When the results of this study are considered in the context of the sustainability and social marketing
literatures, it appears that CMS are successful at changing employees’ attitudes and behaviors
because they include features that reflect multiple categories of the design principles. Even though
the design category of task support was referred to most often (Table 5), comments by the
participants indicate that features associated with the other design principles were also instrumental
in enhancing the CMS’s persuasiveness. This synergy between design principles ties back to idea
that persuasive systems function in three different ways: as tools, media, and social actors (Fogg,
1999; Fogg, 2003). Although each mechanism is necessary, one alone may not be sufficient. For
instance, simply providing a tool (e.g., task reduction) may not lead significant changes in behaviors if
not accompanied by other design principles that simulate social interactions (e.g., suggestions).
Therefore, the first proposition is stated as follows: