Gameful interventions for pro-environmental attitude change
First author: DaiianiYear: 2025
Abstract
Videogames are persuasive tools that can direct players’ pro-environmental attitudes. However, there is limited understanding of their impacts on attitudes in a climate-themed context. With a focus on message design and framing, this paper investigated the role and significance of videogames in climate communication. We conducted two parallel within-subjects experiments using two climate-themed games, Beyond Blue (N=36) and Plasticity (N=37), to examine the effects of persuasive game design in directing attitudes. We found that, regardless of message design, both games increased players’ cognitive attitudes after gameplay. We also found that Plasticity’s multi-layered message design (central loss-frame with a potential hopeful ending) increased short-term awareness of the climate-change threat and long-term hope for dealing with the issue, balancing fear and empowerment and emphasising the intricacies of message framing. By demonstrating the efficacy of persuasive design and environmental message framing in gameful interventions using explicit and implicit measures, our paper contributes to the application of interactive technology for effective climate-change communication in the short and long-term.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: Australia
Published in: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Publication type: Journal article
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103439
Games
No Results
Franchises
No Records
Studies
Description: Survey (including implicit attitude test) as part of multi-stage interventional study
Research type: Quasi-experimental
Data type: Quantitative
Comparator: Game (Plasticity)
Control group: no
Pilot study: no
Pre/post measures used: yes
Follow-up: yes
Sample type: Players
Sample size: 36
Power analysis: no
Sample countries: Australia
Games studied: Beyond Blue
Franchises studied: null
Study outcomes: Perception, Emotion, Using games for environmentalism