Gamification design for behaviour change: Incentivising passengers to choose eco-friendly flights

The advances in aeronautical technology and an increasing number of low-cost carriers have boosted global air travel in recent decades, leading to a growing concern over the environmental impact of air transport. This thesis provides an alternative intervention focusing on how gamification can affect consumers’ decisions on purchasing airline tickets as well as the choices they make every day. The central research question is how to design a gamified service to influence passengers' decision making and incentivise them to choose eco-friendly flights. This thesis studies a number of solutions provided by mainstream airlines to understand the current state of knowledge. Moreover, ten in-depth interviews were conducted with both frequent and non-frequent flyers to comprehend their thoughts on the means to reduce the environmental impact of flying. In doing so, this thesis identifies three design principles of a gamified service: playfulness, customer engagement, and education. Developed from the service blueprint and framework of behaviour change, this thesis proposes a gamification design integrated with the existing customer service system. It is a card-based game including quizzes and fun facts of sustainable travel for the airline customers, encouraging them to reflect on their traveling decisions. Players can claim rewards such as priority boarding by collecting cards and winning scores in the game. Furthermore, a virtual world called The Isle of Harpa is designed for advanced players to explore. The goal of this game is to raise environmental awareness among passengers through an uncomplicated gamified environment, acting as the first step toward changes in consumer behaviour of airline customers. This thesis demonstrates how gamification design can be applied to motivate passengers to choose eco-friendly flights as well as shows the potential of gamification to influence the decision making of consumers. While the effectiveness of it needs further examination, gamification provides various incentives for consumers to change their behaviour to help protect the environment