PERSUADING THE PUBLIC TO MAKE BETTER USE OF NATURAL HAZARDS INFORMATION

Gregory, Geoff

doi:10.1080/08109029508629191

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PERSUADING THE PUBLIC TO MAKE BETTER USE OF NATURAL HAZARDS INFORMATION

research-article

Author(s): Geoff Gregory

Publication date (Print): June 1995

Journal: Prometheus

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Natural hazards, public perception, information transfer, persuasion, self-protective behaviour

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Abstract

Although natural hazards information is enthusiastically promulgated, research shows that the majority of the public adopt few of the self-protective behaviours recommended by civil defence authorities. Fear appeals seem to be unpredictable in their results and largely ineffective in their desired outcomes. Some of the complex factors intervening between perception and behaviour are reviewed. Communication that induces a community to make itself better prepared against natural disasters must incorporate messages inspiring people to find it worthwhile to search for more information about what they and their neighbours and friends can do for themselves to reduce the risks.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): cpro20

Journal ID (archive): CPRO

Title: Prometheus

Subtitle: Critical Studies in Innovation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 0810-9028

ISSN (Electronic): 1470-1030

Publication date (Print): June 1995

Volume: 13

Issue: 1

Pages: 61-71

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Article

Publisher ID: 8629191 Coden ID: Prometheus, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1995: pp. 61–71

DOI: 10.1080/08109029508629191

SO-VID: e5f882a2-999a-414e-9655-2d1e1903b479

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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Figures: 0, Tables: 0, References: 58, Pages: 11

