Immersive Virtual Experiences affecting Drivers of Pro-Environmental Behavior: a Systematic Literature Review

By providing immersive virtual experiences, technologies such as augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) offer possibilities to advance environmental communication and behavioral interventions. We surveyed studies published in peer-reviewed journals to identify key drivers of pro-environmental behavior (PEB) that have been affected using immersive virtual experiences. This systematic literature review contributes to our understanding of the effectiveness of immersive storytelling for motivating proenvironmental behavior

Zachowania prośrodowiskowe w hotelach w kontekście zrównoważonego rozwoju turystyki : bariery i rekomendacje dla dalszych badań

Głównymi celami poznawczymi artykułu są: ukazanie dotychczasowego dorobku dotyczącego badań nad zachowaniami prośrodowiskowymi w branży hotelarskiej, identyfikacja głównych barier kształtowania tego rodzaju zachowań oraz sformułowanie kierunków dalszych kierunków badań nad podjętą problematyką w kontekście zrównoważonego rozwoju turystyki. Główną metodą badawczą była systematyczna analiza literatury, lecz autorzy wykorzystali również wiedzę z własnych doświadczeń wynikających z przeprowadzania audytów jakości. Analiza dotychczas opublikowanych badań pozwoliła na identyfikację głównych barier kształtowania zachowań prośrodowiskowych w hotelach zarówno w układzie przedmiotowym (konkretnych działań i problemów), jak i podmiotowym (wszystkich osób, które powinny przejawiać zachowania prośrodowiskowe). W artykule omówiono różne teorie i modele wyjaśniające, w jaki sposób dochodzi do rozwoju zachowań prośrodowiskowych w hotelach. Na ich podstawie menedżerowie hotelowi będą mogli tworzyć własne programy edukacyjne, których celem będzie kształtowanie zachowań prośrodowiskowych.The main cognitive objectives of this paper are the following: to present previous results and achievements in the field of research on pro-environmental behaviours in the hotel industry, to identify major barriers to the shaping of such behaviours, and to specify directions of further research on this topic in the context of sustainable tourism development. The dominant research method used in this paper is a systematic analysis of the available literature on the subject, but the authors also use their own knowledge and experience resulting from conducted quality audits. An analysis of the previous publications in this topic allows the authors to identify the major barriers to the shaping of pro-environmental behaviours in hotels in both the objective dimension (concrete actions and problems) and the subjective dimension (all people who should manifest pro-environmental behaviours). The paper discusses various theories and models explaining the process of the occurrence and development of pro-environmental be-haviours in hotels. They can constitute a basis for hotel managers to create their own training programmes aimed at the shaping of pro-environmental behaviours

Encouraging pro-environmental behaviours: a review of methods and approaches. ESRI Working Paper No. 645 December 2019

Many urgent environmental problems can be mitigated with more sustainable use of resource. An acknowledgement of which is a growing interest among policy practitioners in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour change initiatives. The effect of anthropic pressure on the environment is long known and the first pro-environmental behaviour studies date back to the middle 1970s. Despite this, the scientific literature has not yet answered several questions: what are the most suitable ways to encourage behavioural changes? What are the barriers to project implementation? What are the long run effects of behavioural change projects? With this in mind, this contribution offers a review of the existing literature on behavioural change case studies and provides a categorisation of treatments and guidelines for successful project implementation. Five different approaches have been considered: education and awareness, social influence, relationship building, incentives and nudges, which have been used in experimental studies. On balance the case studies suggest that all approaches are suitable but their selection should be based on specific objectives and target population. Interestingly, the choice of the behaviour to change is rarely discussed before project implementation. This analysis also highlights that little is known on whether behaviour change projects achieve sustained pro-environmental behavioural change over time

Labs and Landscapes Virtual Reality: Student-Created Forest Conservation Tours for Informal Public Engagement

The following exploratory convergent mixed-methods study examined graduate students’ experiences developing and facilitating 360º photo-based virtual reality (VR) tours titled Labs and Landscapes focused on forest conservation and climate change education, as well as tour impacts on public audiences. Graduate students in an agricultural and natural resources communication course at The University of Florida used 360º cameras, mobile devices, and online software to create VR tours about the UF/IFAS Austin Cary Research Forest. Then, the students guided public participants through the tours in three physical informal learning environments including a museum, brewery, and campus tabling site within the university community. Data collection included VR tour artifacts, audio recordings of students’ VR facilitation and discourse with the public, post-surveys of public participants’ tour impressions and climate change attitudes, and pre-/post-student reflections. Data sources were collected separately and mixed in interpretation. Results showed students increased their multimedia communication skills, knowledge of natural resource conservation, and confidence in communicating with public audiences. Additionally, survey results indicated public participants agreed the students successfully guided the tours, agreed it is important to learn about conservation and climate change, and had some disagreement with the statement that humans cannot prevent climate change

