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Understanding Risk CommunicationTheory
Understanding Risk CommunicationTheory
Communication Theory: A
Guide for Emergency Managers
and Communicators
Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences
Division, Science and Technology Directorate,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
May 2012
About START
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
is supported in part by the Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security through a Center of Excellence program based at the University of
Maryland. START uses stateoftheart theories, methods and data from the social and
behavioral sciences to improve understanding of the origins, dynamics and social and
psychological impacts of terrorism. For more information, contact START at
[email protected] or visit www.start.umd.edu.
Citations
To cite this report, please use this format:
Sheppard, Ben, Melissa Janoske, and Brooke Liu. Understanding Risk Communication
Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators, Report to Human
Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security. College Park, MD: START, 2012.
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Defining Risk Communication ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Risk Characteristics .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Risk Communication Theories and Models ............................................................................................................................. 7
Cross-cutting Theories and Models ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Communication during the Preparedness Phase ...........................................................................................................11
Communication during the Response Phase ....................................................................................................................16
Communication during the Recovery Phase ....................................................................................................................18
References ..........................................................................................................................................................................................22
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
Introduction
This document reflects the themes and concepts developed in the accompanying Understanding Risk
Communication Best Practices: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators. This report
discusses and dissects theories and models relevant to federal, state, and local homeland security
personnel and emergency managers faced with communicating risks within their communities. It first
provides a detailed discussion on defining risk communication, followed by risk characteristics to
summarize how perceived dread and familiarity can affect risk messaging. Next, relevant theories and
models1 are discussed in two parts: cross-cutting theories and models applicable across the
preparedness, response, and recovery phases, and then additional theories and models that are most
relevant within a specific event phase. As with the Best Practices document, many of the communication
approaches presented were not originally designed for a specific event phase, but nevertheless offer
valuable insights that make them particularly suitable for a specific event phase.
This review presents concepts from a variety of academic disciplines, including communication,
sociology, anthropology, political science, and psychology. This report thus captures the diversity of the
field of risk communication, including an analysis of key strengths and weaknesses of dominant theories
and models, offering risk communicators and managers the opportunity to readily identify the
information and research most relevant to their interests.
For decades, scholars have been working to improve risk communication practice through developing,
testing, and refining communication theories and models that endeavor to explain the expected and
unexpected impacts of risk communication. These efforts have led to an abundance of scientific
discoveries, but there is no single theory or model that captures the full range of considerations that
impact risk communication efforts. When defining event phases within this report, the following
distinctions have been utilized:
The diagram below represents the relationship between the material presented in this document and
material presented in the corollary Best Practices report. For the best and most thorough overview,
readers are encouraged to read and use both the Theory and Best Practices documents.
In this document, we distinguish between theory and model where a model is an abstract representation of a system or
process to help describe the consequences and interrelationships of decisions and events. A theory, then, is a set of ideas
intended to explain and predict events.
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Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
Identifying the most exigent publics for risk messages (CERC Model; STP);
Developing appropriate messages for the most exigent publics (CERC Model; STP);
Understanding how to incorporate divergent viewpoints into risk messages (deliberative process
model);
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
Identifying factors that affect how publics recover from risks that can be incorporated into risk
resolution messages (CAUSE model; precautionary adoption process model); and
Understanding the social context and secondary effects of risks (SARF).
Taken as whole, the findings from this document and Best Practices provide a comprehensive overview of
the current art and science of effective risk communication.
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
The next section reviews risk characteristics that affect how publics respond to risk messages, based on
the psychometric paradigm.
Risk Characteristics
Effective risk communication efforts must be adapted to match the type of risk. Before delving into the
details and nuanced understandings of a variety of risk communication theories and models, this report
presents a discussion of two key event characteristics that impact risk perceptions and behaviors based
on Slovics psychometric paradigm:2 the degree of dread associated with a risk and the publics
familiarity with a risk.