NOTES AND REFERENCES

National Research Council, USA. . 1991. . A Safer Future: Reducing the impacts of natural disasters . , p. 68 Washington , DC : : National Academy Press. .
Hal Cochrane. . 1991. . Hazards research is not affecting practice. . Natural Hazards Observer . , Vol. 15((6)): 1––2. .
Neil Weinstein D.. 1987. . “Introduction: studying self-protective behavior. ”. In Taking Care: Understanding and Encouraging Self Protective Behavior. . , Edited by: Neil Weinstein D.. p. 1––9. . New York : : Cambridge University Press. .
John H Sorensen and Dennis S Mileti, ‘Programs that encourage the adoption of precautions against natural hazards: a review and evaluation’ in Neil D. Weinstein, op. cit., pp.208–231.
The Independent, ‘Quake forces LA to face the fax’, Evening Post, 23 Mar 1994, p. 11.
Australian Water Resources Council. . 1992. . Floodplain Management in Australia. Vol 2. Main Report . , p. 9 Canberra : : Dept of Primary Industries and Energy. .
US Geological Survey staff, ‘The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake: an anticipated event’, Science, 1990, 247, pp.286–293.
J. Sims and D. Baumann, ‘Educational programs and human response to hazards’, Environment and Behavior, 1983, 15, pp. 165-189.
Ministry of Civil Defence, NZ, International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, March 1992, No. 3, p. 2.
P. Simpson-Housley and F. A. Curtis, ‘Earthquake occurrence, experience, and appraisal in Wellington, New Zealand’, Professional Geographer, 1983, 35, pp. 462-467.
Peter Millar, ‘Museum of New Zealand to sit on a dynamically compacted base, NZ Engineering, March 1993, pp. 25-26.
Simon Collins, ‘Townhouse plan for Tinakori Rd’, City Voice, 1 July 1993, p. 1.
J. G. Gregory, ‘Knowledge utilization in hazard mitigation planning’, Knowledge in Society, 1988/89, 1, 28-39.
Walter Hays W. and Badauri Rouhban M.. 1991. . Technology transfer. . Episodes . , Vol. 14((1)) March;: 6––9. .
Ian Burton, Robert Kates W. and Gilbert White F.. The Environment as Hazard . , p. 204––212. . New York : : Oxford University Press. .
Shirley Laska B.. 1990. . Homeowner adaptation to flooding: an application of the general hazards coping theory. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 22:: 320––357. .
John Paul Mulilis, Shelley Duval T. and Richard Lippa. . 1990. . The effects of a large destructive earthquake on earthquake preparedness as assessed by an earthquake preparedness scale. . Natural Hazards . , Vol. 3:: 357––371. . US Geological Survey Occasional Paper 1553-B
Janet D. Gough, ‘A review of the literature pertaining to “perceived” risk and “acceptable” risk and the methods used to estimate them’, Centre for Resource Management Information Paper 14, 1990, p. 6.
Paul Slovic, ‘Perception of risk’, Science, 17 April 1987, pp. 280-285.
Gough, op.cit., pp. 36-46.
Bicevskis A.. 1982. . Unacceptability of acceptable risk. . Search . , Vol. 13:: 31––34. .
Dallas Peck, referring to the formation of an interdepartmental working group in Southern California to re-evaluate the (statistical) probability of large earthquakes there, quoted by Susan Bush, ‘California earthquake risk reassessed’, EOS, 1992, 73 p.362.
William Freudenberg R.. 1988. . Perceived risk, real risk: social science and the art of probabilistic risk assessment. . Science . , Vol. 242:: 44––49. .
Robert Wesson L. and Robert Wallace E.. 1985. . Predicting the next great earthquake in California. . Scientific American . , Vol. 252((2)): 23––31. .
Daniel Koshland E.. 1987. . Immortality and risk assessment. . Science . , Vol. 236:: 241
Malcolm Pelton, ‘Risk perception and the real world’, New Scientist, 17 Aug 1991, p. 2.
Edgar Jackson L.. 1981. . Response to earthquake hazard: the West Coast of North America. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 13:: 387––416. .
James R. Averill, ‘The role of emotion and psychological defense in self-protective behavior’, in Weinstein (ed.), op. cit., pp. 54–78.
Bruce Bolt A.. 1991. . Balance of risks and benefits in preparation for earthquakes. . Science . , Vol. 251:: 169––174. .
Jackson, op. cit.
The following examples are taken from Averill, op. cit., pp.69–70.
Mulilis and Duval, op. cit.
Wesson and Wallace, op. cit.
Dennis Mileti S. and Colleen Fitzpatrick. . 1993. . The Great Earthquake Experiment: Risk communication and public action . , p. 140 Boulder , CO : : Westview Press. .
Thomas Drabek E.. 1986. . Human System Responses to Disaster: An inventory of sociological findings . , p. 351 New York : : Springer. .
Michael Stefanko and Jordan Horowitz. . 1989. . Attitudinal effects associated with an environmental hazard. . Population and Environment . , Vol. 11:: 43––57. .
Ronald Perry W. and Marjorie Greene R.. 1982. . The role of ethnicity in the emergency decision-making process. . Sociological Inquiry . , Vol. 52:: 306––334. .
Ronald W. Perry and Joanne M. Nigg, ‘ Emergency management strategies for communicating hazard information’, Public Administration Review, special issue, 1985, pp. 72–77.
Perry and Greene, op. cit.
Shippee G, Burroughs J and Wakefield S. . 1980. . Dissonance theory revisited: Perceptions of environmental hazards in residential areas. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 12:: 33––35. .
Simpson-Housley and Curtis, op. cit.
Jackson, op. cit.
William Spence, Robert B Hermann, Arch C Johnston, and Glen Reagor, ‘Responses to Iben Browning's prediction of a 1990 New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake’, US Geological Survey Circular 1083, 1993, pp. 252. Also a study quoted in Carol Tucker, ‘The force of nature’, UCLA Trojan Family, Autumn 1991, pp. 18–23, found that 30% of men and 20% of women had positive feelings about the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.
Drabek, op. cit.
Dennis Mileti, Janice Hutton, and John Sorensen, ‘Earthquake prediction: response and options for public policy’, University of Colorado Institute of Behavioral Science Monograph 31, 1981.
Ralph Turner H., Joanne Nigg M. and Denise Heller Paz. . 1986. . Waiting for Disaster: Earthquake watch in California . , p. 175––178. . Berkeley : : University of California Press. .
Drabek, op. cit., pp. 329–331.
Stanley Parker D., Marilyn Brewer B. and Janice Spencer R.. 1980. . Natural disaster, perceived control, and attribution to fate. . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin . , Vol. 6:: 454––459. .
Robert D. Shangle and Linda Kelso, Volcano. First Seventy Days. Mount St Helens, 1980. Beautiful America Publ., Beaverton, OR, 1980.
Sims and Baumann, op. cit.
Neil Weinstein D.. 1989. . Effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior. . Psychological Bulletin . , Vol. 105:: 31––50. .
Mileti and Fitzpatrick, op. cit.
Weinstein, op. cit.
Mileti and Fitzpatrick, op. cit.
Peter Ward L.. 1992. . The next big earthquake in the Bay Area may come sooner than you think. Are you prepared? . , p. 24 Menlo Park , California : : US Geological Survey. .
Martin Fishbein, Icek Ajzen and Judy McArdle. . 1980. . “Changing the behaviour of alcoholics: effects of persuasive communication. ”. In Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior . , Edited by: Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein. . p. 218––242. . Englewood Cliffs , NJ : : Prentice-Hall. .
Dennis Mileti S. and Colleen Fitzpatrick. . 1992. . The causal sequence of risk communication in the Parkfield earthquake prediction experiment. . Risk Analysis . , Vol. 12:: 393––400. .
Raymond de Young. . 1993. . Changing behaviour and making it stick: The conceptualization and management of conservation behaviour. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 25:: 485––505. .

