⁰.

The focus group advantage as an additional method to other techniques is found in the opportunity to receive feedback and new hypotheses that can be submitted to the next empirical investigation and the possibility of having suggestions for the construction of the questionnaire; in these cases the impossibility to generalize the results it is not a problem²²¹.

In literature it is not detectable a single and shared definition of focus groups, by adhering to the analysis made by Corrao on some definitions we report the final definition proposed: «the focus group is a detection technique for social research, based on discussion among a group of people, focused on a topic to be investigated in depth, with the presence of one or more moderators»²²².

The group is in fact the true strength and informative source of focus groups, social actors construct together a collective dimension of reality and the moderator can witness a real negotiation of meaning²²³, for which the public self (Krueger, 1998) it is the basis: the collective reality co-constructed depends exclusively on the reactions of the group to every single opinion expressed that each participant will change automatically based on the feedback received, acting a sharing and comparing process, so it is active a circle between the shared opinions and the subsequent immediate debate²²⁴. For this reason, the focus group is often described as a method of phenomenological dimension, so that the shared and collective construction of opinions is the only source of information, it is to be specify that the object of the debate comes from outside the group, which is the topic proposed by the moderator.

The other advantage offered by the collective dimension of the group is related to the relationship that is established between the moderator and the participants, it is in fact a relationship characterized by reciprocity from one side and from the privileged observer position on the other hand; the moderator is obliged to be aside and allow free flow of the discussion thus being able to observe what kind of trend takes the discussion without imposing a predetermined perspective. The group is thus the central element of the focus group, the researcher will have to choose a selection criterion for the formation of the group, the options are usually two:

1) Select an existing social group, whose members are already known and have already defined and recognized roles.
2) Select a mere agglomeration of persons excluding any previous knowledge among members.

In the first case during the interview the internal dynamics of the group will change and a new group identity will be created limited to that specific interactions context; although it is not ruled out the possibility of “duplicate” typical behaviours and interactional patterns of that specific group, with the risk (in terms of analysis for the researcher) of inserting implicit factors that will make sense only to participants.

In both cases it is a group meant according to a psychosocial vision, as it is the definition proposed by Bales²²⁵ that a group is like «a structure of social relations characterized from direct interaction between a small number of individuals»^{226 227 228}. Furthermore there are other two constituent elements of the social group definition provided by Tajfel and Turner: the self-categorization and the external recognition227,228. The focus group participants will have the perception of being a group, even if only for the arrangement in a circle and for sharing the same task; they will be perceived as a group by at least one external member, that is the moderator²²⁹. The creation of group identity takes place in the very early stages of the session, when persons choose their seat in the room and as soon as the moderator presents the interview target group, giving the participants a unique task, the same role and the same rules for everyone.

Although the focus group is defined as a purely qualitative method, the data can be analysed with qualitative and quantitative coding tools to limit the disadvantages of these analyses if carried out individually; following the Guglielmi opinion it has been applied an integrated analysis²³⁰: quantitative (or systematic) and interpretative (or hermeneutic). Quantitative analysis was performed using the T- LAB²³¹ software and for the interpretation of the data it has been applied an in-depth approach according to the phases of analysis identified by Bovina:

- faithfully transcribe the interview;
- identify relevant topics;
- assign a symbol to each topic;
- unify the arguments for categories according to developmental levels;
- discuss and interpret the results;
- take into account the observations of the moderator and/or observer;
- evaluate the results.

5.2.1. F OCUS GROUP IMPLEMENTATION AND ANALYSIS

The execution of the entire focus group can generally be divided into three phases: the first is an orientation phase, the participants will be interested in understanding the mode of interaction and themes; the second phase consists of the central moment in which the group participates actively in providing ideas or opinions; finally the third phase is represented by the closure made by the moderator who will try to return to the participants a compendium of the entire session.

The first moments of the focus groups are also important for the moderator who will form quick impressions about relationships and group dynamics, for example based on the choice of location around the table or non-verbal behaviour observed.

A second moment is constituted by the introduction of the session and presentation of the argument: this step was carried out following the guidelines proposed by Vaughn and colleagues in which it is expected to address a welcome to the participants, the moderator introduce himself and illustrates the methods of the session recording²³². The session features are then described: the kind of topic that will be covered and will place emphasis on the fact that the interest is for the views of the whole group, it is not included any assessment of the individual and therefore there are not right or wrong answers.

The group was selected with a non-probability sampling, consisting of five students enrolled in courses of Psychology at University of Chieti-Pescara “Gabriele d'Annunzio”, it was not a pre-existing social group, so there was not a previous knowledge among members. The sample was selected among the population of students for two reasons: most of them know with confidence the subject of investigation, also because in the final stage of research the sample selected for the questionnaire will be again consisting essentially of college students.

It was tried to constitute a homogeneous group: the age of the participants is very similar, ranging from 22 to 27 years, the perception of being among peers facilitates self-expression and sharing of experiences. Even the origin and the level in social-cultural terms is very similar; according to Fabris (1967) the most important element to ensure homogeneity is the level of education, in fact in the sample only two people have already earned a master's degree, others are students enrolled in a bachelor's degree course. The linguistic register chosen was informal and the level of structuring has been determined by the presence of an interview guide²³³ containing the points to be addressed in such a way flexible enough, in this way the moderator has assumed a limited role, intervening to facilitate the course of the discussion or to introduce new issues on the agenda. It has been applied the idea of some authors (Morgan, 1988; Stewart and Shamdasami, 1990) that the non-directive approach may be more suitable for an exploratory focus groups, as it facilitates the deepening of the point of view of participants.

The recruitment took place via a notice placed on the door of Business Psychology Laboratory at the G. d'Annunzio University, in the same room was then carried out the focus group; the notice reported a brief description of the focus group goals and an invitation to write the email address to be contacted later²³⁴.

During the course of the central phase among the participants there was an alternation of roles in order to maintain a balance between task orientation and socio- emotional components²³⁵, for example through funny expressions or short digressions from the main theme. According to Bales theory this natural behaviour is necessary to maintain the level of motivation and care of relations. This balance should be an objective shared by the moderator as well, even more in our case since the group was small and one of the risks may be the lack or block of creativity.

The data produced by the focus groups can be summarized in two major areas, communication and relationship, therefore there are two levels of analysis that have been applied²³⁶:

1. Analysis from a content-information point of view: it is based on the contents and is performed through the encoding, comparison, assimilation and categorization operations.
2. Relational analysis: the observation and interpretation of the interactions in the group give greater value to the information gathered.

The first level of analysis has been implemented with a critical type of observation and analysis of the contents, starting from the initial research questions and from the grid of questions that guided the focus group, the aim was to verify the quantity and relevance of information obtained, as well as the degree level of detail with which the topics were addressed. After transcription the first phase of the analysis has been carried out through the identification of recurring themes that were subsequently assigned to certain categories.

The first category refers to the technology concept that the participants expressed, it is possible to trace two different positions that have alternated in all respondents: one clearly positive and the other rather more ambivalent. The technology positive sense was expressed in the first moments of the interview, when the moderator asked to express in free association close concepts to the technology area. After progressing in the discussion all participants at different times they expressed a feeling of ambivalence towards technology, adding an element of concern or uncertainty to the already mentioned positive aspects.

The following table shows the most relevant issues associated with the first category.

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Table 1. Major themes concerning the technology conception.

The second category identified was that relating to the effects of technology, in this case there has been a succession of optimistic and critical views, which it is possible to examine in the following table.

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Table 2. Major themes concerning technology's effects.

The third category has been linked to the issue of persuasive technologies, since the term was completely new to the participants the moderator asked them to express an instinctive opinion on the concept of persuasion as a technology attribute. In the table are also distinguished the comments made on persuasive technology used only for personal purposes and those related to persuasive technologies which can also bring social benefit. Overall the opinions are very mixed, as can be seen below.

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Table 3. Major themes concerning persuasive technologies.

The fourth and final category was dedicated to those unexpected or noteworthy opinions relevant for research purposes. In particular we thought it was interesting the mention to the need for homogenization that contributes to the widespread use of technologies; but also the many comments on the limited human capacity to manage the rapid progress of technological developments were interesting.

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Table 4. Unexpected and noteworthy opinions.

Observing the development of communication and of the issues addressed and emerged the first positive comments were expressed in reference to the only word technology; participants shared the concepts of progress, future, great potential and speed in relation to technology. Subsequently when new adjectives were introduced (pervasive, inevitable, unavoidable), negative aspects have emerged concerning the extended area of technology. The maximum and more pronounced expression of concerns and criticisms and negative impressions towards technology came when the conversation has moved on a particular technology in common use: the smartphone. At this point the participants' attention has shifted on the effects that the use of the smartphone causes, referring to widespread abuse which can be observed by not only the younger generation but also, unexpectedly, by more mature people. Concern about the younger generation was also expressed about their ability to consider the Internet as the sole and most reliable source of information, for this reason some participants believe that an application can provide authoritative information materials and it could be particularly useful if designed for the new generation. A second element of concern is related to the use of Facebook that has been defined as «indispensable» but also one of the «bad sides of the technology» because of the constant use made of it and the consequences already known on an identity level. Thinking about Facebook and in particular to the rapid entry that the social network has made in our lives, the participants reflected on how dramatic is the fact that new generations have not experienced a social life before the advent of Facebook.

The level of analysis on the content-information dimension was finally completed and deepened from a quantitative point of view with the use of the T-LAB software. To allow the software to process the text the necessary operations of “cleaning” were carried out; these include both disambiguation, where homophone words are distinct, and the lemmatisation, where different words are traced back to a single lemmatical root, by combining words from different linguistic form but belonging to the same lemmatical root, for example a play and to play.

Once the text was prepared it was carried out the automatic analysis of occurrences and co-occurrences, that in technical jargon is called Analysis of Associations, made only on the words with frequency above four. The analysis of associations allows to detect, in addition to the absolute frequencies, the co­occurrences, namely the association frequencies between a lemma and another. With regard to the results the most cited word is technology and it is not surprising given the focus of the group interview. More interesting is the analysis of co-occurrences, that the software realizes presenting both the Chi Square test (/2) and the index of the Cosine, on which we will follow the directions of Hamers and collaborators, according to them it is the index more easily interpretable, having as the cut-off value .20²³⁷.

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Figure 7. Output for the associations' analysis for the lemma “technology”.

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Table 5. Correlation indexes of co-occurrences for the lemma “technology”.

Coming to the analysis of co-occurrences (see Table 5, above) it is interesting to note the association with the term “communication” (Cosine index .33): this makes us understand that the general opinion of the sample on the technology is closely connected to the communicative function rather than the instrumental on the side of man-machine interaction, that is the field of persuasive technologies.

Associations with “persuasion” are also interesting (Cosine index .31), emphasizing once more the users' perception of technology, and with “work” (Cosine Index .20); especially the latter association makes us understand how the participants see the technology as a key component in the business world. Finally it is worth mentioning the association with the lemma “time”, it is just below the limit of significance of the Cosine index (Cosine index .19); the relationship between time (savings but also wasted) with new technologies is something that, in our view, should be further investigated.

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Figure 8. Output for associations' analysis for the lemma “persuasion”.

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Table 6. Correlation indexes of co-occurrences for the lemma “persuasion”.

For what concerns the associations with the lemma “persuasion” that has a frequency rate of 10 occurrences, there are several significant relationships: the term behaviour (Cosine index .42) which may be due to the fact that in the explanation and exemplification of persuasive technologies it has been made several times reference to the modification of the user's behaviour, that is one of the primary objectives of captology. Equally significant is the association with “negative” adjective (Cosine index .38), as already highlighted by interpretive analysis, participants expressed their first free opinions on the idea of combining the concept of persuasion to technology and these were almost all negative. By evaluating further research developments it could investigated the reason for this prejudice more in-depth, since there are several mobile applications and technologies that more or less explicitly modify our behaviour. Finally also the term “change” has resulted in a significant association (Cosine index .36), it also is closely related to the concept of behaviour and persuasive technologies, like for the first association highlighted, the theme of behaviour change was discussed in depth during the latter part of the focus group.

The second type of analysis that has been applied was relative to the relational level, to the interactions that have characterized the group conversation and to the observed individual behaviours. It is believed that the interaction process in a group is crucial for decision-making and for the balance of relations in the group²³⁸. In our case both types of behaviours were observed: behaviours task oriented or instrumental, and socio-emotional behaviours, performed to facilitate group cohesion and to stimulate interpersonal relationships.

At times several participants expressed themselves in a joking way, or adding content out of context but aimed at a good management of relationships and at the good balance between instrumental and socio-emotional behaviours. As in the example that follows.

Cit. 1: «I believe that those who sell alarm clocks had a decline in sales ...!»

During the group discussion only two participants expressed explicitly referring to the group, using the pronoun “we”, stating a true group identity; in one case, however, a participant automatically extended to the whole group his own opinion, with reference to the effects of technological development:

Cit. 2: «I do not know if we're doing too drastic».

The same participant has represented throughout the session of the particularly critical side of the group, expressing repeated times its own negative point of view towards technology. In response to this arbitrary extension of his opinion other participants have cited the usefulness and benefits of certain technologies used by individuals.

CHAPTER 6. SECOND STUDY : PILOT STUDY

The study period at the University of Salford - in Great Britain, in the county of Greater Manchester - started on January 25 2016 and ended on April 29 2016, under the supervision of Dr. Sharon Coen, professor of social media psychology. During this period a multidisciplinary research group was constituted with other two researchers of the same University, they are experts of computer engineering and virtual reality modelling and three-dimensional animation. It was designed and initiated a pilot study called Augmented Reality for Sustainable Living, which fits into the theoretical framework of this thesis, and it is the second study with qualitative approach.

The choice of the pilot study as the methodology was determined by two factors: the use of augmented reality as technology and the fact that there are no previous studies that implement this technology with the principles of captology to encourage a change in behaviour related to a sustainable living style. These two factors have led the research team to initiate the first part of the study (pilot study) in order to continue in the future by replicating the study with a larger sample size and to have a first evaluation regarding the method and the adopted technology.

6.1. THE AUGUMENTED REALITY

Augmented reality (AR) consists of the union in real time of virtual objects in three dimensions with the actual environment surrounding, in more technical terms it represents the evolution of virtual environments (VE) in which a user can interact with virtual elements in 3D in a completely artificial way. The unique novelty of AR is given by the fact that this interaction occurs in the real environment in which the virtual objects are superimposed to the real ones and integrate the real context²³⁹.

The relevance of this technology is the fact that the integration of digital elements in the real context can give the user useful input in the interaction with the environment useful to carry out specific activities or tasks, the digital elements can also represent additional information content.

Azuma defined augmented reality in 1997 as a technology characterized by three elements: the union of virtual and real, interactivity and representations in three dimensions²⁴⁰. Subsequently Craig deepened and widened this description by adding other characteristic elements for the definition of augmented reality²⁴¹:

- The real or physical world is expanded by the presence of digital information superimposed to those already present.
- The information is displayed in conjunction with the perception of the real world.
- The presence of the digital information content depends on the location and on the user's perspective in the real world.
- The experience provided by the augmented reality is interactive in different levels: the user can actually change the digital information, create new ones or change his or her perspective and interact with the same information from a different point of view.

From the technological point of view the Augmented Reality applications are differentiated into two types of realizations: the recognition-based AR, where the camera device identifies a marker in their visual field and will draw over or around a virtual object, and the superimposition-based AR where are not used special marker but additional information are visually put over real objects. Below are two examples of the different software.

