Raising environmental awareness with augmented reality

IF 6.6 2区经济学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecological Economics Pub Date : 2025-03-07 DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108563

Giuseppe Attanasi , Barbara Buljat Raymond , Agnès Festré , Andrea Guido

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Individuals are often poorly informed about the environmental consequences of their actions. Informational campaigns are a widely used policy tool to address imperfect information. However, previous research suggests that simply providing information may be ineffective and fail to engage individuals. We investigate whether augmented reality (AR) can reduce psychological distance and promote pro-environmental behavior. In two incentivized experiments (laboratory and contextualized), we evaluate the effect of AR visualizations of marine plastic-pollution consequences on participants’ psychological distance and donations to pro-environmental organizations. These measures are complemented by self-reported environmental concern, pro-environmental engagement, intention to act, and prior experience with AR technology. Our results show no significant impact of AR visualizations on psychological distance or donation levels in either the AR-Lab or AR-Context settings. Consistent with these behavioral findings, we observe no significant differences across experimental conditions in self-reported measures. Interestingly, we document a general optimism regarding the effectiveness of immersive technologies as policy tools, highlighting a potential misalignment between public expectations and the actual effectiveness of these technologies.

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来源期刊

Ecological Economics 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

5.70%

发文量

313

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Ecological Economics is concerned with extending and integrating the understanding of the interfaces and interplay between "nature''s household" (ecosystems) and "humanity''s household" (the economy). Ecological economics is an interdisciplinary field defined by a set of concrete problems or challenges related to governing economic activity in a way that promotes human well-being, sustainability, and justice. The journal thus emphasizes critical work that draws on and integrates elements of ecological science, economics, and the analysis of values, behaviors, cultural practices, institutional structures, and societal dynamics. The journal is transdisciplinary in spirit and methodologically open, drawing on the insights offered by a variety of intellectual traditions, and appealing to a diverse readership. Specific research areas covered include: valuation of natural resources, sustainable agriculture and development, ecologically integrated technology, integrated ecologic-economic modelling at scales from local to regional to global, implications of thermodynamics for economics and ecology, renewable resource management and conservation, critical assessments of the basic assumptions underlying current economic and ecological paradigms and the implications of alternative assumptions, economic and ecological consequences of genetically engineered organisms, and gene pool inventory and management, alternative principles for valuing natural wealth, integrating natural resources and environmental services into national income and wealth accounts, methods of implementing efficient environmental policies, case studies of economic-ecologic conflict or harmony, etc. New issues in this area are rapidly emerging and will find a ready forum in Ecological Economics.