A lot of sustainability content stops at education. It tells people what the climate problem is, or what they should care about. But behaviour change is the real challenge. How do you move people from awareness to action — and from action to habit?
That is exactly the question this research addresses, using Ant Forest as a case study. Ant Forest is the gamified platform built inside Alipay that encourages people in China to adopt low-carbon behaviours. It does this not through moral pressure, but through entertainment, social interaction, and a design approach that makes sustainability feel engaging, rewarding, and socially visible.
What Ant Forest actually does
Ant Forest sits inside the Alipay ecosystem and rewards users for performing low-carbon actions — using public transport, making digital payments, choosing more sustainable everyday behaviours. Users generate virtual environmental progress through their actions, and that progress translates into real-world ecological outcomes: by 2022, Alipay had planted over 223 million real trees in northwest China, covering 112,000 hectares.
This is not just a game. It is a behavioural system designed to connect digital engagement with tangible environmental value. The United Nations awarded it the Champions of the Earth award.
What the research found
The study surveyed 473 Ant Forest users and conducted 20 semi-structured interviews. Using an integrated framework combining Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Knowledge-Attitude-Behaviour (KAB) theory, Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT), and Reinforcement Learning, the researchers tested what actually drives engagement and behaviour change.
The key findings:
- Values and beliefs were the strongest driver of engagement — people use the platform because it aligns with what they care about
- Entertainment was the second strongest factor — 62.8% of users said they use Ant Forest for recreational purposes
- Social interaction matters — features like "stealing energy" from friends and co-planting make sustainability social and sticky
- Knowledge sharing through the platform promotes environmental attitudes and drives corresponding low-carbon behaviours
- Habits persist — all 20 interview participants said they would maintain low-carbon habits even without the app
The research describes a progression that matters for anyone designing sustainability interventions: engagement → environmental knowledge → attitude shift → low-carbon behaviour → lasting habit. Most campaigns focus on one-off actions. Ant Forest shows that if a digital intervention can influence routine behaviour, it creates much more durable change.
Why gamification works here
Gamification works because it makes behaviour feel interactive rather than abstract. People are more likely to participate when they can see progress, earn rewards, and compare activity socially. Ant Forest turns sustainability into something visible, trackable, and socially rewarding.
That matters because many people are not motivated by information alone. They are motivated by feedback, recognition, and a sense of momentum. A platform that is serious but boring will struggle. A platform that is entertaining but shallow will also struggle. Ant Forest succeeds because it balances meaning with enjoyment.
Why social interaction is essential
When sustainability becomes social, it becomes more sticky. If your friends are participating, if your activity is visible, and if the platform creates a sense of collective momentum, then the behaviour is much more likely to continue. That is how a simple digital interaction starts to become a habit.
The research found that 36.2% of respondents engage in monthly energy interactions with friends, and 22% do so weekly. This satisfies daily social needs while reinforcing environmental behaviour — a combination that most sustainability platforms fail to achieve.
Who should pay attention
| Audience | What this means for you |
|---|---|
| FinTech platforms | Sustainability features can drive engagement and retention when designed around psychology, not just information |
| ESG tool builders | Gamification and social mechanics can bridge the gap between ESG reporting and actual behaviour change |
| Policymakers | Digital platforms can complement regulation — designing systems that make better behaviour feel natural is more effective than relying on guilt or mandates |
| Sustainability consultants | The behavioural chain (knowledge → attitude → behaviour → habit) provides a practical framework for intervention design |
The bigger picture
Although Ant Forest is specific to China and the Alipay ecosystem, the broader lesson is global. Digital design can shape environmental behaviour when it is built around psychology, social interaction, and reward systems. There is a big difference between telling people to act differently and designing a system that makes better behaviour feel natural.
The future of sustainability will not just be about better models or better reports. It will also be about better systems for changing behaviour at scale. The most powerful thing about Ant Forest is that it turns sustainability from an abstract ideal into a daily habit. That is difficult to do — and it is exactly why this research is worth paying attention to.
Explore more on ESG and behavioural design
Sherry Xu's research and books cover sustainability, AI, and real estate — including the systems that drive real behaviour change.