Licensing Effect of Pro-Environmental Behavior in Metaverse.

Area of Science:

• Virtual Environments and Human Behavior
• Environmental Psychology
• Digital Ethics

Background:

• The Metaverse is increasingly integrated into daily life, presenting new contexts for human interaction and behavior.
• Understanding how virtual experiences influence real-world attitudes and actions is crucial for environmental psychology.
• The concept of 'licensing effects' suggests that prior good deeds can permit subsequent indulgence, potentially impacting pro-environmentalism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if performing pro-environmental behaviors in the Metaverse using a self-customized avatar triggers licensing effects, reducing real-world environmental intentions.
• To examine the mediating role of self-presence in the relationship between avatar customization and pro-environmental behavior within a virtual environment.
• To assess the psychological mechanisms linking virtual self-representation to offline environmental commitment.

Main Methods:

• A laboratory experiment was conducted on the Metaverse platform ZEPETO.
• Sixty participants were randomly assigned to either a self-customized avatar or an assigned avatar condition.
• Participants engaged in pre-defined pro-environmental behaviors within the virtual environment.

Main Results:

• Participants using self-customized avatars exhibited lower intentions for real-world pro-environmental behavior post-Metaverse engagement compared to those with assigned avatars.
• Self-presence was found to partially mediate the association between avatar customization and pro-environmental intention.
• The findings suggest a psychological licensing effect stemming from virtual pro-environmental actions.

Conclusions:

• Avatar customization in the Metaverse can lead to a reduction in subsequent real-world pro-environmental intentions.
• Self-presence acts as a partial mediator, highlighting the importance of virtual embodiment in shaping environmental attitudes.
• These results underscore the complex interplay between virtual experiences, self-perception, and actual environmental behavior.