Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Augmented Reality Game Promoting Environmental Action

Kyra Wang, Zeynep Duygu Tekler, Lynette Cheah, Dorien Herremans and Lucienne Blessing
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Kyra Wang: Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD), Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, Singapore
Zeynep Duygu Tekler: Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD), Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, Singapore
Lynette Cheah: Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD), Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, Singapore
Dorien Herremans: Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD), Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, Singapore
Lucienne Blessing: Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD), Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, Singapore

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: While public awareness of climate change has grown over the years, many people still have misconceptions regarding effective individual environmental action. In this paper, we present a serious game called PEAR, developed using elements of geolocation and augmented reality (AR), aimed at increasing players’ awareness of climate change issues and propensity for effective sustainable behaviours. We conducted a study with participants who played the game, gauging their knowledge of and attitudes towards climate change issues before and after playing the game. Our results show that the game significantly improved participants’ knowledge on sustainability and climate-change-related issues, and that it also significantly improved their attitudes towards these topics, thus proving that serious games have the potential to impart knowledge and promote sustainable behaviours. Additionally, our results address the lack of empirical studies on the knowledge base of serious sustainability games by introducing methods of quantitatively analysing the effects of serious sustainability games while additionally providing more knowledge about the effectiveness of the specific design elements of our game.

Keywords: environmental education; augmented reality; geolocation; mobile games; climate action; gamification; serious games (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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