The Future of Mobile Devices as Persuasion Platforms with BJ Fogg (5:44) Dr. Ralph F. Wilson , Web Marketing Today - Aug 24, 2010

In this fascinating video interview, Stanford persuasion psychologist BJ Fogg contends that we are on the cusp of the next stage of human evolution where every human will have a mobile device with them throughout their lives as a persuasion platform that will influence behavior.

Fogg observes that a mobile device can influence my behavior in the daily routines of my life, different from a computer and keyboard. For this reason, a mobile device can be targeted to what I am doing at the moment. There's a Greek word chairos that means, "the right time," the moment -- and when it comes to persuasion, timing matters a lot!

"Will mobile devices eventually replace laptops and desktops?" asks Dr. Wilson. The answer isn't clear.

But what is clear about the future, says Fogg, is that we will always have a device with us that will connect us to the Internet, to our social network -- our friends -- and will be positioned to influence us.

We've reached the next stage of evolution, says Fogg, where every human being coming into the world will have a mobile device throughout their lives.

BJ Fogg is director of the Persuasion Technology Laboratory at Stanford University, which seeks to create models of behavior and behavior change that are accurate, but also simple enough to take action. You can learn more about the Persuasion Tech Lab's work on Facebook, at bjfogg.com, on http://twitter.com/bjfogg, and at captology.stanford.edu. This interview was recorded at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Francisco on August 18, 2010.