IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i16p10400-d894193.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gameful Green: A Systematic Review on the Use of Serious Computer Games and Gamified Mobile Apps to Foster Pro-Environmental Information, Attitudes and Behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Ștefan Boncu

    (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, 700506 Iași, Romania)

  • Octav-Sorin Candel

    (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, 700506 Iași, Romania)

  • Nicoleta Laura Popa

    (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, 700506 Iași, Romania)

Abstract

As the issues related to climate change intensify, new methods to raise awareness of environmental issues, foster pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, and offer a viable alternative to traditional environmental education are needed. In recent years, various computer games and mobile apps targeting sustainability-related information, attitude, and behaviors have been developed. In this systematic review, we aimed to verify which pro-environmental information, attitudes, and behaviors are targeted by serious games and gamified apps, how their efficiency is tested, and the main results. A total of 29 studies were included in the analysis. The results show that serious games and apps were used to decrease energy consumption, water spending, and food consumption, and increase sustainable mobility. Furthermore, technology was used to offer pro-environmental education regarding a myriad of issues. Most interventions were successful and some of them did have significant effects while others provided only short-term changes. The limitations of the current approaches are discussed together with some future expansions that can help develop more efficiency in this domain.

Suggested Citation

  • Ștefan Boncu & Octav-Sorin Candel & Nicoleta Laura Popa, 2022. "Gameful Green: A Systematic Review on the Use of Serious Computer Games and Gamified Mobile Apps to Foster Pro-Environmental Information, Attitudes and Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10400-:d:894193
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10400/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10400/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christine Boomsma & Rebecca Hafner & Sabine Pahl & Rory V. Jones & Alba Fuertes, 2018. "Should We Play Games Where Energy Is Concerned? Perceptions of Serious Gaming as a Technology to Motivate Energy Behaviour Change among Social Housing Residents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Angel Torres-Toukoumidis & Diego Vintimilla León & Andrea De-Santis & Paulo Carlos López-López, 2022. "Gamification in Ecology-Oriented Mobile Applications—Typologies and Purposes," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Kyra Wang & Zeynep Duygu Tekler & Lynette Cheah & Dorien Herremans & Lucienne Blessing, 2021. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Augmented Reality Game Promoting Environmental Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-16, December.
    4. Francesca Cellina & Dominik Bucher & Francesca Mangili & José Veiga Simão & Roman Rudel & Martin Raubal, 2019. "A Large Scale, App-Based Behaviour Change Experiment Persuading Sustainable Mobility Patterns: Methods, Results and Lessons Learnt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Tina-Simone Neset & Lotta Andersson & Ola Uhrqvist & Carlo Navarra, 2020. "Serious Gaming for Climate Adaptation—Assessing the Potential and Challenges of a Digital Serious Game for Urban Climate Adaptation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Mikiko Cars & Emma West, 2015. "Education for sustainable society: attainments and good practices in Sweden during the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, February.
    7. Silvia Sipone & Víctor Abella-García & Marta Rojo & Luigi dell’Olio, 2021. "Using ClassCraft to Improve Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Interest in Sustainable Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, September.
    8. Chung-Ho Su, 2018. "Exploring Sustainability Environment Educational Design and Learning Effect Evaluation through Migration Theory: An Example of Environment Educational Serious Games," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-26, September.
    9. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    10. Anne M. van Valkengoed & Linda Steg, 2019. "Meta-analyses of factors motivating climate change adaptation behaviour," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(2), pages 158-163, February.
    11. Áróra Árnadóttir & Michał Czepkiewicz & Jukka Heinonen, 2019. "The Geographical Distribution and Correlates of Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in an Urban Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-29, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zihan Feng, 2024. "How Game Ecology Drives Player Choices in Strategy Video Games: An Environmental Determinism Perspective," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 55(2), pages 342-357, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Siti Nur Fatehah Radzi & Kamisah Osman & Mohd Nizam Mohd Said, 2022. "Progressing towards Global Citizenship and a Sustainable Nation: Pillars of Climate Change Education and Actions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Vicky-Lauren Bekoum Essokolo & Elisabeth Robinot, 2022. "«Let’s Go Deep into the Game to Save Our Planet!» How an Immersive and Educational Video Game Reduces Psychological Distance and Raises Awareness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-24, May.
