Stimulating Sustainable Food Choices Using Virtual Reality: Taking an Environmental vs Health Communication Perspective on Enhancing Response Efficacy Beliefs. Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Meijers, Marijn H. C.; Smit, Eline S.; de Wildt, Kelly; Karvonen, Sonja-Greetta; van der Plas, Demi; van der Laan, L. Nynke
• Is Part Of: Environmental communication. Volume 16:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 22
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: Virtual reality -- experiment -- behavior change -- environment -- health; Communication in the environmental sciences -- Periodicals; 333.7
• DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2021.1943700
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1752-4032

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Personal response efficacy beliefs are vital in instigating, maintaining, and catalyzing environmental behavior change. In this experimental study ( N = 249), we investigated whether such efficacy beliefs could be stimulated using Virtual Reality. In a VR-supermarket, participants would see interactive pop-ups displaying impact messages when they picked up products, these are messages that display the (environmental or health) impact of a product. Our results show that these impact messages are effective in stimulating personal response efficacy beliefs and subsequently pro-environmental food choices. The heightened personal response efficacy beliefs positively affected maintaining and catalyzing behavior change (i.e. positive spill-over) up to two weeks after the VR-experience. The effectiveness of the impact messages did not depend on appeal type (health vs environmental appeal) or modality (text + visual vs text only) of the message. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.