This thesis focuses on persuasion and how principles of persuasion embedded within mobile health applications are there to promote attitude and behavioral change. It includes a background in rhetoric; beginning with the Aristotelian method for persuasion, then stretching on to psychological rhetoric, and finally how the Aristotelian methods have worked its way into everyday society, especially in marketing and games. The thesis then benefits from the rhetoric background as it explores Dr. BJ Fogg’s model of behavior as well as his principles of persuasion.

An analysis of the mobile health application “My Fitness Pal” is made. After which the principles are transferred into a mockup designed to fit another context, namely education. This to challenge the authors hypothesis, that the same principles of persuasion used to promote and persuade the user to do a physical activity, can also be used to persuade a user to study.