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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 24th Aug 2026, 01:50:34am WEST

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Daily Overview

Session

Climate Change Mitigation 3: Social Norms
Location: B011
Session Chair: Rafael Nunes, Economic and Social Research Institute

Presentation 1

Can combining education and entertainment in video games promote pro-environmental behavior?

Ximeng Fang¹, Stefania Innocenti¹, Sonja Vogt²

1: University of Oxford, United Kingdom; 2: University of Lausanne

Discussant: Andreas Ziegler (University of Kassel)

While public concern about climate change is growing, individuals often face information frictions and psychological barriers to pro-environmental behavior. In this study, we design and test an edutainment intervention that aims at promoting more sustainable food consumption through a serious video game. Different game versions either link player actions to visual impacts on the in-game environment or to social feedback through interactions with non-player characters, or both.

To evaluate the effects on real-life attitudes, knowledge, and behavior, we conduct an online survey experiment (n = 4,034 UK adults) that embeds an incentivised grocery shopping task. Compared to subjects who played a control version without educational content, treated subjects purchase food products that are around 20% more environmentally sustainable immediately after playing the game. In a follow-up survey several weeks later, effects are still strongly significant at around 8-10%. These behavioral changes are driven both by improved knowledge about environmental impacts of food as well as an increase in stated preferences toward more sustainable food consumption. Effects are particularly persistent among individuals with lower baseline environmental attitudes.