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Figure 9. Example of recognition-based AR: a Topps baseball figurine. [Source: Ney York Times] https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/03/09/ business/09topps_CA0_ready.html

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Figure 10. Example of superimposition AR for a medical-educational use. [Source: AugmentWorks]

The following image is a marker, that is a particular combination of lines and colors that can be interpreted by an application via a camera to identify the relative position, perspective or movement.

Using a specific application and framing the marker the application will bring to life some three-dimensional objects on the screen of the mobile device.

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Figure 11. Marker for the application EON Experience AVR . http://eonreality.com/avr. [Source: EON]

The objects selected within the application will be displayed on the screen based on the location of the marker; the software can also allow in some cases the interaction with the virtual objects, which follow the movements of the device according to the relative position of the camera, giving the users the feeling that they actually are in that particular place and within the scene framed by the device.

Several authors have already interested in augmented reality in different areas of social relevance: the development of applications supporting learning, the authors argue that through collaboration and sharing of real space augmented with information and digital elements it is possible improve learning environment²⁴². In particular environments enriched with technologies that use augmented reality can inspire more and more students, in respect of using more traditional technologies such as a computer or a tablet, which diminish the possibilities of interaction with others and with the environment²⁴³. Other researchers have examined the merits of augmented reality in supporting a type of experiential learning, resulting from a direct experience in reality²⁴⁴.

It is believed that augmented reality in tourism can create an online virtual environment where tourists can learn about new places as well as contribute to the experience by providing additional information on the spot²⁴⁵. There are already some examples of applications built for tourism purposes: for example Historical Oslo offers the users a real-time comparison of the places they are visiting with the same places of the past reconstructed in augmented reality, and additional contents complement the tourist visit²⁴⁶.

In a recent work by Craig there are mentions about the developments in augmented reality observing even applications in different fields such as medicine, advertising, arts and entertainment²⁴⁷.

With regard to the augmented reality used in environmental issues and for the sustainable lifestyle, a recent research thread concerns the strengthening of the awareness and affection feelings to the natural environment. Other scholars have evaluated the power of a game in virtual reality in improving the recycling habits and reduce pollution²⁴⁸ ; in all these cases the aspect relating to the fun is a major determinant, as the samples are constituted of children and young students, it could also have created a sort of acceptance of technology bias. There are in literature more examples of studies that have addressed the issue of environmental protection related to technology, especially mobile and pervasive technology; for example Martos and colleagues have suggested an active role for mobile devices in keeping under control the level of pollution in the cities²⁴⁹.

6.2. SOCIAL RELEVANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

The environmental protection was a subject of great social interest in the last few years especially at a macro-social level: The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) included among topics of interest for the first time in 1987 the concept of sustainable development, thus making the public aware of the new theme.

The Earth Summit held in 2002 in Johannesburg has further developed the theme by including in the context of sustainable development also ecological, economic and socio-cultural dimensions.

Even today every year the international climate conference involves about 160 Nations which actively share initiatives to protect the planet and slow down as much as possible the process of deterioration due to human intervention and it was reached a global agreement on climate change reduction in 2015 in Paris.

From the sociological point of view the environmental issue is approached with different paradigms and theoretical approaches, Kohl for example declares that environmental sustainability must be facilitated by social participation and interdisciplinary communication since environmental problems are not about only one sector and they cannot be addressed or resolved by a single type of competence or by a single country²⁵⁰. Järvelä continues the same thought arguing further that the development of a society should pursue the principles of social sustainability²⁵¹.

Environmental care and sustainable lifestyle concepts are involved in the three levels of social intervention: macro, meso and micro. Although on a macro-level there are initiatives shared by several countries in different parts of the world, it is not so obvious that the individuals must implement in their daily lives the suggested behaviours to protect the planet; in the context of social and environmental psychology there are numerous studies that highlight this discrepancy between declared attitudes and behaviour implemented by individuals²⁵². Often individuals interpret their behaviour as useless or of little importance compared to the importance of the matter, so that they think that the effect of the single can hardly have an impact on the environment protection²⁵³. In addition to the impact of actions awareness, other determining factors in the creation of new behaviours are: the individual perceived control on the action to perform²⁵⁴ and the perceived ease of implementing new behaviours among their habits²⁵⁵.

Stern called the behaviours in favour of environment (or pro-environmental behaviours) as behaviours perpetrated with the intention of changing (usually to benefit) the environment; but the same author also highlights a rather frequent problem in this area: there is often a mismatch between the good intentions towards the environment and the actual impact on the environment²⁵⁶. There is also an increased worry for the environment's condition, but increasingly associated with a poor actual knowledge of the topic²⁵⁷.

6.3. THE PILOT PROJECT

The research planned and conducted in Salford had as its first objective the realization of an application based on augmented reality technology to be tested with the mobile device Samsung Tango. The application was created with the intention of stimulating a change in attitude and behaviour of the user and improve environmental awareness in households, in this way it is caused a twofold benefit: individuals will have economic advantages in managing their house, and community will benefit as well since a correct pro-environmental behaviour contributes indirectly benefits to society.

The multidisciplinary research team has developed the application to use on mobile device Tango, assessing the applicability and effectiveness. We have tried to consider the aspects highlighted by Craig relatively to augmented reality as guide-lines to a more successful realization²⁵⁸: as first aim the author puts the pleasure in using the tool, it should be pleasant by an aesthetic and functional point of view, for example by providing fun but also feedback in an appropriate time. The application should obviously be able to perform the function for which it was designed, making it simple to use or providing the right use instructions to users.

It is also important that fits the target environmental conditions: for instance whether the device should be used outdoors the display must possess ability to enable a correct view despite the natural light. Craig also refers to the importance for the application to provide additional value to the simple fact of being a technological novelty, hypothesizing also a way for users to send feedback to the developers of the application. Finally it is important that the instrument shows no errors during the use or that they could be predictable and changeable, and that it may be updatable.

The pilot study was designed with two main objectives:

1) Evaluate the tool by an educational point of view, specifically the validity in conveying meaningful information for pro-environmental behaviours.
2) Observe and assess whether the application developed for Tango is able to promote pro-environmental behaviours.

The eight participants were recruited during the course of the classes, asking them for voluntary participation. According to Anglo-Saxon rules concerning the participation of human subjects in any kind of scientific research, participants viewed 259 260 and signed the informed consent²⁵⁹ and participation sheet²⁶⁰ that describes in detail the development and the target of the study.

It was possible to perform the experimental part of the study within the Energy House of the University of Salford, which represented the perfect setting because the interest was addressed to behaviours inside the home. The Energy House is a real English-style house, the only one in Europe to be placed in an environmental chamber capable of produce different climatic and atmospheric conditions and it is the only one in the world made of bricks within a fully controlled environment. These features are ideal conditions for conducting experimental studies, the House was created within the School of the Built Environment and researches mainly concern the study of new materials, systems and equipment for energy saving, but also the behavioural changes associated with the adoption of various energy efficiency measures in the House.

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Figure 12. The Energy House at Salford University. https://www.salford.ac.uk/our-facilities/energy-house-labs

The study was conducted as follows.

Participants arrived according to the timetable agreed at the Department in which the Energy House is located; they were asked to fill out an anonymous screening questionnaire useful to identify attitudes toward environmental issues and technology, as well as certain behaviours and habits.

Later one person at a time was accompanied in the Energy House to use the application implementing the augmented reality; this activity lasted about 15 minutes.

Immediately after the experience in the House each participant was interviewed with the objective of recording the first impressions on the device used, attitudes and opinions on the covered topics and on the type of experience just lived and finally any suggestions for future improvements.

So the participants used the device inside the House, observing the seven scenarios designed for every room of the House, each represents a problem that is frequent in domestic life in Britain; and the participants have visualized a 3D animation accompanied by informative content shown on the device display:

Some coins that fly away were represented in augmented reality on the Windows of the living room in order to represent the expenditure due to the installation of windows with single glazing; the associated information were the following:

- Single glazing: a single glazed window is not effective in insulating, the cold transmitted through the glass causes an increased consumption of energy to maintain the desired temperature.
- Double glazing: change all the windows in an average three-bed home corresponds to save about £150 a year on the heating bill and furthermore the double glazed window should last for 20 years or more.

2) An animation was thought for the television screen, on which by the device was visible a video depicting the pollution from a power plant with the following information:

- The standby mode in many different appliances in a home is responsible approximately for 5-10% of a home electricity consumption. Thinking worldwide it is responsible for 1% of CO2 global emissions.
- Turn off electrical devices will do more to reduce energy use than anything else. A decrease in electricity consumption means less power produced and fewer pollution deriving from burning of fossil fuels.

3) In the kitchen there was a washing machine, on which the participants saw a polar bear dancing or sad and depressed according to one of the different options:

- Put the temperature on 30 instead 60 corresponds to save more than 60% of energy; the energy savings of a reduction of only 3°C in the average wash temperature of people in Europe is equivalent to eliminating the emissions produced by around 700,000 cars.
- Even a 10°C increase in temperature has a significantly higher impact on the environment, what takes the most energy consumption is the heating water process.

4) Proceeding to the second floor of the House on the stairs there was a large carbon footprint, thought to represent the environmental impact due to CO2 emissions related to the choice of room temperature:

- The increased use of non-renewable energy makes the planet warmer, the CO2 emissions contribute to the greenhouse effectand to make bigger your carbon footprint.
- The ideal temperature is 20 °C while you are at home, turning down the thermostat of at least one degree in winter (and up in summer) for 8 hours a day can radically reduce your carbon footprint and make you saving 5%-15% per year on your bill.

5) Into the bedroom through the device was represented in augmented reality a mountain of waste placed on the bed and the information related to the use of LED light bulbs or traditional:

- Even if they are more expensive to buy, in the long term they will make you save energy, money and reduce pollution. A LED bulb lifespan is about 50.000 hours.

The first model was invented in the far 1879, even if extraordinary improvements have been implemented they are yet extremely inefficient; the lifespan is about 1.200 hours and as a consequence they need to be often substituted and there are strict rules for the right disposal.

6) Inside the bathroom the theme was about water conservation, the digital element added was a wilted flower.

- On average it takes between 5 and 12 minutes using up to 60 litres. Reducing the excess of water can help wildlife in our rivers and oceans.
- Taking a bath it can use up to 100 litres. Taking into account that the UK has less available water per person than most other European countries can be relevant to be aware of its use.

7) In the last scenario the protagonists were animations representing trembling people for the cold or in a comfortable situation that appear near the ceiling at the top of the stairs.

- Insulation means more comfort and less CO2 emissions; if everyone in the UK installed 270mm of loft insulation, we'd save over £500 million a year in energy consumption.
- The heat naturally tends to go upward, without a loft insulation your home will lose up to 25% of heat, as a result you will be colder and you will spend more electricity to reach the desired comfort; on average a loft insulation is effective for 40 years.

The study is not yet complete, a second phase involves connecting the device with the technologies offered by the House; the aim is to implement augmented reality and the principles of home automation, so that the information presented on the device represent the actual consumption inside the House in real time. With these conditions the device can offer to the user the ability to perform actions with a single tap on the screen; for example it will be possible change thermostat settings or change the status of electrical devices in the home or set the temperature of the wash for washing machine and dishwasher. This additional feature will make it possible to implement the persuasive characteristic principle of reduction, that is decrease the number of actions required to complete a behaviour.

6.4. RESULTS

It was possible to analyse the results obtained from this first part of the study processing with a qualitative approach the data obtained from the first screening questionnaire and from individual interviews conducted after the experience in the Energy House.

A first element to be highlighted is the impact of cultural differences on the awareness of environmental concerns: the participants are not all students of English nationality, they are used to different climate and household issues; so some have reacted to the information provided in a fairly detached mode. We can easily deduce that it is crucial coordinate the different levels of intervention: as different countries have shared the same intents and action plans for the reduction of environmental problems, it is inevitable that the successive interventions in the individual territories must be diversified and also socio-cultural researches on this topic should be regarded highly dependent on the native culture.

In some cases there has been a discrepancy between the attitude towards technology initially declared in completing the questionnaire and impressions recorded at the end of the experiment: a negative and sceptical attitude has turned into positive opinions towards the use of augmented reality aimed to increase individual awareness and stimulate a change of behaviour. It is possible to formulate a hypothesis to be confirmed by future investigations with respect to a correlation between attitudes towards technology and actual acceptance of the device, a negative correlation in favour of acceptance can be regarded as a positive factor for the application implemented.

From the interviews it emerges an overall enthusiasm for the experience in augmented reality, only one participant had already tried the same type of technology, so the novelty has definitely played a key role in influencing their impressions. All respondents recognized the informational power of the application, they evaluated the information as useful, easier to remember and more immersive, because of the mode of transmission especially when compared to more traditional methods such as a scientific text or a television broadcast. It was also appreciated the content rich of facts and objective data: they are information that most people do not know or are not interested in deepening because, according to the respondents, the tendency is to deal with the environmental issue as a global concern but not directly related to private daily life. Many have learned that there are simple actions which can be performed in their home and that can have a positive effect on the external environment. Although the experience and the instrument have been generally appreciated participants were also asked to express any doubts about the use of such a tool in daily life and also to suggest changes or improvements for future developments. Some have expressed doubts about the convenience of the tool: having to hold the tablet and move it to frame the digital elements on the screen can be uncomfortable, especially if you have little time to learn new information; others believe that the possibility for the user to deepen or expand certain contents conveyed by the device can be a more effective element; imagining an everyday use in their home they also mention the possibility to have a similar application on their smartphone. One participant described the tool and the application still too simple to be implemented outside of a research context; it is necessary to specify that the majority of respondents attended the graduate program in Computer Science so their knowledge in technology field is moderately good.

Some participants noted some persuasive characteristics of the device: for example the fact that the information is detailed but specific and synthetic at the same time, the right amount of information to assimilate can help users pay attention to the relevant aspects of environmental concerns; this latter feature together with the peculiarities of augmented reality that makes it particularly engaging make the tool also suitable for an audience of children and it would be a valuable teaching method.

Even to participants it is clear that often most people are not fully aware of environmental concerns and in particular the issue of pollution, many of the information provided are new to respondents; many did not know the difference between single and double glass or the differences in fuel consumption due to the stand-by mode of the electronic devices. Talking of their usual behaviour to protect the environment the most common appears to be recycling, others also cite the habit of turning off all the lights in the house and pay attention to water consumption. The first motivation given for such behaviour is that of saving money, some also mention the importance of their actions for the environment and for the care of the planet we share.

Finally the polar bear is the most appreciated scenario: it is defined as an image very vivid and appropriate with information content combined in the same scenario.

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Figure 13. Example visualization of the application for the project “AR for sustainable living” which shows the polar bear in AR. [Source: Ian Drumm, Salford University]

Only one participant mentions the risk concerning the dependence on technology, unfortunately already high among the younger generation, because of the daily use in the home.

Although they may not be statistically significant data and therefore not representative, in this small sample it was found a two-fold assumption about the environmental issue and the benefits that the use of technology can provide: the participants admitted that themselves, and probably the majority of people, live with detachment the issues related to the environment which are still defined a global concern but far from their daily lives. They also found a real advantage in the use of the device, since it can stimulate in a pleasant way the personal awareness about environmental issues and may be useful in stimulating and supporting some behaviours necessary to protect the environment.

