Closer to nature: A systematic review of virtual reality applications in environmental communication

• Main Authors: CHANG, Bo, NAH, Fiona Fui-hoon
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: Virtual Reality; Climate Change; Environmental Communication; Systematic Review; Theoretical Framework; Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/9433; https://iamcr.org/christchurch2024/abstracts
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Virtual reality is emerging as a promising tool to enhance environmental education effectiveness, elicit climate change awareness, and promote pro-environmental behavior by offering immersive and experiential encounters (Makransky & Mayer, 2022; Oh et al., 2020; Raja & Carrico, 2021). Given the complexity and abstract nature of environmental change and climate change, individuals may not perceive them as relevant and are reluctant to take adaptive action (Ahn et al., 2015; Spence et al., 2012; Van Lange & Huckelba, 2021). Scholars have applied multiple theories in their research to explain the utilization and adoption of VR, and to assess its efficacy. However, the application and effectiveness of VR in environmental communication are less clear. For example, does VR show promise in influencing climate change mitigation behavior? To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications in journals and conference proceedings on the topic of VR in environmental communication and synthesized the review by themes, approaches, and theories. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Page et al., 2021) as the methodology and extracted 630 records using the Web of Science database search. After screening the titles and abstracts, 577 unqualified records were removed, resulting in 53 records. From the references of these 53 articles, we added 8 relevant papers. Among these 61 papers, ten articles do not meet the criteria for our review (i.e., described next), resulting in 51 papers included in the final analysis. We screened the publications based on three inclusion criteria. First, the publications have to include empirical studies. Second, the topics of the publications should be on VR in environmental sustainability. Third, the publications have to be written in English. Although the search indicates a growing trend in the literature, the empirical evidence on different topics of environmental sustainability presents contradictory conclusions. Our review analyses the utility and efficacy of VR for environmental communication. Based on the review, we identify two distinct research themes on VR for environmental communication, namely, factors that influence the adoption of VR technology, and the efficacy of VR technology for environmental communication. We develop an integrated framework by synthesizing existing theories and research on VR for environmental communication. The integrated model comprises presence and interactivity as the media affordance of VR, with storytelling and embodiment identified as factors that impact VR content design. The model suggests six affective and cognitive outcomes of VR use, including self- Page 55 efficacy, psychological distance perception, risk perception, empathy, negative emotions, and positive emotions, which subsequently influence climate change awareness, environmental attitude, public engagement, policy support, and pro-environmental behavior. In summary, this paper contributes to environmental and climate change communication from three aspects: First, it systematically reviews the use of VR in facilitating environmental communication, accounting for the current state of studies, and highlighting knowledge gaps in the domain. Second, it provides guidelines for practical applications and future research by distinguishing and analyzing the persuasive effects of VR on outcome variables in different environmental communication topics, e.g., climate change, ocean acidification, recycling, and meat consumption. Third, our review elucidates the contributions and connections of applied theories within the field and, based on the review, constructs an integrated theoretical framework for future research.