{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/65774"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/65774","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Measuring and generating social influence using mobile telephony","abstract":"In recent years, mobile telephony and manufactured social influence have received attention as tools for eliciting behavior change. This paper describes an experimental approach to studying the effect of these tools in combination. We demonstrate that mobile telephony can be used to generate social influence and elicit behavior change in support of a specified goal. A longitudinal experiment is conducted in a free-living environment, using mobile telephony to track and attempt to influence the activity level of a pool of 97 subjects over 62 days. Subjects receiving feedback about others' performance show a significantly greater increase in activity level than subjects receiving feedback about their own performance only, demonstrating that social influence enhances the persuasive capability of mobile telephony. A significant effect is observed of a subject's pre-existing closeness to the others whose performance he sees. Evidence is also seen that generated social ties lead to a more significant and sustained increase in activity level than existing social ties.","abstract_html":"In recent years, mobile telephony and manufactured social influence have received attention as tools for eliciting behavior change. This paper describes an experimental approach to studying the effect of these tools in combination. We demonstrate that mobile telephony can be used to generate social influence and elicit behavior change in support of a specified goal. A longitudinal experiment is conducted in a free-living environment, using mobile telephony to track and attempt to influence the activity level of a pool of 97 subjects over 62 days. Subjects receiving feedback about others' performance show a significantly greater increase in activity level than subjects receiving feedback about their own performance only, demonstrating that social influence enhances the persuasive capability of mobile telephony. A significant effect is observed of a subject's pre-existing closeness to the others whose performance he sees. Evidence is also seen that generated social ties lead to a more significant and sustained increase in activity level than existing social ties.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ip, Cory May"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Alex (Sandy) Pentland."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011","date_published":"2011","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:59Z","subjects":["Engineering Systems Division.","Technology and Policy Program."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65774","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Alex (Sandy) Pentland."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ip, Cory May"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2011-09-13T17:50:57Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-09-13T17:50:57Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2011"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Engineering Systems Division.","Technology and Policy Program."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65774"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-68)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In recent years, mobile telephony and manufactured social influence have received attention as tools for eliciting behavior change. This paper describes an experimental approach to studying the effect of these tools in combination. We demonstrate that mobile telephony can be used to generate social influence and elicit behavior change in support of a specified goal. A longitudinal experiment is conducted in a free-living environment, using mobile telephony to track and attempt to influence the activity level of a pool of 97 subjects over 62 days. Subjects receiving feedback about others' performance show a significantly greater increase in activity level than subjects receiving feedback about their own performance only, demonstrating that social influence enhances the persuasive capability of mobile telephony. A significant effect is observed of a subject's pre-existing closeness to the others whose performance he sees. Evidence is also seen that generated social ties lead to a more significant and sustained increase in activity level than existing social ties."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M.in Technology and Policy"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Measuring and generating social influence using mobile telephony"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Alex (Sandy) Pentland."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program."],"dc:creator":["Ip, Cory May"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2011-09-13T17:50:57Z"],"dc:date.available":["2011-09-13T17:50:57Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2011"],"dc:description":["Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-68)."],"dc:description.abstract":["In recent years, mobile telephony and manufactured social influence have received attention as tools for eliciting behavior change. This paper describes an experimental approach to studying the effect of these tools in combination. We demonstrate that mobile telephony can be used to generate social influence and elicit behavior change in support of a specified goal. A longitudinal experiment is conducted in a free-living environment, using mobile telephony to track and attempt to influence the activity level of a pool of 97 subjects over 62 days. Subjects receiving feedback about others' performance show a significantly greater increase in activity level than subjects receiving feedback about their own performance only, demonstrating that social influence enhances the persuasive capability of mobile telephony. A significant effect is observed of a subject's pre-existing closeness to the others whose performance he sees. Evidence is also seen that generated social ties lead to a more significant and sustained increase in activity level than existing social ties."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M.in Technology and Policy"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65774"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Engineering Systems Division.","Technology and Policy Program."],"dc:title":["Measuring and generating social influence using mobile telephony"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:59Z"}