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A Large Scale, App-Based Behaviour Change Experiment Persuading Sustainable Mobility Patterns: Methods, Results and Lessons Learnt

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Cellina

    (Insitute for Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment, SUPSI, Via Trevano, 6952 Canobbio, Switzerland)

  • Dominik Bucher

    (Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation, ETH Zurich, Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Francesca Mangili

    (Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA), USI-SUPSI, Galleria 2, Via Cantonale 2c, 6928 Manno, Switzerland)

  • José Veiga Simão

    (Insitute for Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment, SUPSI, Via Trevano, 6952 Canobbio, Switzerland)

  • Roman Rudel

    (Insitute for Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment, SUPSI, Via Trevano, 6952 Canobbio, Switzerland)

  • Martin Raubal

    (Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation, ETH Zurich, Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland)

Abstract

The present urban transportation system, mostly tailored for cars, has long shown its limitations. In many urban areas, public transportation and soft mobility would be able to effectively satisfy many travel needs. However, they tend to be neglected, due to a deep-rooted car dependency. How can we encourage people to make sustainable mobility choices, reducing car use and the related CO 2 emissions and energy consumption? Taking advantage of the wide availability of smartphone devices, we designed GoEco! , a smartphone application exploiting automatic mobility tracking, eco-feedback, social comparison and gamification elements to persuade individual modal change. We tested the effectiveness of GoEco! in two regions of Switzerland (Cantons Ticino and Zurich), in a large-scale, one year long randomized controlled trial. Notwithstanding a large drop-out rate experienced throughout the experiment, GoEco! was observed to produce a statistically significant impact (a decrease in CO 2 emissions and energy consumption per kilometer) for systematic routes in highly car-dependent urban areas, such as the Canton Ticino. In Zurich, instead, where high quality public transport is already available, no statistically significant effects were found. In this paper we present the GoEco! experiment and discuss its results and the lessons learnt, highlighting practical difficulties in performing randomized controlled trials in the field of mobility and providing recommendations for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Cellina & Dominik Bucher & Francesca Mangili & José Veiga Simão & Roman Rudel & Martin Raubal, 2019. "A Large Scale, App-Based Behaviour Change Experiment Persuading Sustainable Mobility Patterns: Methods, Results and Lessons Learnt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:9:p:2674-:d:230000
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    1. Alexander Goetz & Ioana Marinica & Harald Mayr & Luca Mosetti & Renate Schubert, 2024. "Do mobile applications foster sustainable mobility? Evidence from a field experiment," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 160(1), pages 1-33, December.
    2. Silvio Sticher & Hannes Wallimann & Noah Balthasar, 2024. "How (Not) to Incentivize Sustainable Mobility? Lessons from a Swiss Mobility Competition," Papers 2409.11142, arXiv.org.
    3. Ștefan Boncu & Octav-Sorin Candel & Nicoleta Laura Popa, 2022. "Gameful Green: A Systematic Review on the Use of Serious Computer Games and Gamified Mobile Apps to Foster Pro-Environmental Information, Attitudes and Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    4. Alyavina, Elena & Nikitas, Alexandros & Njoya, Eric Tchouamou, 2024. "Mobility-as-a-Service and unsustainable travel behaviour: Exploring the car ownership and public transport trip replacement side-effects of the MaaS paradigm," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 53-70.
    5. Minnich, Aljoscha, 2023. "Gamification in the transport sector: Quasi-experimental evidence from a bicycle navigation app," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Danielle McCool & Peter Lugtig & Barry Schouten, 2024. "Maximum interpolable gap length in missing smartphone-based GPS mobility data," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 297-327, February.
    7. Zinette Bergman, 2019. "Trains in the Land of the Car: A Case Study of Mobility as Agency in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-12, November.
    8. Martin, H. & Buffat, R. & Bucher, D. & Hamper, J. & Raubal, M., 2022. "Using rooftop photovoltaic generation to cover individual electric vehicle demand—A detailed case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    9. Mehrdad Bagheri & Miloš N. Mladenović & Iisakki Kosonen & Jukka K. Nurminen, 2020. "Analysis of Potential Shift to Low-Carbon Urban Travel Modes: A Computational Framework Based on High-Resolution Smartphone Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-26, July.
    10. Johannes Gessner & Wolfgang Habla & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2023. "Can Social Comparisons and Moral Appeals Induce a Modal Shift Towards Low-Emission Transport Modes?," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_451, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
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    13. Alfred Andersson & Lena Winslott Hiselius & Jessica Berg & Sonja Forward & Peter Arnfalk, 2020. "Evaluating a Mobility Service Application for Business Travel: Lessons Learnt from a Demonstration Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, January.
    14. Lassi Ahlvik & Anna Sahari, 2023. "Promoting active transport through health information: evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Working Papers 16, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.

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