Closing the sustainability knowledge–action gap: a dual knowledge management framework combining SECI and the persuasion knowledge model

Purpose This study aims to examine how messaging co-created by agents and targets can support knowledge creation and behavioral change in sustainability education. It explores how emotions shaped by perceived agent motivations across repeated persuasion episodes mediated this transformation. By integrating the persuasion knowledge model (PKM) with the socialization, externalization, combination and internalization (SECI) model, this study highlights how agent–target interactions generate sustainable knowledge and action. Design/methodology/approach This study collected qualitative data through semi-structured interviews conducted one month after a one-week educational program involving expert meetings, company visits and a hackathon. The data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis with a deductive, theory-driven lens. Findings This study addressed the sustainability knowledge–action gap by demonstrating how repeated, emotionally meaningful interactions (i.e. persuasion episodes) with trusted, credible agents supported knowledge internalization and long-term behavioral change. The participants evolved from skepticism and emotional resistance to empowerment, with co-created emotional experiences and trust-building emerging as central mechanisms. Originality/value Unlike previous studies, which highlight barriers to sustainable behavior, this study offers an integrated, process-oriented framework. Combining PKM’s relational perspective with SECI’s iterative structure and emphasizing emotional engagement provide a new framework for fostering sustained behavioral transformation through co-created knowledge.