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] National Research Council, USA. . 1991. . A Safer Future: Reducing the impacts of natural disasters . , p. 68 Washington , DC : : National Academy Press. .

[2] Hal Cochrane. . 1991. . Hazards research is not affecting practice. . Natural Hazards Observer . , Vol. 15((6)): 1––2. .

[3] Neil Weinstein D.. 1987. . “Introduction: studying self-protective behavior. ”. In Taking Care: Understanding and Encouraging Self Protective Behavior. . , Edited by: Neil Weinstein D.. p. 1––9. . New York : : Cambridge University Press. .

[4] John H Sorensen and Dennis S Mileti, ‘Programs that encourage the adoption of precautions against natural hazards: a review and evaluation’ in Neil D. Weinstein, op. cit., pp.208–231.

[5] The Independent, ‘Quake forces LA to face the fax’, Evening Post, 23 Mar 1994, p. 11.

[6] Australian Water Resources Council. . 1992. . Floodplain Management in Australia. Vol 2. Main Report . , p. 9 Canberra : : Dept of Primary Industries and Energy. .

[7] US Geological Survey staff, ‘The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake: an anticipated event’, Science, 1990, 247, pp.286–293.

[8] J. Sims and D. Baumann, ‘Educational programs and human response to hazards’, Environment and Behavior, 1983, 15, pp. 165-189.

[9] Ministry of Civil Defence, NZ, International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, March 1992, No. 3, p. 2.

[10] P. Simpson-Housley and F. A. Curtis, ‘Earthquake occurrence, experience, and appraisal in Wellington, New Zealand’, Professional Geographer, 1983, 35, pp. 462-467.

[11] Peter Millar, ‘Museum of New Zealand to sit on a dynamically compacted base, NZ Engineering, March 1993, pp. 25-26.

[12] Simon Collins, ‘Townhouse plan for Tinakori Rd’, City Voice, 1 July 1993, p. 1.

[13] J. G. Gregory, ‘Knowledge utilization in hazard mitigation planning’, Knowledge in Society, 1988/89, 1, 28-39.

[14] Walter Hays W. and Badauri Rouhban M.. 1991. . Technology transfer. . Episodes . , Vol. 14((1)) March;: 6––9. .

[15] Ian Burton, Robert Kates W. and Gilbert White F.. The Environment as Hazard . , p. 204––212. . New York : : Oxford University Press. .

[16] Shirley Laska B.. 1990. . Homeowner adaptation to flooding: an application of the general hazards coping theory. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 22:: 320––357. .

[17] John Paul Mulilis, Shelley Duval T. and Richard Lippa. . 1990. . The effects of a large destructive earthquake on earthquake preparedness as assessed by an earthquake preparedness scale. . Natural Hazards . , Vol. 3:: 357––371. . US Geological Survey Occasional Paper 1553-B

[18] Janet D. Gough, ‘A review of the literature pertaining to “perceived” risk and “acceptable” risk and the methods used to estimate them’, Centre for Resource Management Information Paper 14, 1990, p. 6.

[19] Paul Slovic, ‘Perception of risk’, Science, 17 April 1987, pp. 280-285.

[20] Gough, op.cit., pp. 36-46.

[21] Bicevskis A.. 1982. . Unacceptability of acceptable risk. . Search . , Vol. 13:: 31––34. .

[22] Dallas Peck, referring to the formation of an interdepartmental working group in Southern California to re-evaluate the (statistical) probability of large earthquakes there, quoted by Susan Bush, ‘California earthquake risk reassessed’, EOS, 1992, 73 p.362.

[23] William Freudenberg R.. 1988. . Perceived risk, real risk: social science and the art of probabilistic risk assessment. . Science . , Vol. 242:: 44––49. .

[24] Robert Wesson L. and Robert Wallace E.. 1985. . Predicting the next great earthquake in California. . Scientific American . , Vol. 252((2)): 23––31. .

[25] Daniel Koshland E.. 1987. . Immortality and risk assessment. . Science . , Vol. 236:: 241

[26] Malcolm Pelton, ‘Risk perception and the real world’, New Scientist, 17 Aug 1991, p. 2.

