Communicating earthquake preparedness

Autor(en): Michèle Marti, Michael Stauffacher, Jörg Matthes, Stefan Wiemer
Abstrakt: Despite global efforts to reduce seismic risk, actual preparedness levels remain universally low. Although earthquake-resistant building design is the most efficient way to decrease potential losses, its application is not a legal requirement across all earthquake-prone countries and even if, often not strictly enforced. Risk communication encouraging homeowners to take precautionary measures is therefore an important means to enhance a country's earthquake resilience. Our study illustrates that specific interactions of mood, perceived risk, and frame type significantly affect homeowners’ attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. The interdependencies of the variables mood, risk information, and frame type were tested in an experimental 2 × 2 × 2 design (N = 156). Only in combination and not on their own, these variables effectively influence attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. The control variables gender, “trait anxiety” index, and alteration of perceived risk adjust the effect. Overall, the group with the strongest attitudes toward general precautionary actions for earthquakes are homeowners with induced negative mood who process high-risk information and gain-framed messages. However, the conditions comprising induced negative mood, low-risk information and loss-frame and induced positive mood, low-risk information and gain-framed messages both also significantly influence homeowners’ attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. These results mostly confirm previous findings in the field of health communication. For practitioners, our study emphasizes that carefully compiled communication measures are a powerful means to encourage precautionary attitudes among homeowners, especially for those with an elevated perceived risk.
Organisation(en): Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft
Externe Organisation(en): Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Journal: Risk Analysis
Band: 38
Seiten: 710-723
Anzahl der Seiten: 14
ISSN: 0272-4332
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12875
Publikationsdatum: 04-2018
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ÖFOS 2012: 508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft, 508014 Publizistik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality, Physiology (medical)
Link zum Portal: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/503899ad-d634-4c11-bf2f-24326d6aacd0