When certain persuasive techniques fail to prompt users to
                         challenge misinformation: Lessons learnt – Extended Abstract

                         Selin Gurgun1, Emily Arden-Close1, Keith Phalp1 and Raian Ali2
                         1 Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
                         2 College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar




                                         Abstract
                                         While persuasive technologies have been extensively studied in the individual focused domains, there
                                         appears to be a lack of research that assesses their effectiveness for behaviours that involve interacting
                                         with others. In this paper, we attempt to reduce the gap and study why persuasion may fail withing an
                                         example domain for interpersonal communication: the promotion of challenging misinformation. We
                                         explore the reasons why certain persuasive techniques, specifically those intended to persuade users to
                                         challenge others, have shown limited effectiveness. We applied Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use
                                         of Technology 2 (UTAUT-2) framework to provide better guidance regarding the factors that influence
                                         the adoption of interfaces. Our research draws on qualitative data from an online survey with 250
                                         respondents where each respondent evaluated seven social media user interfaces employing persuasive
                                         techniques and four online co-design sessions with 18 participants. We identify 19 rejection factors,
                                         falling under 6 main categories: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating
                                         conditions, hedonic motivation, experience and habit. The most mentioned rejection factor was about
                                         performance expectancy. Users expressed disbelief in the necessity of the techniques. Additionally,
                                         participants articulated concerns about the negative outcome of using these designs. The second most
                                         cited factor was the lack of hedonic motivation. Users found the designs and statements used in the
                                         designs non-serious, aggressive, condescending, and robotic. They expressed concerns about social
                                         influence as well. They expressed a fear that the utilization of the techniques could damage their self-
                                         image by portraying them “know-it-all” (e.g., having a badge). They also articulated their discomfort
                                         using designs that does not allow being anonymous in the interactions. Concerns related to usability are
                                         perceiving the designs effortful. In terms of experience and habit, they indicated that these designs may
                                         eventually be disregarded or overlooked after a certain point. To address these rejection factors, it is
                                         important to provide designs with emphasising more tangible benefits, trustworthy and easy-to-use. The
                                         interfaces should consider users’ privacy needs, their self-image concerns align with digital norms and
                                         the requirements of having a human touch avoiding assertiveness.

                                         Keywords
                                         Interpersonal relations, misinformation mitigation, persuasive techniques, persuasive systems design,
                                         nudge design

                                         Acknowledgements
                                         This publication was supported by NPRP 14 Cluster grant # NPRP 14C-0916–210015 from the Qatar
                                         National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The findings herein reflect the work and are
                                         solely the responsibility of the authors.



                         In: Kiemute Oyibo, Wenzhen Xu, Elena Vlahu-Gjorgievska (eds.): The Adjunct Proceedings of the 19 th International Conference on
                         Persuasive Technology, April 10, 2024, Wollongong, Australia
                         EMAIL: sgurgun@bournemouth.ac.uk (Selin Gurgun); eardenclose@bournemouth.ac.uk (Emily Arden-Close) ; kphalp @bournemouth.ac.uk
                         (Keith Phalp) ; raali2@hbku.edu.qa (Raian Ali);
                         ORCID: 0000-0001-9803-955X (Selin Gurgun); 0000-0002-5954-2598 (Emily Arden-Close); 0000-0003-4458-686X (Keith Phalp); 0000-
                         0002-5285-7829 (Raian Ali)
                                      ©️ 2020 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
                                      Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
                                      CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)




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