Our Nudges, Our Selves: Tailoring Mobile User Engagement Using Personality

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that personalized behavioral nudges in mobile apps, tailored to individual personality traits, significantly improve user engagement and should replace one-size-fits-all approaches.

Contribution

We developed HarrySpotter, a location-based AR app, and showed that engagement preferences are strongly predictive of personality traits, advocating for personalized nudging strategies.

Findings

Preferences for engagement techniques vary with personality traits.

Personality traits can predict engagement technique effectiveness with up to 61% accuracy.

Personalized nudges outperform generic approaches in user engagement.

Abstract

To increase mobile user engagement, current apps employ a variety of behavioral nudges, but these engagement techniques are applied in a one-size-fits-all approach. Yet the very same techniques may be perceived differently by different individuals. To test this, we developed HarrySpotter, a location-based AR app that embedded six engagement techniques. We deployed it in a 2-week study involving 29 users who also took the Big-Five personality test. Preferences for specific engagement techniques are not only descriptive but also predictive of personality traits. The Adj. $R^2$ ranges from 0.16 for conscientious users (encouraged by competition) to 0.32 for neurotic users (self-centered and focused on their own achievements), and even up to 0.61 for extroverts (motivated by both exploration of objects and places). These findings suggest that these techniques need to be personalized in the future.