CHAPTER 7. THIRD STUDY: ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE

For the third and final phase of the research it has been adopted a quantitative methodology: it has been elaborated an ad hoc questionnaire that was published through Google Forms, a tool for creating forms and online questionnaires, and then the collected data were analysed with the help of the statistical software package SPSS (statistical Package for Social Science) by IBM.

7.1. THE ONLINE SURVEY

The decision to organize and distribute the questionnaire online rather than opt for the traditional pen and paper method was suggested by some evidences in the literature that highlight the strengths in various stages of research. There are many authors who have examined the subject of online research in social sciences, but since the studies of Vicente and Reis it is possible to enumerate the substantial differences with the traditional method and examine the advantages and possible disadvantages²⁶¹.

First there is the benefit deriving from time and costs savings as well as the reduction of transcription errors, since the data is automatically entered into the database for later analysis, so the phase of manual transcription is avoided²⁶².

In literature there are both researches that distrust the validity from a statistical point of view and other that confirm the effectiveness if the instrument is used properly. There are some studies that have compared online and laboratory research, for example Dandurand and colleagues found that in the case of a problem solving task the subjects who participated in the online survey were less accurate in the resolution of the task²⁶³ ; one possible reason is identified in the fact that the environment can be crucial in a task that requires attention and concentration, it is possible that those who have faced the task online have had more distractions or have divided their attention between multiple activities²⁶⁴.

In another study Gosling and colleagues have instead focused exclusively on the validity of the questionnaires filled out online over traditional pen and paper, by analysing six prejudices that usually affect online searches²⁶⁵:

1. We usually tend to believe that the samples of online studies are not diversified in terms of socio-demographical variables and therefore not representative of the population, because of the stereotype that identifies the majority of internet users in a segment of the population constituted of young male.
2. The second prejudice concerns the psychosocial characteristics of typical users: they are traditionally portrayed as socially maladjusted, tending to problems such as loneliness or depression.
3. Many authors believe that the data from the Internet are adversely affected by the format chosen for the presentation on different websites.
4. The great internet accessibility would make online data less reliable, because of unreliable answers.
5. The results of online research would also be adversely affected by the anonymity guaranteed by the online survey; for example a widespread concern is related to the possibility that a participant fill up the same questionnaire more than once.
6. The last prejudice concerns the fact that the results obtained online are not consistent with the results from research conducted with classical methods.

Actually analysing empirical data for each of the six previous observations just the concern about the negative effects of anonymity is correctly based, therefore it could be necessary to implement countermeasures for the real risks. There are also conflicting data regarding the first prejudice: the samples managed for online studies are often more diversified than those of traditional studies (for example for the genre), but they are not representative of the population²⁶⁶.

Some of the most common criticisms to the use of online questionnaires refer to the lower motivation of the participants, to the possible difference of the data collected with the traditional pen and paper method, to the complete anonymity of the participants that may affect its validity²⁶⁷. But criticism of greater impact and relevance refers to the sampling problem²⁶⁸, already analysed by Gosling and colleagues, it would be subject to a bias related to randomness: not all segments of the target population have the same access to the Internet, there may also be certain groups of people who have a greater familiarity with technology and therefore more likely to be part of the study sample²⁶⁹, it is essentially a kind of self-selection.

Another frequent concern related to the use of the Internet for psychosocial researches is related to the response rate, it would seem that online research is characterized by an index of answers lower than traditional research²⁷⁰. According to some authors the researcher who is preparing to conduct an online research would have two ways to remedy the problem of the lower response rate²⁷¹: a proactive mode and a defensive mode. In the first case it is possible offer an incentive to the participants or create the possibility to contact them and motivate them by explaining the importance of their participation in the research. In the second case it should be manipulated the questionnaire itself, trying to follow the best practices for building a valid tool. Several authors have been interested in the matter, Vicente and Reis in their study were focused only on the aspects that can affect the dropout rate and non­response of participants.

Some precautions concern the questions' presentation and the style adopted²⁷², for example some elements which may influence the decision of the participants in completing or not the questionnaire are the length of the questionnaire and if it is known from the beginning or not, the presence of the progress level during the compilation, the answer mode for each item, the level of interactivity.

7.2. QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION

In preparing the online questionnaire were followed some recommendations reported by Vicente and Reis and based on empirical research focused on the comparison between traditional and online questionnaires²⁷³. For example a progress indicator was not included because past empirical evidences did not found no benefit or advantage for its presence^{274 275 276}. It was used a traditional graphical presentation without inserting special fonts or arrows or graphics that would have enriched the fruition because some studies have not found any advantage over the classical text 275,276 mode, by contrast could serve as a distraction . It has been tried to maintain a limited length of the questionnaire, precisely to avoid that there were dropouts during compilation, it is composed of a total of 58 items.

The first measured variables are the socio-demographics: age, sex and level of education. Then the focus is on the use of mobile technology, asking participants to indicate which mobile device they own, indicating one or more of the following options: cell phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop, mp3 player. In addition to knowing what devices are used, the interest is directed to the effective use of these instruments and the attitudes toward some technologies. In literature there are many tools oriented at measuring technology usage, they are often focused on different dimensions of the same construct: the simple detection of time spent on activities on a desktop 277 278,279 computer , the frequency of use in a given period of time , the measurement of 280 281 attitudes with traditional Likert scales , the testing of a certain behaviour .

For the construction of the questionnaire were selected five subscales of Media and Technology Usage and Attitude Scale developed by Rosen and colleagues (MTUAS)^{277 278 279 280 281 282} ; the complete instrument has a total of 60 items, 15 subscales overall: 11 are involved in recognizing the activities and possible uses with different technological devices (cell phone, computer, television, online activities in general, activity on social networks) and the remaining 4 subscales are related to the recognition of the positive and negative attitudes towards specific activities (finding information online, have access to the Internet, to keep up with technological innovations, feeling dependent on technology, believing the technology the origin of many solutions to current problems or on the contrary the origin of many hardships).

For the validation of the instrument Rosen and colleagues have analysed the results from a sample of 942 subjects and analyses have confirmed that all the subscales are internally and externally valid and reliable, so they can be used together or individually. The subscales used in the questionnaire are as follows:

1. Smartphone usage: nine items that assess the frequency of certain actions with smartphone, such as reading emails, use an Internet browser, surf the Internet, listen to music, take photos, check the news, record videos, use applications, search information.
2. Video games: in the Rosen and colleagues scale this subscale consists of three items, it was decided to break down the questions to make them clearer, thus obtaining nine items. In particular the aim was to investigate the frequency of the following activities: play alone on the computer, play alone on video game consoles, play alone on the smartphone, play with other people on the computer, play with other people on consoles, play with other people on the smartphone, play online with other people on the computer, play with other people online on consoles, play with other people online on the smartphone.
3. Positive attitudes towards technology: six items to evaluate the attitudes through the participants' opinions on the importance of finding any information online, on the free access to the Internet, on being in step with the latest innovations, on the fact that technology can provide solutions to many problems, on the idea that technology makes everything possible, on the feeling that technology can enhance personal skills.
4. Negative attitudes towards technology: three items that detect negative opinions on some assumptions towards technology. The fact that new technologies contribute to waste time, that make life more complicated and that encourage social isolation.
5. Anxiety/dependence on technology: three items designed for measuring opinions on several characteristics of dependence on technology. Being anxious when deprived of the smartphone, when there is not an internet connection available and declare to be dependent on technological devices.

For the items relating to the smartphone usage and the gaming habits have been used the same response scale proposed by Rosen and colleagues: ten intervals to indicate the frequency of the target behaviour (never, once a month, several times a month, once a week, several times a week, once a day, several times a day, once an hour, several times in an hour, continuously). This choice is in line with the statement made by Boase and Ling who verified the validity of the measures used to detect the smartphone frequency of use: the most widely used mode is represented by the self­report measures, participants are asked to express an estimate of the frequency of use of their smartphone²⁸³. In the literature examined by the authors are frequent two types for this mode of detection: the first is based on categories in which are indicated predetermined frequency intervals and the second is continuous, where the question is open and participants are asked to indicate the number of times that a given behaviour is performed. The second mode of detection for the use of the smartphone is represented by the actual recording of user activity, that is data collected by the telephone operator concerning the number of calls and messages sent and received.

Being a study aimed at assessing the validity of researches on smartphone usage, the second mode has been defined without a doubt more effective than self­report measure; it also must be added that among this latter type the mode based on categories was the most reliable²⁸⁴. In our case the option of basing the measurements on the telephone companies data was not feasible for reasons of privacy and feasibility of the research itself, so keep the scale to ten categorical intervals proposed by Rosen and colleagues seemed a correct choice in order to keep the instrument's validity.

Similarly for the attitudes items it has been maintained the same response scale used in MTUAS: a five points Likert scale that represents a continuum from strongly disagree position (equivalent to the value 1) to the position of strong agreement (equivalent to the value 5), with the central value that expresses the neutral position “neither agree nor disagree” (equivalent to the value 3).

Along with the attitudes subscales we have added few items derived from some observations made during the focus group and the review of the literature concerning persuasive technology, and they are classified as follows:

1. Technophobia or critical attitude towards technology: three items that detect the opinions related to the idea that technology is ruining the younger generation, which is depriving people of their freedom and the idea that special training should be required in order to fully exploit the advantages offered by the technology.
2. Technophilia or euphoric attitude towards technology: three items that unlike the previous enhance the optimism of technological development. We intend to collect opinions about the fact that the technology can offer great potential to individuals, that a smartphone can effectively replace all human actions and that the smartphone can simplify everyday life.
3. Pervasiveness: it is a single item which measures opinions regarding the inevitability of technology.
4. Sharing persuasive principle: in this case it is only one item that detects opinions about the idea that technology can change human behaviour.

The first 44 items are common to all the participants of the study, after the scales just described are presented two different applications for smartphone or other mobile device and participants are asked to select one of them and respond to subsequent questions. The applications are both persuasive, but the main difference relates to the direct and indirect benefits deriving from the use; ViviEco application implements direct benefits for the individual user and indirect for the community, while in the case of PosiLive there are only benefits for the individual user.

With the technical support of the IT consulting company BearIT S.r.l. the mock-up applications were created (diagrams, prototypes), that are graphical representations of their operation included in the questionnaire to visually describe the operation, representing the display of a smartphone so that it would be understandable for those who are accustomed to the use of this instrument.

For ViviEco was used the following presentation with the following images.

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The items following the presentations of the applications were partly produced from some comments made during the focus group (seven overall) and others were taken from a similar research conducted in the field of persuasive applications useful in the field of Health (six overall). Halko and Kientz in 2010 have developed a studyto assess the link between personality characteristics and persuasive properties of mobile applications created for the promotion of health.They used the Big Five Inventory as instrument to detect personality traits and they have developed an application simulationto later evaluate users' opinions²⁸⁵. The value of the study lies in theidea of being able to create applications designed on the needs of different personalities, in this way these technologies could achieve greater success²⁸⁶.

The six questions prepared by Halko and Kientz investigate on a five-point Likert scale participants' opinions on six different aspects of persuasive technologies: the fun, the probability of use in the future, the benefits to health, improvements onthe quality of life, ease of use, time-saving. In addition to these six items participants' opinions were recorded about other relevant dimensions of persuasive technologies:

1. The persuasive power of the application. Four items were designed to assess the opinions related to some possible effects deriving from the use of the application: changing of behaviour, having the motivational push to change habits, perceiving the smartphone as an effective tool for the transmission of relevant information, perceiving the suggestions received as the personal inner voice.
2. The application informational power. Two items detect opinions regarding the idea that information received through the application are most relevant and reliable than other from online sources.

For ViviEco application only it has been added an item to detect the perception of actions' awareness, that is to believe that even the action of the individual through the application can have an actual impact on the environment.

Finally there is an item (defined fake test) that could serve as an indicator for possible falsified or untrusted compilations: participants were asked to enter their response on “completely agree”.

7.3. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Participants were recruited through various ways: it was announced the link to the online questionnaire to students of the University “G. d'Annunzio” enrolled Psychology, Economics and Management courses. Some leaflets with a brief description of the study, the invitation to participate and the link to the questionnaire have been distributed at gyms in the towns of Chieti and Pescara and the metropolitan area. Finally the invitation to participate was published on some social networks, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

A total of 155 compilations have been recorded, but once eliminated those subjects who have not passed the fake test, the final sample was made up of 118 people. The sample has an average age of 27.4 years (D.S. 12, 9), with a range that goes from the youngest 15 years old to the eldest 69 years old.

The sample is divided into men and women fairly balanced, as you can see from the following calculations.

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Figure 14. Graphical representation of genre's distribution in the sample.

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Table 7. Descriptive statistics related to genre.

Other descriptive statistics were performed with regard to the preference of application, experiencing a high prevalence for ViviEco:

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Figure 15. Graphical representation of the preference between the two applications.

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Table 8. Descriptive statistics relative to application preference

It was subsequently carried out an analysis of the Chi square (/2) to explore the different intersections of gender and application preference variables, specifically we wanted to see if men and women had shown a different preference for the application purposes (sustainability and intervention in favor of the community vs individual health and well-being), and if there was an effect of age in the preference of the applications.

These assumptions are based on some evidence in psychosocial area, past studies have shown a gender gap with regard to the behaviours in the use of technology: for example in the choice of online activities men are more inclined to amusement and fun, while women prefer to use the internet for communication or information purposes²⁸⁷.

The results are reported below.

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Table 9. Application choice based on genre

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Table 10. Chi-square test on genre (above). Application choice based on generation.

Pearson Chi-Square Tests

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Results are based on nonempty rows and columns in each innermost subtable. a. More than 20% of cells in this subtable have expected cell counts less than 5. Chi-square results may be invalid.

Table 11. Chi-square test on generation.

For what concerns the gender analysis are not significant, contrary to expectations there has been no decisive propensity; in this regard it may be appropriate to investigate from the perspective of the Human Computer Interaction what actually leads men and women to use several of these specific technologies, and one might wonder if the gender-oriented applications are really necessary, which are dedicated explicitly to just one genre.

With regard to the age the sample was divided into three groups according to the year of birth, also in this case the literature has in part suggested this choice: some researchers have actually found generational differences in the use of information and communication technologies²⁸⁸. Consequently, the age variable was recoded in the following categories:

1. baby boomers, those born between 1945 and 1964;
2. generation-X refers to those born between 1963 and 1980;
3. millennials are those born between 1980 and 2000.

It must be specified that the test is not reliable because not all cells have at least five subjects; nevertheless it is interesting to observe the trend of no significance since in the three groups there is a similar relationship between choices, ViviEco is the application that received a majority of the vote. These data lead us to say that there is no link between gender, age and application preference.

After checking the quality distribution of the different scales, which is good for all, except in the “video games” scale, which for this reason it was decided to exclude from the analysis, we then proceeded with the verification of our assumptions.

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Table 12. Reliability indexes of scales

The hypotheses to be tested with the analyses are the following:

1. The intention to use the application in the future is influenced by the positive attitudes towards technology, the persuasive power of the application and the perceived fun.
2. Evaluation of the persuasive power mediating role in the relationship between the informational power and propensity to use an application.
3. Evaluation of the mediation role of the persuasive power in the relationship between perceived enjoyment and tendency to the use an application.
4. The perceived impact of the application ViviEco influences its persuasive power.

