Videogames and sustainability : how gaming actions can potentially contribute to less waste actions

Abstract: This thesis is based on the assumption that the challenge of waste management needs to be addressed within the sustainability framework where society takes part in the solution. People’s beliefs, attitudes and values are what, ultimately, make people behave the way they do. Therefore this thesis intends to study a potential way of changing these worldviews towards more sustainable ones by utilizing a common cultural practice; namely, the act of playing videogames. The study will be focused in the U.S. since the country is placed as the world’s leader of waste production, and it ranks among the top ten consumers of videogames globally. Videogames have had varying impacts on society and studies about their potential contribution to the sustainability science field have emerged in the past decade. Despite this, little research on their effectiveness or potential uses has been done. Accordingly, within this research, a literature review of such impacts and potentials was conducted, and a quasi-experimental study was carried out among a group of U.S. citizens. The study was designed based on the TORE model, an intervention-based behavioral model designed to influence people’s attitudes, employing a game called Garbage Dreams. The videogame was played in two different contexts using the computer as a platform. The participants were U.S. citizens with no special expertise on the environmental or videogames field between the ages of 11 to 79. Data was gathered, through observations and mainly by three surveys: previous to the game experience, after the game was played and a follow-up survey sent days later. The study found that a videogame has the potential to be considered a tool for addressing people’s attitudes towards the challenge of waste management; it demonstrated that a videogame was an enjoyable medium for presenting the topic of interest and it was capable of providing new knowledge to the players. However, the results are inconclusive as to whether or not participants effectively applied the knowledge gained to their daily lives. It is suggested that further studies be performed and include other videogame platforms such as the mobile phone, which was found to be the most used among study participants.