Can Gamification Make Driving Styles More Sustainable? A Real-World Pilot Study

Mitigating the negative effects of climate change remains a big challenge. Changes in individual human behaviors are recognized to be strategic for climate change mitigation and scientists agree that solutions must be devised which guide people towards sustainable behaviors. In this paper, we present EcoDrive, a mobile application, which allows users to analyze their driving style in real-time, and correct it accordingly, in a nonintrusive way, using the concept of eco-feedback. As a distinguished aspect, in EcoDrive eco-feedback is accompanied by the motivational technique of gamification. The app was designed to use gamification in a non-intrusive manner, in order to preserve driver’s safety. An experimental study proves that higher engagement is achieved when eco-feedback is combined with gamification mechanisms. 4 lessons learned from it, showing how the concept of gamification can be a mechanism to encourage citizens to adopt a more sustainable driving style.