1. Lower familiarity/lower dread (Examples: Rare agricultural diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease;
oil terminal explosion). The public perceives lower familiarity/lower dread risks as rare and unlikely to
be life threatening or cause serious injuries. In practice, these risks may not be immediately life
threatening, but rather delayed, manifesting over a period of months or years. Further, in some cases the
perception of risk is greater than the actual risk: Individuals tend to overreact to those risks that are hard
to understand, involuntary, and invisible despite evidence and reassurances by experts that a particular
risk is minimal or unlikely (Rogers, Amlot, Rubin, Wessely, & Krieger, 2007).
2. Lower familiarity/higher dread (Examples: Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN)
terrorism; nuclear power plant accidents). A significant communication challenge is informing the public
of lower familiarity/higher dread risk events. International risks like terrorism are a particularly complex
hazard for individuals and publics to interpret, respond to, and prepare for as they involve the intentions
of other people, and those are often hard to understand (Rogers et al., 2007). Compared to improvised
explosive devices (IEDs), CBRN devices have lower familiarity and higher dread risk characteristics as
their effects may be delayed, unknown, and remain in the environment for years (Sidell, Patrick, &
Dashiell, 1998).
3. Higher familiarity/lower dread (Examples: Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornados, and floods).
The public is likely to have a general understanding of the risk characteristics of higher familiarity/lower
dread risks through either personal experience or media coverage. Effects of these risks are more
observable, easier to understand, and shorter term. Further, it is possible to provide warnings for these
risks, making the public more likely to respond (Mileti & Sorensen, 1990; Slovic, 2000). At the same time,
however, these risks contain dread attributes of being involuntary and having the potential to cause
fatalities.
4. Higher familiarity/higher dread (Examples: IED terrorist attack; pandemic flu). Higher
familiarity/higher dread risk events are those that are life threatening, less observable, and lack warning,
but the public may have a greater understanding or awareness of them and ability to comprehend them
The psychometric paradigm seeks to identify, characterize, and quantify risk to enable communicators to have a baseline
understanding of how their target audience might perceive and respond to risks (risk perception). This in turn provides a
basis for improving dialogue with the public (risk communication) prior to an event (Slovic, 2000).
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Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
once they occur. Compared to CBRN devices such as anthrax, non-CBRN events like IEDs cause less fear
as their effects are not delayed and their characteristics are easier to understand by the public (Burns,
2007), making their familiarity comparatively higher. Higher dread risk events have enormous secondary
effects (also referred to as ripple effects) that extend beyond the immediate direct damage to encompass
many other victims. The events of 9/11, for example, caused secondary effects such as dramatic domestic
policy changes that included the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the ratification of the
PATRIOT Act, and revised airport passenger screening measures.
Identify the most exigent publics for risk messages (CERC Model; STP)
Develop appropriate messages for the most exigent publics (CERC Model; STP)
Understand how publics process risk messages (STP; heuristic-systematic model)
Understand how to incorporate divergent viewpoints into risk messages (deliberative
process model)
Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Model. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) crafted the CERC model after the 9/11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks to combine image and
reputation research with persuasion and strategic messaging research (Seeger, Reynolds, & Sellnow,
2010). The model is split into five stages and each stage provides a broad set of strategies and
suggestions for communication. CERC further discusses who should be seen as the most exigent public at
each stage and the types of messages that should be directed to those groups (Reynolds, Galdo, & Sokler,
2002). The stages are:
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
Pre-crisis Communication is directed to the public and response community to provide risk
messages, warning, and guidance regarding preparation. Strategies include building alliances,
developing consensus recommendations, and testing messages with specific publics.
Initial event Communication is directed to the general public and affected groups to reduce
uncertainty and increase self-efficacy and reassurance. Strategies include informing in the
simplest terms, establishing spokesperson credibility, and providing emergency courses of action.
Maintenance Communication is directed to the general public and affected groups to continue
the communication efforts from the initial event. Strategies include providing necessary
background information, listening to public feedback, correcting misinformation, and empowering
decision making.
Resolution Communication is directed to the general public and affected publics to provide
updates regarding resolution and discuss causes and new risks or new understandings. Strategies
include examining problems and reinforcing what worked, persuading publics to support
necessary policy and resource allocation, and promoting and reinforcing the identity and abilities
of the organization communicating the risk resolution.
