Gamified apps for sustainable consumption: A systematic review

Georgina M. Guillén, Daniel Fernández Galeote, Nevena Sicevic, Juho Hamari, Jaco Quist

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
189 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Mobile apps are ubiquitous, affecting our everyday practices because “there is always an app for that”. In this vein, there have been a significant number of apps devised to support people’s lifestyles to make them more sustainable. This study aims to draw an overview of gamified mobile apps for sustainable consumption. Following a systematic process, this study analyzes 67 gamified apps’ sustainability approaches and gamification concepts. It was found that (1) sustainable consumption is generally presented as the efficient use of resources to impact the environment positively, rarely addressing societal impacts or economic gains from shifting consumption practices. Other findings include (2) a lack of diversity in gamification characteristics, given the prevalence of direct communication with the user, the absence of virtual identities, and most apps targeting behavior change without attitude change. A potentially problematic design choice is (3) the presence, in some cases, of external rewards that are often contradictory to the message of sustainable consumption as they lead to more consumption. Nonetheless, based on most apps embedding sustainable consumption activities in the gamification concept and having a large number of users, it is possible to conclude that gamification has the potential to motivate shifts in their users’ lifestyles.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGamiFIN Conference 2022
EditorsMila Bujić, Jonna Koivisto, Juho Hamari
Pages135-145
Number of pages11
Volume3147
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Event6th International GamiFIN Conference, GamiFIN 2022 - Virtual, Tampere, Finland
Duration: 26 Apr 202229 Apr 2022

Publication series

NameCEUR Workshop Proceedings
PublisherCEUR-WS
ISSN (Print)1613-0073

Conference

Conference6th International GamiFIN Conference, GamiFIN 2022
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityVirtual, Tampere
Period26/04/2229/04/22

Keywords

  • gamification
  • Mobile apps
  • review
  • sustainable consumption

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