Designing Immersive Sustainable Food Experiences in Augmented Reality: A Consumer Participatory Co-Creation Approach

In light of the current debate on the impact of our current food system on climate change and related mitigation strategies, addressing the acceptance of sustainability aspects within consumer behavioral issues is of vital importance. However, the field remains mute on how those strategies can be designed and employed effectively to stimulate sustainable food consumption behavior. Immersive narrative design is a promising approach to engaging consumers in this context. Within this study, we shed light on how to create immersive, impactful, interactive narratives in augmented reality (AR) together with consumers. We propose a novel approach to how those stories can be planned, utilizing participatory design methods. Within a step-wise process, we develop the storyboard together with consumers. In the next step, we evaluate multiple approaches with AR application developers on how this storyline can be enhanced in AR considering the perspective of various stakeholders like developers, behavioral scientists, and consumers. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework for how immersive narratives can be designed and validated in a collaborative, multidimensional approach for impactful AR narrative content designs to stimulate sustainable food behavior for consumers.