Promoting Eco-Friendly Behavior through Virtual Reality - Implementation and Evaluation of Immersive Feedback Conditions of a Virtual CO2 Calculator

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges in the 21st century. Urgent actions favoring the environment's well-being are essential to mitigate its potentially irreversible consequences. However, the delayed and often distant nature of the effects of sustainable behavior makes it challenging for individuals to connect with the issue personally. Immersive media are an opportunity to introduce innovative feedback mechanisms to highlight the urgency of behavior effects. We introduce a VR carbon calculator that visualizes users' annual carbon footprint as CO2-filled balloons over multiple periods. In a 2 × 2 design, participants calculated and visualized their carbon footprint numerically or as balloons over one or three years. We found no effect of our visualization but a significant impact of the visualized period on participants' environmental self-efficacy. These findings emphasize the importance of target-oriented design in VR behavior interventions.