Gamification as technological innovation in sustainable urban mobility: evidence from a digital field experiment

Digital and gamified tools are increasingly used to support sustainable urban mobility policies by influencing individual travel behaviour. This study analyses how three gamified incentive schemes, Inclusive, Competitive and Solidarity-based, affect sustainable mobility behaviour in a real-world context. The analysis draws on a randomized field experiment carried out in three mid-sized cities in Apulia, Southern Italy, involving 195 participants and 12,381 digitally tracked trips collected through an app and IoT devices. Results indicate that the individual reward schemes (Inclusive and Competitive) support the most stable and widespread participation, while the Solidarity-based scheme, which converts rewards into charitable donations, leads to fewer and shorter trips. The findings suggest that gamification can complement digital mobility policies by supporting motivation for sustainable travel engagement. Inclusive and performance-based designs seem to sustain participation more effectively, while solidarity incentives, although better suited for awareness and community-oriented purposes, would likely yield lower participation compared with other incentive schemes.