Samenvatting

As social media become more and more relevant for brands, it is important to find ways of increasing valuable exposure for brands on social media. Valuable exposure is generated when brands create social capital for individuals. Social capital can be defined as the resources available for individuals throughout interaction with coherent groups (Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009). The problem that this thesis answers is in what ways persuasive design can help brands increase the social capital of individuals. As there are several theories described by Cialdini (2006), Shavitt and Brock (1994), Fogg (2003) and Kaptein (2012) that substantiate psychological persuasion and influencing behaviour by computing products, the combination of these theories to increase social capital for individuals in the digital era is relatively new. This thesis describes in what ways these theories can be used to the relevance for brand exposure on social media. The theories gained from a literature study are enhanced by an interview and a case study. The case study describes the period in which Nike+ redesigned its platform and implemented persuasively designed elements. The case study also contains a comprehensive data analysis, by analysing all the tweets gained from people who are using the Nike+ platform. With this information it is possible to see the difference in exposure, before and after the implementation of persuasive design. Because Nike+ redesigned its platform at 21 June 2012, the difference in exposure is measured between the period of July 2010 and June 2013. This research found that persuasive design can contribute to increasing social capital for individuals. Increasing social capital for individuals leads to more relevant information for individuals, which increases the likeliness of people to share the branded content. This leads to an increase of exposure for a brand in highly relevant contexts.