This chapter will explore the role of computing products as persuasive social actors. rhese products persuade by giving a variety of social cues that elicit social responses from their human users.

When computing products adopt the role of social actor, they persuade people by applying the same persuasion principles that humans use to influence others; as social actors, computers can persuade people to change their attitudes or behaviors by rewarding them with positive feedback, modeling a target behavior or attitude, or providing social support. Chapter 5 discusses computers as persuasive social actors in more detail.