Ximeng Fang (Oxford University) 12.11.2026
It is our pleasure that Ximeng Fang (Oxford University) will present on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 12:45 in room RB437 about the topic “Fun and change: video game edutainment promotes pro environmental behaviour”.
Registration is not required and anyone who would like to attend is warmly invited.
It is also possible to participate online via MS Teams at this link. In case of any connection issues, please contact lubomir.cingl@vse.cz.
ABSTRACT: Scalable behavioural interventions often struggle to engage the cognitive and psychological mechanisms that underlie durable changes in preferences and habits. This study provides a proof of concept for an underexplored intervention format: edutainment through video games. Partnering with a large video game company, we develop a game that embeds educational content on sustainable food consumption into an entertaining storyline. In a pre-registered field experiment (N = 4,034 UK adults), participants are randomly assigned to play either one of three treatment versions of the game or a control version without environmental content. Real-world food choice behaviour is measured through incentivised online supermarket tasks. Relative to the control group, treated participants select grocery baskets with 20% lower environmental impact immediately after gameplay, an effect that remains at 8–10% in a follow-up 2–3 weeks later. Behavioural change results from a combination of knowledge gains, short-term salience and preference change. Strikingly, effects were particularly persistent among subjects with low baseline sustainability. Further evidence suggests that the intervention was effective partly because it provided an enjoyable experience and affected a rich set of beliefs and attitudes, including personal norms, efficacy, and perceived social norms.
BIO: Ximeng Fang is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation. Ximeng completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Bonn. His research interests lie in behavioural economics, environmental economics and applied microeconomics. His methodological portfolio includes the design of randomised field experiments as well as the use of quasi-experimental methods and other microeconometric techniques. In some of his previous work, he has studied the role of non-monetary interventions in encouraging household energy and water conservation behaviour when implemented through smart metering and digital technology.