To test the first hypothesis was performed a linear regression to predict the probability of use (the intention to use the application) on the basis of three predictors: the informative power, the perceived fun and positive attitudes towards technology. Preliminary analyses were performed to verify that there were no violations of the normality assumptions: linearity and multicollinearity.

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Table 13. Coefficient linear regression analysis.

A significant regression was found (F (3,114) = 9,78; p < 0,001), with R2 = ,20.

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Table 14. Variance analysis.

The positive attitude is not significant as a predictor, for this reason it was decided to use only the other two variables for the mediations tested later. This initial analysis make the first hypothesis partially verified and it also seems to confirm the idea that an application is positively evaluated on the basis of playful elements it contains. The most strong dimension of the persuasive power was in particular that related to the motivational drive; in the literature there is a confirmation, especially with regard to pro-environmental behaviours, the most felt the shortage is right on the motivational level²⁸⁹.

Subsequently a mediation model has been built to verify the second and third hypothesis. There are two different ways to perform mediation analysis: multiple regression and structural equation modeling (SEM - Structural Equations Models). Some authors prefer to use the SEM method because it gives more control on the measurement error and provides good information on the suitability of the model²⁹⁰, in this case Frazier and colleagues guidelines have been followed, they recommend using multiple regression in case of a reduced sample²⁹¹.

In order to perform the mediation analysis it was used a SPSS function called PROCESS developed by Preacher and Hayes²⁹² incorporating the traditional approach (for example the Sobel test), the bootstrap approach and the approach developed by Baron and Kenny to quantify the indirect effects of the predictor on the dependent variable²⁹³. In particular in our case the use of confidence intervals of the bootstrap method was necessary to avoid problems relating to the limited size of the sample, as already highlighted by Preacher²⁹⁴.

The first mediation analysis includes the persuasive power as a mediator of the relationship between the informational power and the likelihood of future use. In particular it has been found that the persuasive power mediates significantly the above relationship (indirect effect = .471, SE = .906, CI = .221); since the zero is not included in the confidence interval we can conclude that the indirect effect is significantly different from zero with an error probability of p <.05. So a change in the perception of the persuasive power modifies the influence of the informational power on the future intention of usage with a mediation pattern that we call total.

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The second mediation model considers that the persuasive power acts as a mediator of the relationship between the perceived fun and the probability of use, also in this case the mediation is significant (indirect effect = .206, SE = .103, CI = .043 - .452) with an error probability p <.05.

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Finally we wanted to add an analysis of the potential impact of the application, performed through an analysis of variance (ANOVA).

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Table 15. Analysis of variance.

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Table 16. Descriptive indicators of impact variable on the generation.

The ANOVA test detected a difference between the generations in the perceived impact: this variable was integrated just for the application ViviEco and it refers in particular to the users' awareness of their actions in the environment.

There is a significant difference between groups, specifically the mean of the category baby boomers deviates moderately from the others, on the basis of post hoc tests applied; this means that older people in the sample tend to have greater confidence in the fact that the action of the individual through the application can have a real impact on the environment. This information can be daunting if we think that the majority of users of mobile applications are the younger ones, on the other hand it is an indicator that definitely requires further investigation in the future: this can be due to a lack of trust in the information provided by the application or it can be due to a lack of education related to preservation and respect for the environment.

In order to assess the link between the perceived impact and the persuasive power of the application ViviEco it was created a model of moderation in which the individual perception of the impact moderates the relationship between positive attitudes towards technology and persuasive power, as shown in the following chart.

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Table 17. Statistics related to the moderation model.

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Table 18. Detailed statistics related to the moderation model.

Conditional effect of X and Y at values of the moderator(s):

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Table 19. Conditional effects related to moderation model.

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Figure 16. Moderation effect of the variable impact related to the relation between positive attitudes and persuasion.

The moderation is significant only for the high levels on the impact variable, it means that only those who express positive attitudes towards technology and believe a strong impact of their actions perceive a greater persuasive power of the application; this relation is not as much significant for people who express moderate or low judgments on the impact.

This fact is particularly significant with regard to the collective benefits deriving from mobile technologies use, as can be inferred from the literature the use of persuasive technology is influenced by several factors, most of personal derivation: for example technology acceptance, motivational drive, consistency in the use of a device and in accomplishing a certain goal. In this case the actions impact on the environment that produces an indirect effect on the persuasive power of technology calls into question a central element of our study: users will tend to use the application as much as they will perceive a collective benefit as well.

CONCLUSIVE THOUGHTS

The proposed investigation of the present research work is part of a multidisciplinary field, there are in fact soft disciplines involved such as social psychology and sociology and technical disciplines belonging to the sphere of information technologies such as Human Computer Interaction. In particular the interest in persuasive technologies designed to change behaviour is presented in the three studies in a dimension still little deepened in literature: the personal use of these technologies with social implications as well as exclusively personal.

The first workshop Pervasive persuasive technology and environmental sustainability organized in 2008 in Australia is one of the first relevant research activities carried out with this same intent; there were three main objectives and topics covered: overcome the simple informational and communicative function of new technologies to make them as incentives to action and change; avoid that pervasive technologies would become invasive and adopt an ecological approach to assess their impact and implementation; finally evaluate the use of environmental sensors designed to communicate needs and any environmental problems directly to individuals²⁹⁵.

Kimura and Nakajima research premise was the distinction between collectivist and individualist societies: many researches carried out in the persuasive technologies field relate to generally individualist populations (especially Americans), their work is instead held in Japan, a typically collectivist country²⁹⁶. They evaluate the effectiveness of various persuasive techniques by creating a gaming application²⁹⁷, those that produce the greatest impact are the mutual control and the combined use of positive and negative feedback. This study introduces a central variable in the acceptance and usage of persuasive technologies, namely the tendency to collectivism or individualism, but it again proposes a purely playful mode of fruition. Finally at the research center Intel Collaborative Research Institute (ICRI) it has been running since 2013 a project aimed at promoting prosocial behaviour through technology²⁹⁸, though the areas of interest are the use of technologies and the benefits to the community, they are not technologies designed according to the captology principles.

For what concerns our research, after a review of the literature it has been decided to start the empirical part with the first qualitative study to understand the reaction to the investigated issue of a sample, even if small. In this way it has been possible to compare the first research ideas with the participants of the focus group and welcome the emerged considerations as stimuli and suggestions as well as further assumptions to be subsequent verified. Indeed the interpretative and quantitative analysis of the data has brought to light some evidences related for example to the negative reaction which raises the idea of persuasion associated with the technology, but also in reference to the importance that is recognized to the reliability and truthfulness of the information provided by a technological device.

This latter aspect has been implemented in the second qualitative study; the pilot study conducted at the University of Salford made possible to combine the different disciplines involved in this area of research through the design and implementation of an application designed according to the principles of persuasive technologies and including the collective benefits dimension. The choice of the environmental matter has been determined by some theoretical considerations, the benefits to society from the personal use of an application may indeed be identified in the pro-social behaviour or in charitable actions or socio-cultural activities for integration, but it has been preferable to choose a theme that was not overly sensitive in a psychosocial sense in order to exclude some purely individual variables such as for example altruistic personality traits, the ability to empathize, discomfort or personal well-being. The environmental theme is based on objective universally recognized and shared data, although with cultural differences dictated by climate and social conditions of each country global initiatives are still ongoing in order to promote pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes in individuals and communities.

The results of the pilot project have partly contributed to the construction of the questionnaire used for the third and final phase of the research, especially some informative content presented in the application together with digital images in augmented reality were then adapted to represent the examples for the application ViviEco; furthermore the opinion trends that emerged from interviews conducted after the experience in the Energy House were included in the questionnaire for a statistical validation.

In the third study the online questionnaire implement a quantitative method, thus completing the triangulated nature of the overall work; the assumptions to be submitted to statistical validation have been developed starting from the initial research questions and enhancing them with the evidences emerged from the two previous studies.

Overall the research work has inevitably limitations, that it is worth mentioning and analyse because can provide opportunities to develop in the future advances of the research.

The risk of possible negative consequences that may arise from the conduction of a single focus group was counterbalanced by the completeness given to the analyses carried out, both interpretative/qualitative and systematic/quantitative. The second study was born as a pilot project, therefore it is expected already in origin a second application phase, which can contemplate a greater sample size and thus a quantitative analysis could be added as well. The future development involves the implementation of the results obtained up to this point: the application will be updated on the basis of opinions emerged from the first test carried out, which were oriented to an improvement of the instrument both from a technical and theoretical point of view, it will also be possible to make changes derived from the online questionnaire results. This implies that the informational content of the application will be richer, with the possibility for users to deepen the provided information, inserting the data sources in order to provide greater reliability and increase the informational power of the instrument that from our analysis turns out to be a predictor of the probability of use under the mediation of the persuasive power. It has been identified the same role for the variable fun, but in this case we can hypothesize further analysis to better assess the user's perception: does an application keep its persuasive power even if the usage probability is affected by the perceived fun? Users who utilize the application because of its funny dimension, do still perceive its informational and motivational value?

It might also be appropriate to hypothesize a specific feature or function of the application that could increase the perceived impact of actions in the user, this objective can be also achieved with more informative contents. There could be further in-depth analysis also regarding the user's perception of the device credibility and evaluate its weight on the variable usage probability. Finally it will be possible to expand the study in a cross-cultural dimension, this involves the construction of the instrument in Italian language and the introduction of data related to our country.

With regard to the limits of the online questionnaire it is necessary to refer to experimental control processes, which are the set of procedures to limit the variability sources of the research itself. On the one hand the control related to the questions presentation order has been secured, a Google Drive function in fact allows the random presentation of questions within each single scale. On the other hand the application choice to evaluate (ViviEco or PosiLive) can be affected by some uncontrolled variables in the study, both personal and contextual: for example the personal relevance of the arguments, the predisposition to physical activity, the fact that winter season could discourage intentions related to outdoors physical activity, sensitivity to environmental issues, the sense of belonging towards the living environment. With regard to the latter aspect Lalli (1992) demonstrated that people most identified with the places where they live are also more sensitive to environmental issues²⁹⁹.

It has been inserted a single question in the questionnaire to identify any compilations unreliable or falsified, the so-called fake test, the detected number of fake compilations is relatively high: 36 compilations of 154 in total. For this reason it can be planned a further investigation to be carried out with different tools, through the traditional paper and pencil method or having the opportunity to realize the applications to test it could be projected a more controlled laboratory experiment.

Another problem encountered in the execution of the third study concerns the low representativeness of the sample, although it is well distributed in terms of gender it is not for what concerns the age, there is indeed a large majority of young people and adolescents, those who fall into the category millennials. This fact also leads us to think of more future researches that could support the generalizability of the results. Finally it is necessary to emphasize that currently does not exist a pro-environmental application in the Italian market, so we should include an evaluation of the ethical dimension of such technology.

Although more in-depth analyses are needed, the originality of this research lies in the proposed angle of analysis on persuasive technologies; therefore new scenarios are open, involving in particular the sociological and psychosocial fields relatively to the effects that the personal use of a mobile device can produce on society. Persuasive technologies, as already mentioned, are typically designed with respect to ethical parameters, but the consequences arising from their use may instead be a threat or a risk to the community. This fact encourages other possible future studies on both social and psychological side, it could be useful to assess users' perceived utility or their sharing of altruistic principle that may be underlying the application. According to the Fogg model the design phase of these technologies can become obsolete from a social, psychological and technical point of view, especially if compared to advances in the field of human-computer interfaces and the tools' usability.

After all the technological development cannot be stopped, just as progress in every area and in every moment of human history cannot be dictated by human adaptation needs; but the human response to innovations and how these are integrated in society and in everyday interactions could be instead manage more successfully.

A chance of success relative to this human-technology co-existence may result from an adequate lifelong training, but not dedicated to the use of technology, rather oriented to the rediscovery of purely human values and skills: conversation, empathy, socialization, introspection, writing, public speaking, concentration focused on one element, the planning ability. They are seemingly mundane activities that are considered expected or at least instinctive for humans, but on the contrary of what common sense suggests, there are countless studies which have shown a degeneration of these skills related to the increased use of electronic devices. To name a few: some researchers have demonstrated the hypothesis that the use of tablet, smartphone or computer would decrease children empathic abilities. The experimental study was carried out at a summer camp assessing the empathy ability by identifying the state of mind of people faces displayed on a screen or photography; indeed children who had spent their stay without the possibility of having access to electronic devices have demonstrated higher capacity for empathy correctly recognizing emotions than those of children who had remained in contact with technology³⁰⁰.

Accept loneliness can be unpleasant or difficult for some people or at certain times of our lives, but often we can get a huge benefit deriving from our introspection capacity due to the moments of solitude. In a study conducted in 2014 adults participants were asked to remain alone in a room for fifteen minutes, without any kind of entertainment or external distraction, giving just the possibility to administer themselves small electric shocks when boring would became unbearable. In a preliminary interview all participants have categorically ruled out the possibility of using electric shocks, after the experiment most said they had actually used electric shocks or have really considered this opportunity just after six minutes³⁰¹. There are other researches that relate loneliness and the absence of electronic devices, mostly are limited to non-experimental methods: interviews or questionnaires that have also shown that in moments of tranquillity, isolation or even more of waiting, the lack of the smartphone or other mobile device becomes really unbearable. For example mobile phone seems to be able to replace the company of others during a meal: many people prefer to eat alone being able to consult their smartphone rather than sharing a friendly moment with other people and feel compelled to talk³⁰².

Cumiskey and Ling suggest that a face to face social interaction can be influenced by the presence of a smartphone and its potential connection ability to other people and then with other forms of influence³⁰³. To confirm this thesis, there are some researches carried out with the aim to detect a compulsive use of the phone, which it is identifiable for example in the automatic control behaviour of notifications even when no sound or vibration notification was warned³⁰⁴.

Another effect of the mere presence of a smartphone during a conversation is found in the quality of the topics covered: the people involved tend to propose subjects for discussion lighter and less engaging because they feel the possibility of being interrupted at any time³⁰⁵.

Some research threads are focused on the integration of emotional intelligence with technology; the future challenge is to design machines not only intelligent but emotionally intelligent, they could be able to recognize facial expressions and type of emotion that we are conveying³⁰⁶, maybe in the future we can talk about empathic technology. But there is always the challenge and commitment to scientific research to find the optimal way to balance the advantages and potentiality of new technologies with risks and the negative consequences on society.

APPENDIX

Attachments:

Appendix 1. First study - “Vivere nel Web 3.0”

A1.1. Invito Partecipanti

A1.2. Consenso Informato firmato dai partecipanti

A1.3. Griglia domande Focus Group

Appendix 2. Second Study - “AR for sustainable living”

A2.1. Ethics application form “AR for sustainable living”

A2.2. Recruitment material

A2.3. Participant information sheet

A2.4. Consent form

A2.5. Screening questionnaire

A2.6. Interview Guide

Appendix 3. Third Studiy - “Questionario sull'utilizzo di tecnologie mobili”

A1. FIRST STUDY - “ ViVERE NEL WEB 3.0 ”

A1.1. INVITO PARTECIPANTI

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

A1.2. CONSENSO INFORMATO FIRMATO DAI PARTECIPANTI

UNIVERSITÀ' DEGLI STUDI “G. D'ANNUNZIO” Chieti - Pescara

OGGETTO: Consenso Informato ricerca “Vivere nel WEB3.0”

Il sottoscritto

acconsente a partecipare alla ricerca, organizzata dall'Università “G. d'Annunzio” di Chieti - Pescara, partecipando, su base volontaria, ad un focus group diretto dalla Dott.ssa Fantinelli, ai fini di una ricerca volta ad analizzare vita, studio e lavoro ai tempi del WEB 3.0.

