Budgets for a sustainable future : Monthly budgets as a tool for reflection and goal- setting of carbon emissions

Sammanfattning: Climate persuasive services, a type of persuasive technology, could benefit significantly from having a well designed goal-setting feature to actually get users to reduce their carbon emissions. This study explored monthly carbon budgets as a tool for goal-setting to motivate carbon emission reductions. The study focused on how self-efficacy and reflections from budgeting carbon affected motivation. A prototype for a carbon budget planner was developed for the study and was designed to only motivate users intrinsically so external rewards or prompts were avoided in the design. Participants in the study got to use the prototype and were interviewed around the themes of reflection, self-efficacy and motivation. The results proved it difficult for the participants to plan the monthly carbon budget as there were different ways to think about it. Though most of the participants were aware of their climate impact, the carbon budget planner gave them new perspectives on their carbon emissions and lifestyle. Different calculation methods between the climate calculator and the prototype made it uncertain if participants actually felt they could keep a budget which reduced their emissions. In the end almost all participants felt more motivated to reduce their carbon emissions after the study.