Steering socially sustainable behaviour: how digital platforms can drive sustainable mobility

What the paper says

Purpose This study examines how digital platforms (DPs) can drive social sustainability (SS) by influencing user behaviour in the context of sustainable mobility. While DPs have been widely discussed for economic and environmental outcomes, their role in fostering SS through user engagement remains underexplored. Design/methodology/approach A behavioural model was developed by integrating the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Equity Theory. This study used a time-lagged survey of 406 users of a DP for SS based in a major city in central in India, which incentivises responsible traffic behaviour. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to validate the measurement model, and ridge regression was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Attitude, captured through belief- and affect-based evaluations of social responsibility, along with perceived ease of use and effort fairness, significantly predicted intention to use the platform. Social norms were non-significant, suggesting that normative pressure plays a limited role in this mobility setting. Intention, in turn, predicted socially sustainable mobility behaviour. Overall, the results show that users respond more strongly to their own perceptions, usability and fairness than to social expectations, emphasising the personal agentic role of DPs in supporting socially sustainable practices. Research limitations/implications This study opens new pathways for platforms and sustainability research by demonstrating how user engagement can facilitate socially sustainable behaviours through incentivisation, It encourages scholars to expand behavioural models beyond traditional constructs by incorporating perceived fairness, emotional alignment and usability in the digital context. Although limited to one platform and cultural setting, the findings provide a replicable model for exploring user behaviour in digital ecosystems. Future research should adopt longitudinal and cross-cultural designs to assess habit formation, test the framework in varied policy environments and examine how DPs can be co-designed with communities to embed SS into everyday mobility behaviours. Practical implications DPs aiming to promote socially sustainable mobility must go beyond superficial incentives. Designing user engagement strategies that align with individuals’ beliefs and emotions around social responsibility can strengthen behavioural intention. Platforms should ensure that rewards are perceived as fair and proportional to effort, and streamline ease of use to reduce participation barriers. Public–private collaborations can integrate such platforms into mobility governance, using data-driven, user-centred design to complement weak institutional enforcement. By embedding sustainability into everyday interactions, DPs can become powerful tools for shaping long-term, pro-social behaviours in transport and beyond. Social implications This study emphasises the role of DPs as enablers of socially sustainable behaviour. By linking individual actions to collective outcomes through incentives, platforms can foster safer, more equitable mobility systems. The findings highlight the importance of fairness, accessibility and emotional engagement in driving participation, suggesting that digital interventions can build civic responsibility from the ground up. As platforms increasingly mediate everyday life, their design choices hold significant social power, shaping norms, enabling inclusive participation and addressing systemic gaps in public governance and infrastructure through bottom-up engagement. Originality/value The study develops and tests a behavioural framework based on the TPB-TAM-Equity theory in the often-overlooked dimension of SS. The study incorporates the personal agentic role of DPs in influencing SS behaviour in the specific context of sustainable mobility. It goes on to identify drivers of SS behaviour and how designing DPs for SS can use these to address systemic social issues like road safety. The findings enrich platform, behavioural and sustainability literature, and point to practical strategies for DPs.