Si specifica che la conversazione verrà audio-registrata e trascritta, il tutto nel rispetto delle persone coinvolte, garantendo loro la gestione dei dati di ricerca nel pieno rispetto della legge sulla privacy e sui dati sensibili.

Si sottolinea infine che le trascrizioni verranno conservate per 5 anni presso il Laboratorio di Business Psychology, nel rispetto della legge sui dati sensibili, e che i dati raccolti attraverso la ricerca saranno trattati esclusivamente in maniera aggregata, garantendo l'anonimato ai partecipanti.

DATA

Firma

A1.3. GRIGLIA DOMANDE FOCUS GROUP

- La parola tecnologia cosa vi fa venire in mente?
- Quanto è presente la tecnologia nelle nostre vite?
- Come e per quale scopo la usate?
- Utilizzo di smartphone e altri dispositivi mobili o indossatali (esempi, frequenza d'uso, per quali attività e obiettivi)
- Secondo voi quali effetti produce questa coesistenza con la tecnologia?
- Conoscete o immaginate il significato di tecnologia persuasiva?
- Definizione di tecnologia persuasiva.
- Che utilizzo potete immaginare? Chi ne fa uso? Con quali finalità?
- Esempio di due tecnologie persuasive: le usereste? Quali lati positivi e negativi immaginate?
- Pensate possa cambiare atteggiamenti e comportamenti degli utenti?

A2. Second Study - “AR for sustainable living ”

A2.1. ETHICS APPLICATION FORM “AR FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING ”

Ethical Approval Form for Staff

Ethical approval must be obtained prior to starting research with human subjects, animals or human tissue.

The Ethical Approval Form and application checklist must be e-mailed to your Research Centre Support Team in the Research & Enterprise Division.

The forms are processed online therefore without the electronic version, the application cannot progress.

Please ensure that all references to you or anyone else involved in the project must be removed from the documents as the application has to be anonymised before the panel considers it.

Where you have removed your name, you can replace with a suitable marker such as [ ] Or [Xyz], [Yyz] and so on for other names you have removed too.

Please refer to the 'Notes for Guidance' if there is doubt whether ethical approval is required

The form can be completed electronically; the sections can be expanded to the size required.

1a. Title of proposed research project

Augmented reality for sustainable living

1b. Is this Project purely literature based?

NO (delete as appropriate)

2. Project focus

At the recent Paris talks on Climate Change (December 2015), 169 Countries have agreed to a coordinated effort to reduce emissions and safeguard the environment in an attempt to slow down the process of deterioration of the environment due to human intervention.

While this is a landmark agreement on a macro level, and policies and regulation will play a key role in implementing such plans, for them to be successful it is essential for citizens to contribute by making some - at times substantial - changes in the way they operate in their everyday lives.

Such changes are often seen as difficult, useless or unnecessary by people (Maréchal, 2010), who struggle with alteration of their habits (Tversky, 1969).

Attitude and behavioural change literature identifies some key factors influencing people's willingness to adopt new ideas and habits. Among these, a crucial role is played by people's understanding of the impact of their actions towards the accomplishment of their goal (Maréchal, 2010), the perceived control individuals have of the required behaviour (Ajzen, 1986) and the perceived ease of implementation of the new habit (Ajzen, 2002).

The current project will explore the role that Augmented Reality (AR) technology can play in fostering change by satisfying the above mentioned conditions.

Augmented Reality enables us to view the real world with the addition of virtual complements. These components can annotate the world around us or simulate highly immersive scenarios with realistic 3D components. Recent developments in machine learning, sensor devices and cloud-based communication are offering a step change in AR's potential. New products such as Google's Project Tango and Microsoft's HoloLens are poised for consumer release, and we are already working with early release development kits for Tango.

Our pilot study aims to provide a tool where individuals can easily access relevant information, visualise the cost/benefit implications of their current and new habits and find concrete and easily implementable tips for achieving the desired goal, AR appears to be an ideal technology to foster the adoption of pro-environmental behaviour.

3. Project objectives

When considering the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours defined by Stern (2000, p.408) as «a behavior that is undertaken with the intention to change (normally to benefit) the environment», two challenges arise. The first concerns the discrepancy between the intention and the actual behaviour, having a purpose do not always takes us into performing that goal (Ajzen, Brown & Carvajal, 2004). Thus, although individuals might intend to behave in a pro-environmental way, they might not translate this intention into action.

The second concerns the lack of correspondence between a good intention toward the environment and the effective outcomes on the environment itself (Stern, 2000), there is also quite often a larger environmental concern associated with less environmental knowledge (Gifford, 2007).

In the present study we aim at addressing these challenges by providing environmental knowledge to the AR user and in facilitating some actions, as the AR device enables users to perform a pro-environmental behaviour just through a “tap” on the screen.

Our purpose for this pilot study is twofold: evaluating whether an augmented reality device is an effective environmental education tool; second observing if pro-environmental behaviours can be encouraged through an augmented reality device. Our research question arises from past studies related to intention-behaviour discrepancy (Ajzen et al., 2004) and from those concerning the benefits that pervasive and ubiquitous technologies can produce in many different fields (education: Brett, 2011; health: Saparova, 2012; environmental issues: Martos, Pacheco-Torres, Ordónez & Jadraque-Gago, 2016; driving experiences: Meschtscherjakov, Wilfinger, Scherndl & Tscheligi, 2009; social participation: Khaled, Barr, Noble & Biddle, 2006; civic engagement: Umaschi Bers & Chau, 2006); therefore we are interested in exploring the pros and cons of augmented reality use in a house setting toward the environmental education and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.

Furthermore several authors (Van der Pligt, 1996; Stern, 2000) stated that the most effective way to promote and generate environmental behavioural change is to combine together different strategies; we reckon that the augmented reality application can make possible pursuing the mix strategies method.

4. Research strategy

(For example, outline of research methodology, what information/data collection strategies will you use, where will you recruit participants and what approach you intend to take to the analysis of information / data generated)

The present study is designed as pilot and the intent is to change attitudes and behaviours and enhance environmental awareness in a home environment. A qualitative methodology will be applied, the research design consists of three phases:

- a preliminary screening questionnaire, which will help us to identify participants' attitudes, habits and awareness of environmental relevant issues and to evaluate their technology usage and attitudes.
- Non participant observation of one person at a time during their stay inside the Energy House located in Salford University.
- A follow up interview in order to investigate their current attitudes, feedback and opinions about the experience.

Energy House was designed to provide a typical domestic environment enclosed in an environmental chamber capable of simulating a range of outdoor conditions.

Each room and the outside contains a variety of environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, etc) that can be represented in real time via our AR devices to provide graphical and symbolic information on, for example, energy loss from a room and its financial cost given a choice of mitigating options.

Participants will be asked to stay in the Energy House for about 40 minutes, as first task they will set on the device a personal hypothetical goal concerning the general level of saving, suddenly they will explore the rooms through the AR device and find out items which will represent virtual scores' sources for their goal.

The correspondence between the effective consumption and the scores collected is based on the Green Impact bank (http://sustainability.nus.org.uk/green-impact).

The augmented reality application is designed integrating information technology techniques with most of the data deriving from the Energy House and social psychology theories supporting the interaction process. It will have some features of both antecedent and consequent strategies as described by Bell (2001), since it aims at provide information, show advantages and drawbacks of an action, typical features of antecedent methods, which aim at providing useful information in order to prevent bad actions. On the other hand the AR device will also give feedback, virtual rewards or penalties based on the user's actions, reflecting the consequent strategies, that is intervening after the behaviour occurred.

Some of the principles applied are those derived from social influence studies, the device will exert an indirect pressure on the user evoking advantages derived from the activity suggested (Geen, 1989); the AR will adopt gamification principles which can enhance the education process through entertainment (Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014) and the reward technique (or positive reinforcement) will be also implemented in order to empower this process; it will also create virtual characters embodying good and bad environmental activities and this aspect is linked to the social influence of observing models (Campbell, Stafford, Holz, & O'Hare, 2014); giving a feedback on one's action is another psychological aspect that can be very effective (Brandon and Lewis, 1999).

The AR application embodies some principles derived from captology theory (Fogg, 1998) and more general from persuasive theories: the reduction principle is the one which facilitates the action to be performed, makes it easier and effortless just like the tap of the screen (Fogg, 2003). Another relevant principle is the tunneling: the user has the possibility to get information and contents in a simple and direct way (Fogg, 2003); the conditioning principle corresponds to the positive or negative reinforcement.

Furthermore the AR application has the power to present information in a vivid mode, for example in showing loosing or gaining coins associated with the energy current consumption; yet in 1994 Aronson provided empirical results confirming the relevance of a vivid communication in distributing pro-environmental information.

The information generated across the three phases will be analysed adopting a psychosocial approach, based on non-verbal behaviour analysis and on a bottom-up qualitative analysis for what concerns the interviews' output (Addeo & Montesperelli, 2007).

5. What is the rationale which led to this project?

(For example, previous work - give references where appropriate. Any seminal works must be cited)

In 1997 Azuma defined Augmented Reality as a technology characterized by three determinant elements: a mix of virtual and real, interactivity, representations in three dimensions. To the best of our knowledge AR has been already applied to socially relevant fields such as: education developing applications as support for learning activities (Price & Rogers, 2004; Liu and Tan, 2007), tourism (Jung, Chung & Leue, 2015) and in the field of edutainment (Wagner & Schmalstieg, 2007). In more recent times Craig (2013) reviewed the AR developments and observed applications in several areas: medical, advertising, art and entertainment.

For what concerns AR applied to environmental issues there are different threads of research aimed at enhancing attachment and increasing awareness of the natural environment (Chen, 2014; Huang, Chen, & Chou, 2016). Others scholars evaluated the power of an AR game in improving recycle habits and reduce pollution (Carmen Juan, Furió, Molla, José Vicent, & Vivó, 2008; Carmen Juan, Furiò, Alem, Ashworth, & Cano, 2011), but in these cases the entertainment aspect was determinant and the sample was constituted by children or young students, so we may wonder if it could cause a sort of bias in the acceptance of the technology.

Focused on the design for sustainable behaviors is the work of Kwok and colleagues (2013), they run four empirical studies in order to gather information from both hypothetical users and expert designers. Their paper presents a prototype of an AR technology which should work as an eco-feedback device. It is also relevant the eVision project, a game designed to foster people understanding of sustainable behaviours (Santos, Romao, Dias, & Centieiro, 2013). In both previous studies participants were not offer the opportunity to perform any actions via the AR device and the setting was the external environment. With the present study we will fill this gap and it is worth to highlight that the Energy House provides us an unique opportunity to test the AR in a house controlled environment.

In linking pro-environmental behavior change and Human Computer Interaction fields it is also involved the captology theory (Fogg, 1998): the word indicates any kind of technology designed in order to change attitudes or behaviors, without coercion nor deception. The intention in persuading is the key factor, according to Fogg (2003) it is defined as an endogenous feature and it means that the intention in changing attitudes or behaviours should be in the design process, as we aim to do.

Literature provides many different examples of persuasive technologies applications, such as in the education field (Mintz & Aagaard, 2012), mobile health applications (Chan, 2004), pro-environmental behaviour (Kuznetsov and Paulos, 2010; Kim, Hong and Magerko, 2010) and their results are significant for what concerns the behaviour change investigated.

6. If you are going to work within a particular organisation do they have their own procedures for gaining ethical approval

(For example, within a hospital or health centre?)

NO (delete as appropriate)

If YES - what are these and how will you ensure you meet their requirements?

7. Are you going to approach individuals to be involved in your research?

YES/ (delete as appropriate)

If YES - please think about key issues - for example, how you will recruit people? How you will deal with issues of confidentiality / anonymity? Then make notes that cover the key issues linked to your study

Participants will be recruited among Salford University Students, by posting an announcement on website Blackboard and it will be a volunteer participation; the total number of participants will be about 10-15 persons.

8. More specifically, how will you ensure you gain informed consent from anyone involved in the study?

Participants will be informed of the purposes of the study and will have access to the Participant Information Sheet and the Informed Consent form at least 24 hour prior their participations.

9. How are you going to address any Data Protection issues?

See notes for guidance which outline minimum standards for meeting Data Protection issues All data collected will be stored anonymously. A personal Identification Number will be provided to each participant to match results of the three phases. The contact details of each participant and their PIN will be stored separately from all the data in a password­protected file.

Participants will be guaranteed the right to withdraw at any time prior and during the study, and up to three weeks after completion.

10. Are there any other ethical issues that need to be considered? For example - research on animals or research involving people under the age of 18.

No

11. (a) Does the project involve the use of ionising or other type of “radiation”

NO

(b) Is the use of radiation in this project over and above what would normally be expected (for example) in diagnostic imaging?

NO

(c) Does the project require the use of hazardous substances?

NO

(d) Does the project carry any risk of injury to the participants?

NO

(e) Does the project require participants to answer questions that may cause disquiet / or upset to them?

NO

If the answer to any of the questions 11(a)-(e) is YES, a risk assessment of the project is required and must be submitted with your application.

12. How many subjects will be recruited/involved in the study/research? What is the rationale behind this number?

10/15. This sample size will allow us to reach saturation in the data and have a solid basis for future quantitative follow ups.

13. Please state which code of ethics has guided your approach (e.g. from Research Council, Professional Body etc).

Please note that in submitting this form you are confirming that you will comply with the requirements of this code. If not applicable please explain why.

BPS [British Psychological Society] (2009) Code of ethics for research involving human participants.

Remember that informed consent from research participants is crucial; therefore all documentation must use language that is readily understood by the target audience.

Projects that involve NHS patients, patients' records or NHS staff, will require ethical approval by the appropriate NHS Research Ethics Committee. The University Ethics Panel will require written confirmation that such approval has been granted. Where a project forms part of a larger, already approved, project, the approving REC should be informed about, and approve, the use of an additional co-researcher.

Application Checklist

Title of Project: Augmented reality for sustainable living

The checklist below helps you to ensure that you have all the supporting documentation submitted with your ethics application form. This information is necessary for the Panel to be able to review and approve your application. Please complete the relevant boxes to indicate whether a document is enclosed and where appropriate identifying the date and version number allocated to the specific document (in the header / footer), Extra boxes can be added to the list if necessary.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

A2.2. RECRUITMENT MATERIAL

Augmented reality for sustainable living

Students are invited to participate in a short and fascinating experiment using state of the art Augmented Reality Technology within Salford University's Energy House. The experiment will explore the future use of new technologies in sustainable living.

Contact details:

Ms Stefania Fantinelli

(this flyer will be used on University of Salford student message boards)

A2.3. PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET

Participant Information Sheet

Project title: Augmented reality for sustainable living.

Invitation paragraph

Students of Salford University are invited to participate in a research study. Participation is completely voluntary, you can stop the study at any time and you can withdraw your data from the study within two weeks of taking part. It is important that you understand the aims of this research study and what will be required before agreeing to participate in it. If you find anything unclear and have any questions or wish to inquire for more information, feel free to ask.

What is the purpose of the study?

The purpose of the current project is to explore the role that Augmented Reality technology can play in fostering pro-environmental behaviours, providing a tool where individuals can easily access relevant information, visualise the cost/benefit implications of their current and new habits and find concrete and easily implementable tips for achieving the desired goal.

