2008 · 14 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesEnvironmental Social ScienceSocial PsychologyEnvironmental AttitudesPersuasionSocial InfluenceAttitudes Toward ConservationEnvironmental CommunicationSustainability AttitudesPersuasion StylesSustainable Behavior Change
Websites and technologies that promote sustainable behavior often employ direct persuasion by being open about persuasive intent. We examined the use of indirect persuasion, methods that do not make persuasive intent clear. We built two variants of a recipe website designed to induce changes in users: one using direct persuasion and the other using indirect methods. We measured the effects of each site on users' attitudes and actions towards the environment. Preliminary results show that the direct style influenced actions while the indirect style influenced attitudes. We discuss the implications of this dissociation for research and applications.