Immersive virtual reality helps to promote pro-environmental norms, attitudes and behavioural strategies

Our study focuses on the promotion of sustainable actions that individuals can adopt at home. We tested the effectiveness of different formats of conducting promotional campaigns providing pro-environmental knowledge. Specifically, we assessed whether the same message delivered in print, in a video or in an immersive virtual environment, via a virtual human that resembles the participant or not, affects norms, attitudes and behavioural strategies in relation to energy saving gestures. Results revealed that receiving pro-environmental knowledge while being immersed in virtual reality led to greater energy saving attitudes and a different use of products and appliances at home as compared to receiving the same information via more traditional means. The present work aims to sensitise governmental and pro-environmental organisations about the effectiveness of using immersive virtual reality to conduct such campaigns

The fourth industrial revolution, loyalty intentions and the mediating roles of reputation and pre-visit experiences for the Vilakazi street precinct in Soweto

The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies on tourist destinations’ reputation and pre-visit experiences and how these can affect loyalty intentions is receiving attention from academics and management practitioners. However, not much attention is given to the impact of these technologies, reputation, and pre-visit experiences on loyalty intentions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct effects of 4IR, Vilakazi Street precinct reputation, and customers’ pre-visit experience on customers’ loyalty intentions (LOYALT). It also investigates the mediating effect of reputation and pre-visit experience on the 4IR-LOYALT relationship. The study followed the quantitative approach, using the primary data collected from tourists (N=235) who visited the Vilakazi Street precinct between October and November 2019. Smart PLS SEM approach was used to analyse the data. The study confirmed positive direct relationships between 4IR, REPUT, and PREVISIT on loyalty intentions. In addition, reputation and customers’ pre-visit experiences were also shown to mediate the relationship between the 4IR and loyalty intentions positively. The study provides a framework using constructs embedded in TAM and TPB theories, which extends the applications of these theories. The framework provides an additional tool for further investigations of the way to improve chances of predicting tourists’ responses to innovations, and it can also be used to explain the adoption of technology in different industries. The study outcomes will assist in technology strategy decisions and resources deployment. Policy-makers also stand to benefit by gaining a clear understanding of how technology and industry interact

Virtual world-supported contextualized multimodal EFL learning at a library

This study aims to investigate the influence of story creation on young EFL learners’ reading performance. Action research was adopted to examine the effects of two different story reading projects in a library setting in Taiwan. Each project comprised a group of 19 young EFL learner from Grades 4 to 6 (aged 10-12). The first group’s activities consisted of picture storybook reading and word games. The results obtained from the pre- and post-reading tests on the learners’ performance revealed an increase in their English reading scores. But the results of the learners’ motivation and anxiety questionnaire were unsatisfactory. To overcome this discrepancy, a 3D virtual construction task using Omni-immersion Vision, an online VR construction tool, was added to the reading activity. This let the students express their ideas through multimodal resources including text and images in their stories and their 3D virtual contexts. The results showed that the second group made improvements not only in their English language reading but also in their learning motivation, and they demonstrated lower levels of anxiety than the first group. It appears that a combination of multimodal stories and context construction in virtual worlds benefited EFL learners

Environment 2.0 : the 9th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, 26-28 September 2011, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

On behalf of the Environmental Psychology Division of the German Association of Psychology, the 9th Biennial International Conference on Environmental Psychology is organized by the Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) group of the School of Innovation Sciences of the Eindhoven University of Technology. The HTI group is internationally acclaimed for perception research, and has become established as a major centre of excellence in human-technology interaction research. Bringing together psychological and engineering expertise, its central mission is investigating and optimizing interactions between people, systems, and environments, in the service of a socially and ecologically sustainable society

Environment 2.0 : the 9th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, 26-28 September 2011, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

On behalf of the Environmental Psychology Division of the German Association of Psychology, the 9th Biennial International Conference on Environmental Psychology is organized by the Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) group of the School of Innovation Sciences of the Eindhoven University of Technology. The HTI group is internationally acclaimed for perception research, and has become established as a major centre of excellence in human-technology interaction research. Bringing together psychological and engineering expertise, its central mission is investigating and optimizing interactions between people, systems, and environments, in the service of a socially and ecologically sustainable society