Do I have to take part?

It is up to you to decide. We will describe the study and we will give you the information sheet. We will then ask you to sign a consent form to show you agreed to take part. You are free to withdraw at any time, without giving a reason.

What will happen to me if I take part?

If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to fill in a questionnaire, to explore the Energy House at Salford University for about 15 minutes and to have a short interview. The questionnaire and the interview should not take long to complete and all data is confidential and anonymous - there are no identifiable questions that will be asked and your name is not required. You will be assigned a random code and a password to provide in case you desire to withdraw your data from the study.

Expenses and payments?

No expenses are available.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking part?

Taking part in this study is not expected to cause you any harm or distress but if you are affected at all, feel free to stop participation. The information we get from the study will help to increase the understanding of the augmented reality applicability within the domestic environment and to affect pro-environmental behaviours. There are no anticipated disadvantages related to taking part.

What if there is a problem?

If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions. The contacts are attached at the end of this form.

Will my taking part in the study be kept confidential?

All the information which you provide will be kept strictly confidential. Any information will have your name and address removed so that you will not be recognised. You will not be identifiable in any way through these activities. Your identity will be protected by allocating you a unique random code.

All information will be stored securely and only researchers will have access to them. Any information will be used only for the research or for teaching purposes. Data will be revealed to an appropriate authority if you will divulge information that can damage you or other persons.

What will happen if I don't carry on with the study?

If you withdraw from the study all the information and data collected will be destroyed and your name will be removed from all the study files. You can change your mind at any time and stop the study by contacting the research no longer after two weeks of participating in the study. Your code can be found on the top of your participant sheets.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

The results may be presented in research papers that will be published in academic journals, presented at academic conferences, or used for teaching purposes. You will not be identified in any report/publication unless you have given your consent.

Who is organising or sponsoring the research?

An academic institution.

Further information and contact details.

You can contact the researchers by emailing them. The contacts are attached at the end of this form.

Thank you for considering participating. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

A2.4. CONSENT FORM

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

A2.5. SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE

The following questionnaire is part of a research regarding the design of an Augmented Reality application for sustainable habits in householders.

Your information is confidential and will not be used for different purposes. You are able to withdraw your results from the study at any time - you will be assigned a random code in order to make your results anonymous.

You will be asked to fulfil a questionnaire, it will take about 10 minutes but you can take the time you need, please make sure to answer every question. There are not right or wrong answers, each will reflect your opinion.

Thank you for your participation and for your time.

1. How old are you?

2. Are you a female or a male?

Female

Male

3. What is your current housing condition? Tick one box only.

Tenant

I live with my family

Landlord

Other

Specify

Below are a series of statements regarding attitudes and behaviours toward environment. Please read each one and indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with each statement.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

A2.6. INTERVIEW GUIDE

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

A3. Thrid Study -“ Questionario sull’utilizzo di

TECNOLOGIE MOBILI”

Questionario sull'utilizzo di tecnologie mobili

Università degli Studi "Gabriele d'Annunzio" di Chieti-Pescara *Campo obbligatorio

Introduzione

Gentile Dott./Dott.ssa, Signore/a, La ringraziamo anticipatamente per la partecipazione alla presente raccolta dati che si inserisce in uno studio sull'utilizzo personale di tecnologie mobili.

Questa indagine è promossa e condotta dall'Università di Chieti-Pescara, Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture Moderne.

I dati verranno trattati in maniera assolutamente riservata e le risposte resteranno completamente anonime, nel pieno rispetto della legge sulla privacy. I risultati verranno utilizzati esclusivamente per fini scientifici.

Per compilare il questionario occorrono 10 minuti circa: può comunque utilizzare tutto il tempo che Le serve. La preghiamo di rispondere a tutte le domande senza tralasciarne alcuna, nell'ordine in cui verranno presentate.

Non ci sono risposte giuste o sbagliate, ciascuna risposta sarà utile in quanto riflette le Sue opinioni.

Grazie in anticipo per la Sua collaborazione!

Informazioni generali

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Utilizzo di un'applicazione per dispositivi mobili

Le chiediamo ora di leggere con attenzione la descrizione di due differenti applicazioni per smartphone o altro dispositivo mobile, dovrà sceglierne una e rispondere alle domande successive.

La prima si chiama ViviEco, è un'applicazione gratuita che ti aiuta a favorire scelte di vita sostenibili nel rispetto dell'ambiente e degli altri ed a risparmiare sulle tue bollette, fornendo consigli ed informazioni per modificare alcune tue abitudini quotidiane.

La seconda si chiama PosiLive, è un'applicazione gratuita che ti aiuta a condurre uno stile di vita sano monitorando le tue attività sportive. L'applicazione può monitorare attività di vario genere (corsa, bicicletta, camminata, escursioni) registrando valori quali distanza, durata, velocità, elevazione, calorie bruciate e molto altro delle tue attività cardio e di forza per aiutarti a costruire uno stile di vita sano e raggiungere i tuoi obiettivi di allenamento.

7. Quale applicazione scegli?

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

ViviEco

Con ViviEco potrai:

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Passa alla domanda 9.

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Fine del questionario

Grazie per aver contribuito alla ricerca!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Sabrina Speranza, who accompanied me in writing this work, providing her experience and his time for the selection of topics and the material; I would also like to thank her for the patient and careful supervision of the text and for having always offered valuable insights and suggestions.

I thank all the authors present in the bibliography and sitography for their valuable work that has made possible the realization of this thesis; special thanks to the authors that I had a chance to contact, for their kind availability, for the material they have provided me and for directions for further research, especially to Dr. Sharon Coen who welcomed me in Salford and to Professor Michela Cortini who guided and always encouraged me.

Last but not least, a warm thank my family and all the people dear to me, because they made it possible to reach this new milestone constantly offering me moral and psychological support.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1. ENIAC CALCULATOR. [SOURCE: U.S. ARMY]

FIGURE 2.THE COMPUTER MEMORY WAS ADVERTISED AS AN ARTIFICIAL BRAIN BY THE ERA. [SOURCE: ERA]

FIGURE 3. PONG, THE FIRST ARCADE VIDEO GAME. [SOURCE: PONGMUSEUM.COM] 29 FIGURE 4. THE FIRST MOUSE. [SOURCE: SRI INTERNATIONAL]

FIGURE 5 (LEFT). APPLE MACINTOSH (1984). [SOURCE: APPLE]

FIGURE 6 (RIGHT) MICROSOFT WINDOWS 1.0 (1985). [SOURCE: MICROSOFT]

FIGURE 7. OUTPUT FOR THE ASSOCIATIONS' ANALYSIS FOR THE LEMMA “TECHNOLOGY”

FIGURE 8. OUTPUT FOR ASSOCIATIONS' ANALYSIS FOR THE LEMMA “PERSUASION”

FIGURE 9. EXAMPLE OF RECOGNITION-BASED AR: A TOPPS BASEBALL FIGURINE [SOURCE: NEY YORK TIMES]

FIGURE 10. EXAMPLE OF SUPERIMPOSITION AR FOR A MEDICAL-EDUCATIONAL USE [SOURCE: AUGMENTWORKS]

FIGURE 11. MARKER FOR THE APPLICATION EON EXPERIENCE AVR HTTP://EONREALITY.COM/AVR. [SOURCE: EON]

FIGURE 12. THE ENERGY HOUSE AT SALFORD UNIVERSITY

FIGURE 13. EXAMPLE VISUALIZATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE PROJECT “AR FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING” WHICH SHOWS THE POLAR BEAR IN AR. [SOURCE: IAN DRUMM, SALFORD UNIVERSITY]

FIGURE 14. GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF GENRE'S DISTRIBUTION IN THE SAMPLE.111 FIGURE 15. GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE PREFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO APPLICATIONS.

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1. MAJOR THEMES CONCERNING THE TECHNOLOGY CONCEPTION

TABLE 2. MAJOR THEMES CONCERNING TECHNOLOGY'S EFFECTS

TABLE 3. MAJOR THEMES CONCERNING PERSUASIVE TECHNOLOGIES.

TABLE 4. UNEXPECTED AND NOTEWORTHY OPINIONS

TABLE 5. CORRELATION INDEXES OF CO-OCCURRENCES FOR THE LEMMA “TECHNOLOGY”

TABLE 6. CORRELATION INDEXES OF CO-OCCURRENCES FOR THE LEMMA “PERSUASION”.

TABLE 7. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS RELATED TO GENRE

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³ Cf. Floridi L. (2009), Infosfera. Etica e filosofia nell'età dell'informazione, G. Giappicchelli, Torino.

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⁵ eMarketer, azienda americana che si occupa di ricerche ed indagini di mercato, sui media e sui comportamenti online, https://www.emarketer.com.

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⁷ The Pew Research Center (http://www.pewresearch.org) is a private american research center.

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⁹ GSMAlliance Mobile Economy Report 2016, http://www. gsma.com/mobileeconomy/

¹⁰ Pew Research Center, Spring 2015 Global Attitudes survey.

¹¹ Cf. Putnam R. (2000), Bowling alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York.

¹² Turkle S. (2012), Insieme ma soli. Perché ci aspettiamo sempre di più dalla tecnologia e sempre meno dagli altri, Codice Edizioni, Torino.

¹³ Cf. Carr N. (2010), The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, W.W. Norton, New York.

¹⁴ Cf. Turkle S. (2016), op. cit.

¹⁵ Cf. Turkle S. (2012), op. cit.

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³¹ Cf. Cavazza N. (2009), Comunicazione e persuasione, il Mulino, Bologna.

³² Cf. Mead G. (1938), The Philosophy of the Act, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

³³ Cf. Palmonari A. (2015), Scienze sociali e gabbie disciplinari. Possiamo aprirle?, «Giornale italiano di psicologia», XLII(3), pp. 473-480.

³⁴ Cf. Moscovici S. (a cura di) (1984), Psychologie sociale, Presses Universitaire de France, Paris. Trad. it. (1989), Psicologia sociale, Borla, Roma.

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³⁸ Galimberti U. (1999), Enciclopedia di Psicologia, Garzanti, Milano, p. 854.

³⁹ Cf. Cooley C. (1909), Social Organization, Scribner's, New York.

⁴⁰ Aronson E., op. cit., p. 11.

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⁴⁸ Cf. Amerio P., op. cit.

⁴⁹ Cf. Tajfel H. (1969), The cognitive aspect of prejudice, «Journal of Social Issues», n. 25, pp. 79-97.

⁵⁰ Cf. Amerio P., op. cit.

⁵¹ Allport G. (1954), The Nature of Prejudice, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachussets, p.43.

⁵² Cf. Amerio P., op. cit.

⁵³ Cf. Eagly A., Chaiken S. (1993), The Psychology of Attitudes, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego.

⁵⁴ Cf. Hewstone M., op. cit.

⁵⁵ LaPiere R.T. (1934), Attitude versus action, «Social Forces», n. 13, pp. 230-237, Stanford University, Stanford.

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⁵⁷ Cf. Ajzen I. (1991), The theory of planned behaviour, «Organizational Behavior and Human Decisions Processes», n. 50, pp. 179-211.

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⁵⁹ Cf. Ajzen I. (1991), op. cit.

⁶⁰ Cf. Festinger L. (1957), A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Standford University Press, Standford.

⁶¹ Cf. McLuhan M. (1964), Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, Signet, New York.

⁶² Cf. Wellman B., Quan Haase A., Witte J., Hampton K. (2001), Does the internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment, «American Behavioral Scientist», n. 3, pp. 436-455.

⁶³ Cf. Walther J.B. (1996), Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction, «Communication Research», n. 23(1), pp. 3-43.

⁶⁴ Cf. Hoorn J.F. (2015), Psychological Aspects of Technology Interacting with Humans, in Sundar S.S. (Ed.) The Handbook of the Psychology of Communication Technology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 176-201.

⁶⁵ Cf. Turkle S. (2012), op. cit.

⁶⁶ Cf. Turkle S. (2012), op. cit.

⁶⁷ Fogg B.J. (1997). Captology: the study of computers as persuasive technologies. Conference on Human Factor in Computing Systems, «Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction», New York.

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⁷⁰ Cf. Price S., Rogers Y. (2004), Let's get physical: The learning benefits of interacting in digitally augmented physical spaces, «Computers & Education», n. 43, pp. 137-151.

⁷¹ Cf. Jung T., Chung M., Leue N.C. (2015), The determinants of recommendations to use augmented reality technologies: The case of a Korean theme park, «Tourism Management», n. 49, pp. 75-86.

⁷² Cf. Chen W. (2014), Historical Oslo on a Handheld Device — A Mobile Augmented Reality Application, 18th Annual Conference «Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems KES-2014», Gdynia, Poland.

⁷³ European Research Ranking, http://www.researchranking.org.

⁷⁴ Center for Human Computer Interaction, Department of Computer Sciences, https://hci.sbg.ac.at.

⁷⁵ Cf. Atzl C., Meschtscherjakov A., Vikoler S., Tscheligi M. (2015), Bet4EcoDrive: Betting for economical driving, «Persuasive Technology», Proceedings of the 10th International Conference, Springer, pp. 71-82.

⁷⁶ Cf. Giuliani M., Mirnig N., Stollnberger G., Stadler S., Buchner R., Tscheligi M. (2015), Systematic Analysis of Video Data from Different Human-Robot Interaction Studies: A Categorisation of Social Signals During Error Situations, «Frontiers in Psychology», n. 6, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00931.

⁷⁷ Oxford Internet Institute, Understanding life online, http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk.

⁷⁸ Cf. Floridi L. (2009), op. cit.

⁷⁹ Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, http://www.catch.org.uk.

⁸⁰ Cf. Preece J., Rogers Y., Sharp H., Benyon D., Holland S., Carey T. (1994), Human-Computer Interaction, Addison-Wesley Longman, Essex.

⁸¹ ICRI - Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities, http://www.cities.io.

⁸² Encouraging prosocial behavior through technology, http://www.cities.io/project/encouraging- prosocial-behaviour-through-technology/.

⁸³ Cf. Andriola G. (2013), Cinque modelli di business per l'open Data, «http://www.innovatoripa.it», 27/02/2013.

⁸⁴ Cf. Abraham A., Pocheptsova A., Ferraro R. (2012) , The effect of mobile phone use on prososcial behavior, Accepted manuscript.

⁸⁵ Cf. Maslow A.H. (1943), A theory of human motivation, «Psychological Review», n. 50(4), pp. 370­396.

⁸⁶ Nexa Center for Internet and Society, Politecnico di Torino, https://nexa.polito.it

⁸⁷ #socialUniversity, https://nexa.polito.it/socialuniversity.

⁸⁸ Center for Information and Communication Technology - ICT, Fondazione Bruno Kessler , https://ict.fbk.eu.

⁸⁹ Sant'Anna, Scuola Universitaria Superiore Pisa, http://www.santannapisa.it.

⁹⁰ Cf. Fong T., Nourbakhsh I., Dautenhahn K. (2003), A survey of socially interactive robots, «Robotics and Autonomous Systems», n. 42, pp. 143-166.

⁹¹ Scuola di Robotica di Genova, http://www.scuoladirobotica.it/it/homesdr.html.

⁹² HCI Lab - Laboratorio di Interazione Uomo Macchina, Università di Udine, http://hcilab.uniud.it/it/.

⁹³ MIT Programme in Science, Technology, and Society, http://web.mit.edu/sts/research/centers.html.

