Mobile persuasion: promoting clean and sustainable environment

Abstract

Research has shown that most developing nations like Nigeria are increasingly confronting numerous environmental problems such as greenhouse gases, oil spills, and toxic waste management. However, the real problem has to do with peoples' negative attitudes and behaviors to the environment and resultant environmental problems. For instance, a high percentage of wastes generated in most developing countries in Africa are currently being disposed of via open dumping - which refers to a situation where people dump refuse on the streets. As responsible citizens, however, we should care more for the environment. We must take steps to reduce our personal ecological footprints, educate ourselves on what engenders environmental problems as well as change our attitudes towards our environment. In the last decade, computer-human interaction (CHI) research has evolved in response to the considerable increase in peoples' understanding of the influential roles that technology plays in everyday life. Technologies that are essentially designed for the purpose of influencing users to change their behaviors and attitudes, without using coercion or deception is referred to as Persuasive technology (PT). These behavioral and attitudinal changes are realized via the use of persuasive strategies. Persuasive strategies are techniques that are used in PT design to motivate behavior change and influence people to achieve specific goals in various domains like ecommerce, health and even in environmental management. As a first step towards contributing to research, this study focuses on how to design and implement a mobile persuasive system (a behavioral change support system BCSS) for waste management. This system when implemented could motivate users to change their attitudes and behaviors towards waste disposal and to care more for the environment.