Becoming Sustainable Through Pathway Practices and Serious Games: A Household Perspective

Motivating sustainable behavioral change remains a challenge for researchers, policymakers, and organizations. This paper aims to understand and conceptualize behavioral change in households, as their daily decisions and behaviors significantly impact resource consumption and the environment. Drawing on existing literature supported by data from a serious game intervention, we identify four pathways to sustainable behavioral change: integrating with existing practices, pursuing goals, adopting new practices, and navigating household transitions. We emphasize the distinction between sustainability practices and pathway practices, highlighting the latter’s crucial role. Based on an understanding of household practices and family interactions in the areas of food consumption, energy conservation, procurement, and waste management, we identify eight pathway practices that constitute the processes involved in making subtle changes in everyday sustainable behavior. We contribute to IS literature with a conceptual framework that can aid in designing interventions, particularly serious game interventions, to support household processes toward behavioral change.