Cleaning Up the (Virtual) Environment: Communicating Risk and Minimizing Psychological Distance With a Serious Game

• In Event: HIGH-DENSITY: Games Studies, a lot have Hatched; All the Research, Gotta Catch

Abstract

Persuading individuals to engage in pro-environmental behavior is challenging. One reason is the psychological distance people experience with environmental issues such as climate change. Interactive media such as serious games present opportunities to mitigate psychological distance and bolster perceived risks associated with environmental threats. In this experiment, participants (N = 190) entered a virtual environment and navigated down a polluted river that was geographically close or distant. Participants were able to clean up the river; the scenery either changed contingent on the users’ actions or regardless of their actions. Feeling close to the environment (i.e., lower psychological distance) led to greater risk perception; greater interactivity led to greater self-efficacy. Both of these outcomes led to more environmental behavior and greater support for environmental policy in the days following the experiment. We discuss how affordances and their perceptions are crucial to the success of serious games and persuasive virtual environments.

Authors

• Jesse Fox, Ohio State U

• Jessica McKnight, Ohio State U

• Yilu Sun, Cornell U