Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Persuasive Technologies (PTs) are interactive systems intentionally designed to change human behavior. Currently, they are characterized by inequity, cultural insensitivity, one-size-fits-all (OSFA), and the cold-start (CS) problem: the inability to know what persuasive strategies or messages will be effective in changing a new user's behavior. Whereas the goal of PTs is to promote beneficial behaviors by tailoring strategies and messages to users, the OSFA approach has resulted in the underservice of minority groups in digital design, which often caters to the dominant group (eg. Euro-Canadians). While attempts have been made to address the CS problem in e-commerce systems, there have been limited attempts in other domains to bridge the digital divide. So far, most personalization efforts have been based on explanatory models that use self-reports to build static group-based persuasion profiles. This approach assumes that users that share similar demographic attributes are a monolithic group. However, research shows that one size does not fit all. For example, personal strategies may not be effective for all Canadians as Indigenous Canadians may respond to social strategies better given their collectivist worldview. Yet, most existing PT research assumes that national groups (eg. Canadians) are a monolithic group. To address the CS problem affecting mostly marginalized groups, I aim to use Machine Learning methods, which use historical data, user attributes and interaction data to recommend persuasive strategies. Using large-scale studies for different countries and domains, I will build and validate predictive models and share them with other researchers in an Ecosystem for PT Artifacts and Data Sharing (EcoPAD). To address the OSFA problem, I aim to examine, through participatory research, how culture-tailored PTs can reduce digital inequity. The EcoPAD will serve as a collaborative platform for PT researchers in and outside Canada to advance PT research beyond explanatory models existing in silos to make research replication easier and cost-effective. The research program has the potential to improve the effectiveness of digital tools among underserved groups in different cultures. It will provide PT researchers in Canada and worldwide with new collaborative methods, models, and tools that will advance the field. It will strengthen Indigenous capacity building by affording Indigenous researchers the opportunity to lead participatory research and acquire skills in research and project management. The research outcome can help persuade digital stakeholders to integrate Indigenous/rural peoples' cultural norms into digital tools to foster equitable access. The knowledge gained will advance PT research in personalization and tackling digital inequity. Decision-makers can leverage the findings to shape policies and target interventions to underserved groups in and outside Canada, eg. Nigeria where I have strong ongoing research collaborations.