⁹⁴ Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute, Stanford University, http://hstar.stanford.edu.

⁹⁵ Standford Persuasive Tech Lab, Stanford University, http://captology.stanford.edu.

⁹⁶ Peace Innovation Lab at Stanford, Stanford University, https://peacelab.wordpress.com.

⁹⁷ Cf. Smith A. (2015), U.S. Smartphone use in 2015, «Pew Research Center», http://www.pewintemet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/.

⁹⁸ Cf. Rainie L., Zickuhr K. (2015), Americans' Views on Mobile Etiquette, «Pew Research Center», http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/26/americans-views-on-mobile-etiquette/.

⁹⁹ Cf. Licklider J.C.R. (1960), Man-Computer Symbiosis, «IRE Transactions on human factors in electronics», n. 1, pp. 4-11.

¹⁰⁰ The invention of the mouse with two wheels X-Y is by Douglas Engelbart and its patent is from 1970, but the first prototype dates back to 1963. The first mouse with the ball instead of the wheels was built by Bill English, collaborator of Engelbart, in 1972.

¹⁰¹ PARC: Palo Alto Research Center. http://www.parc.com.

¹⁰² MIT: Massachussets Institute of Technology. http://www.mit.edu.

¹⁰³ SRI: Stanford Research Institute. http://www.sri.com.

¹⁰⁴ Cf. Wellman B. (2004), The three ages of internet studies: ten, five and zero years ago, «New media & society», n. 6(1), pp. 123-129.

¹⁰⁵ Cf. Fox R. (1995), Newstrack, «Communications of the ACM», n. 38(8), pp. 11-12.

¹⁰⁶ Cf. Wellman B., op. cit.

¹⁰⁷ Cf. Wellman B., Haythornthwaite C. (eds) (2002), The Internet in Everyday Life, Blackwell, Oxford.

¹⁰⁸ Cf. Wellman B., op. cit.

¹⁰⁹ Cf. Cumiskey K.M., Ling R. (2015), The Social Psychology of Mobile Communication, in Sundar S.S. (Ed.) The Handbook of the Psychology of Communication Technology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 228-246.

¹¹⁰ Cf. Atzori L., Iera A., Morabito G. (2010), The Internet of Things: A survey, «Computer Networks», doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2010.05.010

¹¹¹ Cf. Mazzucchelli C. (2014), Nei labirinti della tecnologia, Delos Digital, Milano.

¹¹² Cf. Eco U. (1964), Apocalittici e integrati: comunicazioni di massa e teorie della cultura di massa, Bompiani, Milano.

¹¹³ Hanson R. in Mazzucchelli C., op. cit., [Kindle version] p. 5260.

¹¹⁴ Cf. Mazzucchelli C., op. cit.

¹¹⁵ Cf. Ibidem.

¹¹⁶ Cf. Eco U. (2015), Giusto qualche anedotto, in Lorusso A.M. (a cura di), 50 anni dopo apocalittici e integrati di Umberto Eco, DeriveApprodi, Roma.

¹¹⁷ Cf. Postman N. (1992), Technopoly: The surrender of Culture to Technology, Knopf, New York.

¹¹⁸ Postman N. in Mazzucchelli C., op. cit., p. 2013. Castells M. (2008), La nascita della società in rete, Ube Paperback, Cesano Boscone.

¹¹⁹ Castells M. (2008),La nascita della società in rete, Ube Paperback, Cesano Boscone.

¹²⁰ Lévy P. (1994), L'intelligence collective. Pour une anthropologie du cyberespace, La Découverte, Paris, tr. it. (1996), Feltrinelli, Milano.

¹²¹ Cf. Morcellini M. (2003), Lezione di comunicazione, Ed. Ellissi, Napoli.

¹²² Cf. Lévy P. (1994), op. cit.

¹²³ Cf. De Kerckhove D. (1997), Connected Intelligence: the Arrival of the Web Society , Somerville House Books, Toronto.

¹²⁴ Cf. De Kerckhove D. (2002), Psico-tecnologie: Interfaccia del linguaggio, dei Media e della Mente, «Convegno di Psicotecnologie 2002», Università di Palermo.

¹²⁵ Cf. De Kerckhove D. (2014), Psicotecnologie connettive, M.G. Mattei (a cura di), Egea, Milano.

¹²⁶ Cf. Turkle S. (2012), op. cit.

¹²⁷ Cf. Mazzucchelli C. (2014), op. cit.

¹²⁸ Cf. Bauman Z. (2013), op. cit.

¹²⁹ Cf. Norris C.A., Soloway E. (2011), Learning and Schooling in the Age of Mobilism, «Educational Technology», November-December 2011, pp. 3-10.

¹³⁰ Cf. Norris C.A., Soloway E. (2011), op. cit.; Turkle S. (2016), op. cit.

¹³¹ Cf. Goggin G., Crawford K. (2011), Generation disconnections: Youth culture and mobile communication, in Ling R., Campbell S. (eds.) Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together or Tearing Us Apart? The Mobile Communication Research Series Volume II, Transaction, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

¹³² The term origins from the crasis of words emotion-icon.

¹³³ Cf. Serrano-Puche J. (2015), Emotions and digital technologies: Mapping the field of research in media studies, «Media@LSE Working Paper Series», n. 33, pp. 2-21.

¹³⁴ Cf. Cumiskey K.M., Brewster K. (2012), Mobile Phones or Pepper Spray?, «Feminist Media Studies», n. 12(4), pp. 590-599.

¹³⁵ Cf. Cumiskey K.M., Brewster K., op. cit.

¹³⁶ Cf. Cumiskey K.M., Ling R. (2015), The Social Psychology of Mobile Communication, in Sundar S.S. (Ed.) The Handbook of the Psychology of Communication Technology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 228-246.

¹³⁷ Cf. Jurgenson N. (2012), Facebook, dunque sono, «La Lettura del Corriere della Sera», 13 gennaio 2012, http://lettura.corriere.it/facebook-dunque-sono/.

¹³⁸ Cf. Maslow A.H., op. cit.

¹³⁹ Cf. Serni S. (2014), La Piramide dei bisogni di Maslow, il wifi conquista un posto primario, «AlfacodBLOG», 24 gennaio 2014, http://alfacod.blogspot.it/2014/01/la-piramide-dei-bisogni-maslow- cosa-e.html.

¹⁴⁰ Cf. Lam S.K., Ahearne M., Hu Y., Schillewaert N. (2010), Resistance to brand switching when a radically new brand is introduced: a social identity theory perspective, «Journal of Marketing», n. 74(6), pp. 128-146.

¹⁴¹ Cf. Mannetti L., Pierro A., Livi S. (2002), Explaining consumer conduct: from planned to self- expressive behavior, «Journal of Applied Social Psychology», n. 32(7), pp. 1431-1451.

¹⁴² Cf. Yeh C.H., Wang Y.S., Yieh K. (2016), Predicting smartphone brand loyalty: Consumer value and consumer-brand identification perspectives, «International Journal of Information Management», n. 36, pp. 245-257.

¹⁴³ Cf. Quinn C. (2001), Get ready for m-learning, «Training and Development», n. 20(2), pp. 20-21.

¹⁴⁴ Cf. Walker K. (2006), «Mapping the Landscape of Mobile Learning» , in Sharples M. (ed.), Big Issues in Mobile Learning, University of Nottingham, pp. 5-6.

¹⁴⁵ Cf. Coffield F., Moseley D., Hall E., Ecclestone K. (2004), Should we be using learning styles? What research has to say to practice, Learning and Skills Research Centre, London.

¹⁴⁶ Cf. Cheung C.M.K., Chan G.W.W., Limayem M. (2005), A critical review of online consumer behavior: Empirical research, «Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations», n. 3(4), pp. 1-19.

¹⁴⁷ Cf. Chen K., Tarn J.M., Han B.T. (2004), Internet dependency: Its impact on online behavioural patterns in e-commerce, «Human Systems Management», n. 23 , pp. 49-58.

¹⁴⁸ Cf. Hogan J.M. (2012), Persuasion in the Rhetorical Tradition, in Dillard J.P., Shen L. (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Persuasion: developments in Theory and Practice, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, California.

¹⁴⁹ Cf. ibidem.

¹⁵⁰ Cf. Roloff M.E., Miller G.R. (1980), Persuasion: New Directions in Theory and Research, «SAGE reviews of communication research», n. 8, p. 12.

¹⁵¹ Cf. Kruglanski A.W., Thompson E.P., Spiegel S. (1999), Separate or equal? Bimodal notions of persuasion and a single-process «unimodel», in Chaiken S., Trope Y. (Eds.), Dual-processes theories in social psychology, Guilford, New York, pp. 293-313.

¹⁵² Cf. Nilsen T.R. (1974), Ethics of speech communication (2nd ed.), Bobbs-Merill, Indianapolis.

¹⁵³ Cavazza N. (2005), Psicologia degli atteggiamenti e delle opinioni, il Mulino, Bologna, p.131.

¹⁵⁴ Cf. Allport G.W. (1935), Attitudes, in Murchison C.M. (ed.), Handbook of Social Psychology, Clark University Press, Worcester, pp. 792-844.

¹⁵⁵ Cf. Staats A.W., Staats C.K. (1958), Attitudes established by classical conditioning, «Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology», n. 57, pp. 37-40.

¹⁵⁶ Cf. Verplanck W.S. (1955), The control of the content of conversation: Reinforcement of statements of opinions, «Journal of Abnormal and Social PSychology», n. 51, pp. 668-676.

¹⁵⁷ Cf. McGuire W.J. (1968), Personality and attitude change: An information-processing theory, in Greenwald A.G., Brock T.C., Ostrom T.M. (Eds.), Psychological foundations of attitudes, Academic Press, New York, pp. 171-196.

¹⁵⁸ Cf. Petty R.E., Cacioppo J.T. (1986), op. cit.

¹⁵⁹ Cf. Mucchi Faina A. (1996), L'influenza sociale, il Mulino, Bologna.

¹⁶⁰ Cf. Bench Capon T.J.M., McEnery A.M. (1989), People interact through computers, not with them, «Interacting with Computers», n. 1(1), pp. 48-52.

¹⁶¹ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), Persuasive Technology. Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco.

¹⁶² Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

¹⁶³ Cf. ibidem.

¹⁶⁴ Divinity of the appropriate time in Greece in the fifth century b.C.

¹⁶⁵ Cf. Lepper M.R., Greene D. (1978) (eds.), The Hidden Costs of Reward: New Perspectives on the Psychology of Human Motivation, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey.

¹⁶⁶ Rockett's New School project http://www.cdaccess.com/html/shared/rocketts.htm

¹⁶⁷ Cf. ibidem.

¹⁶⁸ Cf. Porcari J.P., Zedaker M.S., Maldari M.S. (1998), Virtual motivation, «Fitness Management» , December, pp. 48-51.

¹⁶⁹ Cf. Lieberman D.A (1995), Three studies of an Asthma Education Video Game, «Report to NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases» , April 1995.

¹⁷⁰ Cf. Lapolla N.A., Salvucci A. (2000), Evaluation of a Youth Drunk Driving Simulator Program, «128th Annual Meeting of APHA», 12-16 november 2000, Boston, MA.

¹⁷¹ Cf. Nass C., Steuer J., Tauber E.R. (1994), Computer are Social Actors, Proceedings of the «SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems», Boston, pp. 72-78.

¹⁷² Cf. Fogg B.J., Nass C. (1997), Silicon sycophants: The effects of computers that flatter, «International Journal of Human-Computer Studies», n. 46, pp. 551-561.

¹⁷³ Cf. Lee S.A., Liang Y.J. (2015), Reciprocity in computer-human interaction: source-based, norm­based, and affect-based explanations, «Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking», n. 18(4), pp. 234-240.

¹⁷⁴ Cf. Suler J.R. (1987), Eliza helps students grasp therapy, «APA Monitor», n. 2, p. 30.

¹⁷⁵ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

¹⁷⁶ Cf. Hovland C.I., Janis I.L., Kelley H.H. (1953), Communication and Persuasion, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.

¹⁷⁷ Cf. ibidem.

¹⁷⁸ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

¹⁷⁹ Cf. Gili G. (2005), La credibilità. Quando e perché la comunicazione ha successo, Rubbettino Editore, Soveria Mannelli, Catanzaro.

¹⁸⁰ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

¹⁸¹ Cf. Waern Y., Ramberg R. (1996), People's Perception of Human and Computer Advice, «Computers in Human Behavior», n. 12(1), pp. 17-27.

¹⁸² Cf. Gili G., op.cit.

¹⁸³ Cf. Kantowitz B.H., Hanowski R.J., Kantowitz S.C. (1997), Driver Acceptance of Unreliable Traffic Information in Familiar and Unfamiliar Settings, «Human Factors», n. 39(2), pp.164-176.

¹⁸⁴ Cf. Gallenga P.E., Mancini A., Gallenga C.E., Perri P. (2014), Breviario storiografico di ecoftalmologia, «Quaderni di Oftalmologia. Testo atlante di Ecografia Oculare e Orbitaria», Parte I, pp. 11-47, SOI ed., Roma.

¹⁸⁵ Cf. Kantowitz B.H., Hanowski R.J., Kantowitz S.C., op.cit.

¹⁸⁶ Cf. Muir B.M., Moray N. (1996), Trust in automation: Part II, Experimental studies of trust and human intervention in a process control simulation, «Ergonomics», n. 39(3), pp. 429-460.

¹⁸⁷ Cf. Gili G., op. cit.

¹⁸⁸ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

¹⁸⁹ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

¹⁹⁰ Cf. Zajonc R.B. (1965), Social Facilitation, «Science», n. 3681(149), pp. 269-274.

¹⁹¹ Cf. Aiello J.R., Douthitt E.A. (2001), Social facilitation from Triplett to electronic performance monitoring, «Group Dynamics», n. 5(3), pp.163-180.

¹⁹² Cf. Blascovich J. (2002), Social influence within immersive virtual environments, in Schroeder, R. (ed.), The Social Life of Avatars, Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 127-145.

¹⁹³ Cf. Erickson T., Halverson C., Kellogg W.A., Laff M., Wolf T. (2002), Social translucence designing social infrastructures that make collective activity visible, «Communications of the ACM», n. 45(4), pp. 40-44.

¹⁹⁴ Cf. Festinger L. (1954), A theory of social comparison process, «Human Relations», n. 7, pp. 117­140.

¹⁹⁵ Cf. Bandura A. (1986), Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

¹⁹⁶ Cf. Malone T., Lepper M. (1987), Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivation for learning, in Snow R.E., Farr M.J. (eds.), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction, Lawrence Earlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey.

¹⁹⁷ Cf. Berdichevsky D., Neunschwander E. (1999), Toward an ethics of persuasive technology, «Communications of the ACM», n. 42(5), pp. 51-58.

¹⁹⁸ Cf. Watzlawick P., Beavin J.H., Jackson D.D. (1971), Pragmatica della comunicazione umana. Studio dei modelli interattivi, delle patologie e dei paradossi, Astrolabio Ubaldini Ed, Roma.

¹⁹⁹ Cf. Fogg B.J. (2003), op. cit.

²⁰⁰ Cf. Goodpaster K. (1991), Business ethics and stakeholder analysis, «Business Ethics Quarterly», n. 1(1), pp. 53-73.

²⁰¹ Cf. Berdichevsky D., Neunschwander E., op. cit.

