Gamified Affordances and Green Behavior on Ant Forest

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: New Framings for Critical Media Research

Abstract

This study explores how perceived gamification affordances drive users’ digital pro-environmental behavior (DPEB) on Ant Forest, a green gamification initiative embedded in Alipay. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory and Environmental Psychology, the study examines how motivational affordances (reward, competition, cooperation), social affordances (visibility, community), and narrative affordances influence DPEB through psychological ownership and immersion. Based on a survey of 463 users and structural equation modeling, findings reveal that immersion and ownership mediate the effects of gamified affordances on DPEB. This study contributes a theoretical model bridging affordance theory and green behavioral change, offering design implications for sustainability-oriented platforms.

Authors

• Shitian Qu, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University

• Yi Ronald Ding, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University

• Kun Fu, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University

• Yating Wang, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University

• James Yang, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University