    3. İlkay Unay-Gailhard & Mark A. Brennen, 2022. "How digital communications contribute to shaping the career paths of youth: a review study focused on farming as a career option," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1491-1508, December.
    4. Mahin Ghafari & Vali Baigi & Zahra Cheraghi & Amin Doosti-Irani, 2016. "The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Iranian Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-10, June.
    5. Elizabeth T Cafiero-Fonseca & Andrew Stawasz & Sydney T Johnson & Reiko Sato & David E Bloom, 2017. "The full benefits of adult pneumococcal vaccination: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, October.
    6. Santos Urbina & Sofía Villatoro & Jesús Salinas, 2021. "Self-Regulated Learning and Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments in Higher Education: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-12, June.
    7. Emmalee Gisslevik & Inga Wernersson & Christel Larsson, 2018. "Home Economics Teachers’ Perceptions of Facilitating and Inhibiting Factors When Teaching Sustainable Food Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Oded Berger-Tal & Alison L Greggor & Biljana Macura & Carrie Ann Adams & Arden Blumenthal & Amos Bouskila & Ulrika Candolin & Carolina Doran & Esteban Fernández-Juricic & Kiyoko M Gotanda & Catherine , 2019. "Systematic reviews and maps as tools for applying behavioral ecology to management and policy," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 30(1), pages 1-8.
    9. Nadine Desrochers & Adèle Paul‐Hus & Jen Pecoskie, 2017. "Five decades of gratitude: A meta‐synthesis of acknowledgments research," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(12), pages 2821-2833, December.
    10. Maryono, Maryono & Killoes, Aditya Marendra & Adhikari, Rajendra & Abdul Aziz, Ammar, 2024. "Agriculture development through multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries: A systematic literature review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    11. Alene Sze Jing Yong & Yi Heng Lim & Mark Wing Loong Cheong & Ednin Hamzah & Siew Li Teoh, 2022. "Willingness-to-pay for cancer treatment and outcome: a systematic review," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(6), pages 1037-1057, August.
    12. Xue-Ying Xu & Hong Kong & Rui-Xiang Song & Yu-Han Zhai & Xiao-Fei Wu & Wen-Si Ai & Hong-Bo Liu, 2014. "The Effectiveness of Noninvasive Biomarkers to Predict Hepatitis B-Related Significant Fibrosis and Cirrhosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-16, June.
    13. Vicente Miñana-Signes & Manuel Monfort-Pañego & Javier Valiente, 2021. "Teaching Back Health in the School Setting: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-18, January.
    14. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Katarzyna Grzybowska, 2022. "In Search of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 in Small-Medium Enterprises—A State of the Art Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    15. Obsa Urgessa Ayana & Jima Degaga, 2022. "Effects of rural electrification on household welfare: a meta-regression analysis," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 209-261, June.
    16. Caloffi, Annalisa & Colovic, Ana & Rizzoli, Valentina & Rossi, Federica, 2023. "Innovation intermediaries' types and functions: A computational analysis of the literature," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    17. García-Poole, Chloe & Byrne, Sonia & Rodrigo, María José, 2019. "How do communities intervene with adolescents at psychosocial risk? A systematic review of positive development programs," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 194-209.
    18. Jie Zhao & Ji Chen & Damien Beillouin & Hans Lambers & Yadong Yang & Pete Smith & Zhaohai Zeng & Jørgen E. Olesen & Huadong Zang, 2022. "Global systematic review with meta-analysis reveals yield advantage of legume-based rotations and its drivers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    19. Qing Ye & Bao-Xin Qian & Wei-Li Yin & Feng-Mei Wang & Tao Han, 2016. "Association between the HFE C282Y, H63D Polymorphisms and the Risks of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis o," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, September.
    20. Bishal Mohindru & David Turner & Tracey Sach & Diana Bilton & Siobhan Carr & Olga Archangelidi & Arjun Bhadhuri & Jennifer A. Whitty, 2020. "Health State Utility Data in Cystic Fibrosis: A Systematic Review," PharmacoEconomics - Open, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 13-25, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10400-:d:894193. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.