²⁰² Cf. Rawls J. (1989), A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

²⁰³ Cf. Berdichevsky D., Neunschwander E., op. cit.

²⁰⁴ Cf. Mason R.O. (1986), Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age, «Management Information Systems Quarterly», n. 1, pp. 5-12.

²⁰⁵ Cf. Ascott R. (2002), Technoetic Arts, «Media & Art Series», n. 6, Institute of Media Art, Yonsei University Press.

²⁰⁶ Bennato D. (2004), Tecnoetica. Il ruolo dei valori nel rapporto fra tecnologia e società, II Forum AIS dei Giovani Sociologi, Napoli, 7-8-9 ottobre.

²⁰⁷ Cf. Corbetta P. (1999), Metodologia e tecniche della ricerca sociale, il Mulino, Bologna.

²⁰⁸ Cf. ibidem.

²⁰⁹ Cf. Fielding N.G., Fielding J.L. (1986), Linking Data, Sage, Beverly Hills.

²¹⁰ Cf. Cataldi S. (2009), Come si analizzano i focus group, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

²¹¹ Cf. Cortini M. (2014), Mix-method research in applied psychology, «Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences», n. 5(23), pp. 1900-1905.

²¹² Wilson T. (1981), Qualitative “versus” quantitative methods in social research, in M. Küchler et al. Integration von qualitativen und quantitativen Forschungsansätzen, ZUMA, Mannheim, p. 58.

²¹³ Cf. Cortini M. (2014), op. cit.

²¹⁴ Measuring method through which a series of adjacent triangles are identified and measured on the ground and later used for the creation of geographical and topographical maps.

²¹⁵ Cf. Smith H.W. (1975), Strategies for Social Research, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

²¹⁶ Cf. Cortini M. (2014), op. cit.

²¹⁷ Cf. Bezzi C. (2005), Il Focus Group: consideriamone i limiti, «Sociologia e ricerca sociale», n. 76­77, pp. 184-191.

²¹⁸ Cf. Merton R.K. (1987), The Focussed Interview and Focus Group: Continuities and Discontinuities, «Public Opinion Quarterly», n. 4, pp. 36-38.

²¹⁹ Cf. Corrao S. (2002), Il Focus Group, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

²²⁰ Cf. Corrao S. (2002), op. cit.

²²¹ Cf. Heath R.L. (1987-88), Are Focus Group a Viable Tool for PR Practitioners to Help Their Companies Establish Corporate Responsibility?, «Public Relations Quarterly», n. 324, pp. 24-28.

²²² Corrao S. (2002), op.cit., p.25.

²²³ Cf. Cataldi S., op. cit.

²²⁴ Cf. Cataldi S., op. cit.

²²⁵ Bales R.F. (1950), Interaction Process Analysis: a Method for the Study of Small Groups, Chicago University Press, Chicago.

²²⁶ Bales R.F. in Cataldi S., op. cit., p.18.

²²⁷ Cf. Tajfel H. (1982), Social Identity and Intergroup Relations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

²²⁸ Cf. Turner J.C., Hogg M.A., Turner P.J., Smith, P.M. (1987), Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory, Blackwell, Oxford.

²²⁹ Cf. Cataldi S., op. cit.

²³⁰ Cf. Guglielmi D. (1999), La metodologia dei focus group, «Risorsa Uomo», n. 2, pp. 227-231.

²³¹ T-LAB is a software that allows researchers to analyse and summarize written text content, as output produces maps based on multidimensional data analysis.

²³² Cf. Vaughn S., Schumm J.S., Sinagub J. (1996), Focus Group Interviews, Sage, London.

²³³ In Appendix, attachment “A1.3. Griglia domande Focus Group”, page 133.

²³⁴ In Appendix, attachment “A1.1. Invito Partecipanti”, page 131.

²³⁵ Cf. Bales R.F. (1950), op. cit.

²³⁶ Cf. Cataldi S., op.cit.

²³⁷ Cf. Hamers L., Hemeryck Y., Herweyers G., Janssen M., Keters H., Rousseau R., Vanhoutte A. (1989), Similarity measures in scientometric research: the Jaccard index versus Salton's cosine formula, «Information Processing & Management», n. 25(3), pp. 315-318.

²³⁸ Cf. Bales R.F., op. cit.

²³⁹ Cf. Azuma R.T. (1997), A Survey of Augmented Reality, «Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments», n. 6(4), pp. 355-385.

²⁴⁰ Cf. ibidem.

²⁴¹ Cf. Craig A.B. (2013), Understanding Augmented Reality: Concepts and Applications, Morgan Kaufmann, Waltham, Massachusetts.

²⁴² Cf. Price S., Rogers Y., op. cit.

²⁴³ Cf. ibidem.

²⁴⁴ Cf. Huang T., Chen C., Chou Y. (2016), Animating eco-education: To see, feel, and discover in an augmented reality-based experiential learning environment, «Computers & Education», n. 96, pp. 72­82.

²⁴⁵ Cf. Jung T., Chung M., Leue N.C., op. cit.

²⁴⁶ Cf. Chen W. (2014), Historical Oslo on a Handheld Device — A Mobile Augmented Reality Application, «18th Annual Conference Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems, KES-2014», Gdynia, Poland.

²⁴⁷ Cf. Craig A.B., op. cit.

²⁴⁸ Cf. Carmen Juan M., Furiò D., Alem L., Ashworth P., Cano J. (2011), ARGreenet and Basic Greenet: Two mobile games for learning how to recycle, Full Papers Proceedings of «19th International Conference in Central Europe on Computer Graphics, Visualization and Computer Vision», Plzen, Czech Republic, pp. 25-32.

²⁴⁹ Cf. Martos A., Pacheco-Torres R., Ordónez J., Jadraque-Gago E. (2016), Towards successful environmental performance of sustainable cities: Intervening sectors. A review, «Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews», n. 57, pp. 479-495.

²⁵⁰ Cf. Kohl J. (2008), Dialogues on Sustainable Paths for the Future: Summary, in Kohl J. (Ed.), «Dialogues on sustainable path for the future - Ethics, Welfare and Responsibility», Finland Futures Research Centre, Turku.

²⁵¹ Cf. Järvelä M. (2008), Social and Cultural Sustainability, in Kohl J. (Ed.), «Dialogues on sustainable path for the future - Ethics, Welfare and Responsibility», Finland Futures Research Centre, Turku.

²⁵² Cf. Tversky A. (1969), Intransitivity of preferences, «Psychological Review», n. 76, pp. 31-48.

²⁵³ Cf. Maréchal K. (2010), Not irrational but habitual: The importance of “behavioural lock-in” in energy consumption, «Ecological Economics», n. 69(5), pp. 1104-1114.

²⁵⁴ Cf. Ajzen I. (1991), op. cit.

²⁵⁵ Cf. Ajzen I., Brown T.C., Carvajal F. (2004), Explaining the Discrepancy Between Intentions and Actions: The Case of Hypothetical Bias in Contingent Valuation, Personality and Social Psychology Bullettin, n. 30(9), pp. 1108-1121.

²⁵⁶ Cf. Stern P.C. (2000). Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behaviour, «Journal of Social Issues», n. 56(3), pp. 407-424.

²⁵⁷ Cf. Gifford R. (2007), Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice, 4th ed. Canada: Optimal Books.

²⁵⁸ Cf. Craig, op. cit.

²⁵⁹ In Appendix, attachment “A2.4. Consent form”, page 150.

²⁶⁰ In Appendix, attachment “A2.3. Participant information sheet”, page 147.

²⁶¹ Cf. Vicente P., Reis E. (2010), Using Questionnaire Design to Fight Nonresponse Bias in Web Surveys, «Social Science Computer Review», n. 28(2), pp. 251-267.

²⁶² Cf. Gabbiadini A., Mari S., Volpato C. (2011), Internet come strumento di ricerca: Linee guida per la creazione di web survey, «Psicologia Sociale», n. 2, pp. 237-258.

²⁶³ Cf. Dandurand F., Shultz T., Onishi K. (2008), Comparing online and lab methods in a problem­solving experiment, «Behavior Research Methods», n. 40(2), pp. 428-434.

²⁶⁴ Cf. ibidem.

²⁶⁵ Cf. Gosling S.D., Vazire S., Srivastava S., John O.P. (2004), Should We Trust Web-Based Studies? A Comparative Analysis of Six Preconceptions About Internet Questionnaires, «American Psychologist», n. 59(2), pp.93-104.

²⁶⁶ Cf. Gosling S.D., Vazire S., Srivastava S., John O.P., op. cit.

²⁶⁷ Cf. Smith E.R. (2000), Research design, in Reis H.T., Judd C.M. (eds.), Handbook of research methods in social psychology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp.17-39.

²⁶⁸ Cf. Van Selm M., Jankowski N.W. (2006), Conducting on line surveys, «Quality & Quantity», n. 40, pp. 435-456.

²⁶⁹ Cf. Suarez-Balcazar Y., Balcazar F.E., Taylor-Ritzler T. (2009), Using the Internet to conduct research with culturally diverse populations: Challenges and opportunities. Cultural diversity and ethnic minority, «American Psychological Association», n. 15(1), pp. 96-104.

²⁷⁰ Cf. Couper M. (2000), Web surveys: A review of issues and approaches, «Public Opinion Quarterly», n. 64, pp. 464-494.

²⁷¹ Cf. Vicente P., Reis E., op. cit.

²⁷² Cf. Jackob N., Zerback T. (2006), Improving quality by lowering non-response: A guideline for online surveys, Paper presented at the WAPOR Seminar «Quality Criteria in Survey Research VI», Cadenabbia, Como.

²⁷³ Cf. Vicente P., Reis E., op. cit.

²⁷⁴ Cf. ibidem.

²⁷⁵ Cf. Dillman D., Tortora R., Conradt J., Bowker D. (1998), Influence of the plain vs fancy design on response rates for web surveys, Proceedings of the «Survey Research Methods Section», American Statistical Association.

²⁷⁶ Cf. Deutskens E., Ruyter K., Wetzels M., Oosterveld P. (2004), Response rate and response quality of Internetbased surveys: An experimental study, «Marketing Letters», n. 15, pp. 21-36.

²⁷⁷ Cf. Kraut R., Patterson M., Lundmark V., Kiesler S., Mukipadhyay T., Scherlis W. (1998), Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?, «American Psychologist», n. 53(9), pp. 1017-1031.

²⁷⁸ Cf. Johnson G.M. (2010), Internet use and child development: The technomicrosystem, «Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology», n. 10, pp. 32-43.

²⁷⁹ Cf. Burak L. (2012), Multitasking in the university classroom, «International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning», n. 6(2), pp. 1-12.

²⁸⁰ Cf. Venkatesh V., Thong J.Y.T., Xu X. (2012), Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, «MIS Quarterly», n. 36(1), pp. 157-178.

²⁸¹ Cf. Wang Z., Tchernev J.M. (2012), The “myth” of media multitasking: Reciprocal dynamics of media multitasking, personal needs, and gratifications, «Journal of Communication», n. 62, pp. 493­513.

²⁸² Cf. Rosen L.D., Whaling K., Carrier L.M., Cheever N.A., Rokkun J., op. cit.

²⁸³ Cf. Boase J., Ling R. (2013), Measuring Mobile Phone Use: Self-Report Versus Log Data, «Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication», n. 18 (2013), pp. 508-519.

²⁸⁴ Cf. ibidem.

²⁸⁵ Cf. Halko S., Kientz A. (2010), Personality and Persuasive Technology: An Exploratory Study on Health-Promoting Mobile Applications, in Ploug T., Hasle P., Oinas-Kukkonen H. (Eds.) Persuasive 2010, LNCS 6137, Springer, Berlino, pp. 150-161.

²⁸⁶ Cf. ibidem.

²⁸⁷ Cf. Weiser E.B. (2000), Gender Differences in Internet Use Patterns and Internet Application Preferences: A Two-Sample Comparison, «Cyber Psychology & Behavior», n. 3(2), pp. 167-178.

²⁸⁸ Cf. Lee C., Coughlin J. (2015), Generational Differences in Adoption and Use of Information and Communications Technology, Proceedings of the «Human Factors and Ergonomics Society», October 2015, Los Angeles.

²⁸⁹ Cf. Stern P.C., op. cit.

²⁹⁰ Cf. Baron R.M., Kenny D.A. (1986), The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations, «Journal of Personality and Social Psychology», n. 51, pp. 1173-1182.

²⁹¹ Cf. Frazier P.A., Tix A.P., Barron K.E. (2004), Testing moderator and mediator effects in counseling psychology research, «Journal of Counseling Psychology», n. 51(1), pp. 115.

²⁹² Cf. Preacher K.J., Rucker D.D., Hayes A.F. (2007), Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions, «Multivariate Behavioral Research», n. 42, pp. 185-227.

²⁹³ Cf. Baron R.M., Kenny D.A., op. cit.

²⁹⁴ Cf. Preacher K.J., Rucker D.D., Hayes A. F, op. cit.

²⁹⁵ Cf. Foth M., Satchell C., Paulos E., Igoe T., Ratti C. (2008), Pervasive persuasive technology and environmental sustainability workshop, «6th Conference on Pervasive Computing», Sydney, Australia.

²⁹⁶ Cf. Kimura H., Nakajima T. (2011), Designing Persuasive Applications to Motivate Sustainable Behavior in Collectivist Cultures, «PsychNology Journal», n. 1(9), pp. 7-28.

²⁹⁷ Participants are asked to save an island from rising sea level, for each pro-environmental activity actually took place which they register on the application, the virtual island situation improves.

²⁹⁸ Encouraging prosocial behaviour through technology, http://2012.cities.io/project/encouraging- prosocial-behaviour-through-technology/.

²⁹⁹ Cf. Lalli M. (1992), Urban-related identity: Theory, measurement, and empirical findings, «Journal of Environmental Psychology», n. 12, pp. 285-303.

³⁰⁰ Cf. Uhls Y.T., Michikyan M., Morris J., et al. (2014), Five Days at Outdoor Education Camp Without Screens Improves Preteen Skills with Nonverbal Emotional Cues, «Computers in Human Behavior», n. 39, pp. 387-392.

³⁰¹ Cf. Wilson T.D., Reinhard D.A., Westgate E.C., et al. (2014), Just Think: The Challenges of the Disengaged Mind, «Science», n. 6192, pp. 75-77.

³⁰² Cf. Dossey L. (2016), Solitude: On Dining Alone, Cellphones, and Teddy Bears, «Explore», n. 2(12), pp. 77-83.

³⁰³ Cf. Cumiskey K.M., Ling R. (2015), The Social Psychology of Mobile Communication, in Sundar S. S. (Ed.) The Handbook of the Psychology of Communication Technology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 228-246.

³⁰⁴ Cf. Bayer J., Campbell S. (2012), Texting while driving on automatic: Considering the frequency­independent side of habit, «Computers in Human Behavior», n. 28, pp. 2083-2090.

³⁰⁵ Cf. Przybylski A., Weinstein N. (2012), Can You Connect with Me Now? How the Presence of Mobile Communication Technology Influences Face-to-Face Conversation Quality, «Journal of Social and Personal Relationships», 2012, pp. 1-10.

³⁰⁶ Cf. Kaliouby R. (2015), Rana el Kaliouby: This app knows how you feel — from the look on your face [Video], in «TEDWomen2015: Momentum», Maggio 2015, Monterey, California. http://ted.com/talks/rana el kaliouby this app knows how you feel from the look on your face.