Online Environmental Gamification and University Students’ Pro-Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Evidence for a Dual Motivational Mechanism

This study examines how online gamification for environmental protection influences university students’ organisational citizenship behaviour toward the environment (OCBE). Grounded in the Cognitive Affective Personality System (CAPS) theory, it investigates how environmental responsibility and environmental passion jointly mediate this relationship through cognitive and affective pathways. Using a dual-mediation framework and survey data from university students engaged with online environmental gamification platforms, the study evaluates both the direct and indirect effects of gamification on OCBE. The results indicate that gamification positively predicts OCBE, operating not only through a direct effect but also through indirect effects via strengthened environmental responsibility and heightened environmental passion. These findings provide empirical evidence for the dual cognitive affective mechanism underlying OCBE. By applying CAPS theory to a digital behavioural context, this research identifies gamification as an effective contextual trigger for pro-environmental organisational behaviour. The study contributes to the sustainable behaviour literature by clarifying how digital gamified environments can foster continuous engagement and offers practical guidance for universities and platform designers to promote students’ participation in green initiatives through the co-activation of responsibility and passion.