[27] Edgar Jackson L.. 1981. . Response to earthquake hazard: the West Coast of North America. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 13:: 387––416. .

[28] James R. Averill, ‘The role of emotion and psychological defense in self-protective behavior’, in Weinstein (ed.), op. cit., pp. 54–78.

[29] Bruce Bolt A.. 1991. . Balance of risks and benefits in preparation for earthquakes. . Science . , Vol. 251:: 169––174. .

[30] Jackson, op. cit.

[31] The following examples are taken from Averill, op. cit., pp.69–70.

[32] Mulilis and Duval, op. cit.

[33] Wesson and Wallace, op. cit.

[34] Dennis Mileti S. and Colleen Fitzpatrick. . 1993. . The Great Earthquake Experiment: Risk communication and public action . , p. 140 Boulder , CO : : Westview Press. .

[35] Thomas Drabek E.. 1986. . Human System Responses to Disaster: An inventory of sociological findings . , p. 351 New York : : Springer. .

[36] Michael Stefanko and Jordan Horowitz. . 1989. . Attitudinal effects associated with an environmental hazard. . Population and Environment . , Vol. 11:: 43––57. .

[37] Ronald Perry W. and Marjorie Greene R.. 1982. . The role of ethnicity in the emergency decision-making process. . Sociological Inquiry . , Vol. 52:: 306––334. .

[38] Ronald W. Perry and Joanne M. Nigg, ‘ Emergency management strategies for communicating hazard information’, Public Administration Review, special issue, 1985, pp. 72–77.

[39] Perry and Greene, op. cit.

[40] Shippee G, Burroughs J and Wakefield S. . 1980. . Dissonance theory revisited: Perceptions of environmental hazards in residential areas. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 12:: 33––35. .

[41] Simpson-Housley and Curtis, op. cit.

[42] Jackson, op. cit.

[43] William Spence, Robert B Hermann, Arch C Johnston, and Glen Reagor, ‘Responses to Iben Browning's prediction of a 1990 New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake’, US Geological Survey Circular 1083, 1993, pp. 252. Also a study quoted in Carol Tucker, ‘The force of nature’, UCLA Trojan Family, Autumn 1991, pp. 18–23, found that 30% of men and 20% of women had positive feelings about the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.

[44] Drabek, op. cit.

[45] Dennis Mileti, Janice Hutton, and John Sorensen, ‘Earthquake prediction: response and options for public policy’, University of Colorado Institute of Behavioral Science Monograph 31, 1981.

[46] Ralph Turner H., Joanne Nigg M. and Denise Heller Paz. . 1986. . Waiting for Disaster: Earthquake watch in California . , p. 175––178. . Berkeley : : University of California Press. .

[47] Drabek, op. cit., pp. 329–331.

[48] Stanley Parker D., Marilyn Brewer B. and Janice Spencer R.. 1980. . Natural disaster, perceived control, and attribution to fate. . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin . , Vol. 6:: 454––459. .

[49] Robert D. Shangle and Linda Kelso, Volcano. First Seventy Days. Mount St Helens, 1980. Beautiful America Publ., Beaverton, OR, 1980.

[50] Sims and Baumann, op. cit.

[51] Neil Weinstein D.. 1989. . Effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior. . Psychological Bulletin . , Vol. 105:: 31––50. .

[52] Mileti and Fitzpatrick, op. cit.

[53] Weinstein, op. cit.

[54] Mileti and Fitzpatrick, op. cit.

[55] Peter Ward L.. 1992. . The next big earthquake in the Bay Area may come sooner than you think. Are you prepared? . , p. 24 Menlo Park , California : : US Geological Survey. .

[56] Martin Fishbein, Icek Ajzen and Judy McArdle. . 1980. . “Changing the behaviour of alcoholics: effects of persuasive communication. ”. In Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior . , Edited by: Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein. . p. 218––242. . Englewood Cliffs , NJ : : Prentice-Hall. .

[57] Dennis Mileti S. and Colleen Fitzpatrick. . 1992. . The causal sequence of risk communication in the Parkfield earthquake prediction experiment. . Risk Analysis . , Vol. 12:: 393––400. .

[58] Raymond de Young. . 1993. . Changing behaviour and making it stick: The conceptualization and management of conservation behaviour. . Environment and Behavior . , Vol. 25:: 485––505. .

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PERSUADING THE PUBLIC TO MAKE BETTER USE OF NATURAL HAZARDS INFORMATION

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