How Individuals Hypothetically and Realistically Respond to Media Messages About Severe Weather

How Individuals Hypothetically and Realistically Respond to Media Messages About Severe Weather

Cory L. Armstrong, Nathan A. Towery
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/IJDREM.2021010104
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Abstract

This study sought to measure how risk perception and behavior intention of residents in coastal counties in Southern Alabama, Mississippi, and Northern Florida may have changed before and after Hurricane Michael in October 2018. The aim of this research project was to compare individual responses to impending disasters before the hurricane and compare them to responses in areas hit by the storm. The authors used an experiment to examine how visual cues and media messages were interpreted by residents and their reported influence on an individual's risk perception and decision-making in the situation. With roughly 1,030 respondents, results indicated that live video was most likely to motivate respondents to prepare activities after the storm, which was in the opposite direction of those respondents answering before the hurricane struck. The authors hope the findings of this study can help broadcasters better target their messages as they move forward.
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2. Literature Review

When reviewing scholarship about disaster preparedness, the key factors of influence focus on previous disaster experience, higher trust in authority, greater perception of risk and consequences, smaller family size, and being geographically closer to an evacuation zone. All of which generally increase the likelihood for an individual to evacuate (Dash, 2002; Stein, Duenas-Osorio, & Subramanian, 2010; Wachinger, Renn, Begg, & Huhlick, 2013). However, while individuals may suggest their likelihood to evacuate if large storm presents itself in a hypothetical scenario, the effectiveness of evacuation warnings may not be that influential on people’s actual choices when severe weather hits (Baker, 1991). For example, Ruch and Schumann (1997) predicted an 89% evacuation rate in the Texas area, but in fact, only 29% of the population actually evacuated when Hurricane Bret struck Texas in 1999 (Prater, Wenger, & Grady, 2000).

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