Digital incentives and behavioral feedback: a study on the targeted intervention mechanism for municipal waste separation in Shanghai universities

Purpose This study examines municipal waste separation practices in Shanghai universities, with the aim of exploring how digital incentives and real-time feedback mechanisms influence waste-sorting behaviors among faculty and students. It seeks to identify the behavioral impact pathways of different incentive designs and feedback types, and to clarify the psychological and institutional conditions under which digital interventions can promote sustained participation and compliance in campus environmental governance. Design/methodology/approach This study develops a theoretical framework integrating technology design, psychological mechanisms, behavioral outcomes and institutional context. A mixed-methods research design is used, including questionnaire surveys (n = 1,287), system log data from 812 users, in-depth interviews and field observations across three representative Shanghai universities. Hypotheses are systematically tested to assess the effects of social and material incentives, feedback mechanisms and contextual factors on waste separation behavior. Findings The findings indicate that social incentives significantly enhance participation compliance and behavioral persistence, while material incentives are more effective in improving classification accuracy. Digital interventions promote behavior change by strengthening subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, though motivational internalization is constrained by the perceived effectiveness of value-based feedback. Organizational coordination, logistical integration and fairness in system design emerge as critical contextual factors shaping intervention effectiveness. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by advancing a localized behavioral science framework for digital environmental governance in Chinese universities. It differentiates the behavioral effects of social versus material incentives and highlights the role of real-time, value-based feedback in shaping compliance and persistence. By integrating system log data with surveys and qualitative evidence, this research offers rare empirical insights into mechanism-level intervention effects and provides actionable design principles for building long-term, targeted waste separation systems in institutional settings.