Behavioral modification works best when targets stay unaware

Evidence

The evasion of individual and group awareness was critical to Facebook’s behavior-modification success, just as MacKay had stipulated. The first paragraph of the research article on emotional contagion celebrates this evasion: “Emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 962

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the emotional contagion study and to MacKay’s earlier stipulation about tuning through suggestion; ties to the reader’s broader surveillance-capitalism framework. — connects to: Behavioral modification requires asymmetries of knowledge and power — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 874; Targeted influence structurally requires that its targets remain unaware — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 963; Pokémon Go directs behavior modification toward targets players never consciously perceive — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 985 (+2 more)