Could a walk in the park rival a bar of chocolate? A new research project from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Vilnius University (VU FEBA) is investigating whether nature can substitute traditional material rewards like sweets or money—and the results may surprise you.
Led by Dr. Yannick Joye, senior research fellow at VU FEBA and an expert in environmental psychology, the project "Urban Environments and Hedonic Consumption" is supported by the Lithuanian Research Council and explores how our surroundings shape decision-making and desire.
Dr. Yannick Joye, senior research fellow at VU FEBA
Together with Dr. Dovilė Barauskaitė, a research fellow at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration specializing in decision-making and behavioral science, Dr. Joye collaborated with an international team that included Aivaras Vijaikis, a PhD student at Mykolas Romeris University, and Professor Jan Willem Bolderdijk, an expert in Sustainability and Marketing at the University of Amsterdam. Their goal was to investigate whether natural environments could satisfy people’s hedonic needs, potentially serving as alternatives to overconsumption or even altruistic behaviors.
“We often think of nature as calming or restorative, but we wanted to know—can it actually compete with tangible rewards?” says Dr. Joye.
Real Choices, Real Consequences
The team conducted a series of experiments online and in the VU FEBA Judgment and Decision Making Lab, where participants repeatedly chose between watching different videos (nature scenes vs. urban traffic) and performing small tasks that offered rewards like money or candy. These weren’t hypothetical trade-offs—participants were choosing real-time, meaningful outcomes.
“We wanted to make the decisions feel real,” explains Dr. Barauskaitė. “It turns out people often prefer a few minutes of nature over small material treats. I can relate—as a reward after work, I often go to the forest instead of reaching for a snack.”
Dr. Dovilė Barauskaitė, a research fellow at VU FEBA
Interestingly, when nature was an option, participants were more likely to reject material rewards. But in some cases, they even chose nature over prosocial behavior like donating to others—raising questions about whether nature’s immersive appeal might compete with altruism.
Rethinking Rewards in a Sustainable World
The study’s implications reach far beyond the lab. Urban planners and public health advocates might consider natural spaces not just for relaxation, but as tools to reduce unhealthy or unsustainable consumption. Policies promoting daily access to nature could help citizens replace costly pleasures with greener, emotionally fulfilling alternatives.
The team is already planning follow-up studies, including research on how exposure to beauty in nature might reduce compensatory behaviors—like choosing items to enhance one‘s appearance.