Evaluation Communication is directed to agencies and response communities to discuss the
adequacy of response and work toward lessons and new understandings. Strategies include
evaluating communication plan performance, documenting lessons learned, and determining
specific actions to improve the crisis plan.
Planning for a major crisis is fraught with challenges, but CERC has key strengths, including facilitating
decisions that must be made within severe time constraints (Palenchar, 2010) and cautioning against
excessive pre-crisis communication (Reynolds, Deitch, & Schieber, 2006). Overall, CERC is a model that
supports pre-crisis communication as a method to increase the effectiveness of the response stages and
reduce harm in the resolution stages (Seeger, Reynolds, & Sellnow, 2010). CERC was widely used in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and has also been tested as a model for communicating about the avian
influenza pandemic (Seeger, Reynolds, & Sellnow, 2010). When used in response to avian influenza
pandemics, CERC was viewed as a successful way to counter and avoid rumors, set rules for information
released to the media and involvement, engage and inform international audiences, and respond to and
contain criticism of response efforts (Seeger, Reynolds, & Sellnow, 2010).
Situational Theory of Publics. The situational theory of publics (STP) aims to help institutions and
organizations identify whom they should consider as publics, and then to see how those publics engage in
communication behaviors such as information seeking and processing (Grunig, 2003). The three main
elements of the theory are problem recognition (detection of a problem with no immediate solution),
constraint recognition (identification of perceived obstacles to finding a solution), and level of
involvement (extent of perceived connection to the problem) (Kim & Grunig, 2011). Taken together,
these factors can determine if people will process information and then stop, or actively seek out
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
additional informationmaking STP one of the only theories to focus specifically on information seeking
and processing as a way to predict behavior (Grunig, 1997). STP has since been expanded to the
situational theory of problem solving by including an additional variable, communicative action in
problem solving, which involves a potential problem-solver increasing active or passive information
seeking, selecting, and giving (Kim & Grunig, 2011). To date, the new version of STP has been tested only
through structural equation modeling based on web surveys of over 1,700 college students in the United
States (Kim & Grunig, 2011).
STP offers information that is useful in understanding why publics communicate and when they are most
likely to do so (Aldoory & Sha, 2007), acknowledging that problem recognition and level of involvement
can be influenced by perceived shared experience with media spokespeople and their messages (Aldoory,
Kim, & Tindall, 2010). For example, surveys reveal that publics that feel a connection with the
spokespeople delivering messages are more likely to have increased problem recognition and
involvement. With a stronger understanding of spokesperson impact, risk communicators can choose
more effective ways to disseminate information and engage publics.
Heuristic-Systematic Model. While CERC and STP can help risk communicators predict and explain the
behavior of publics, the heuristic-systematic model allows communicators to see and understand the
connections between a persons desire for accurate and sufficient information and the motivation for
processing that information (Griffin et al., 2002). Affect, or how one thinks and feels, influences how a
public may judge an activity and the resulting decisions they make. The heuristic piece of the model looks
at how publics use superficial cues such as the use of color, visuals, or identity of the source to process
information; the systematic piece of the model looks at how publics comprehensively analyze
information to understand it; and the overall model states that publics will use superficial cues and/or
comprehensive strategies depending on the situation. Trumbo (2002) looked at three case studies
investigating suspected cancer clusters in individuals and found that superficial cues are associated with
a lower evaluation of risk; that is, publics that focus on message credibility instead of message content
tend to assume there is a decreased importance of the risk presented. Additionally, being confident in
ones intellectual abilities is a good predictor of using shortcuts to make risk-based decisions (Trumbo,
2002). In addition, Griffin, Neuwirth, Giese, and Dunwoody (2002) conducted more than 1,000 telephone
interviews of adults living in the Midwestern United States and found that people use systematic
processing when they have previous knowledge of or strongly held beliefs about the information
presented. This previous interaction with the information allows individuals to further their knowledge
and to increase the strength of their attitudes toward the topic. Risk communicators with knowledge of
publics processing abilities and interest can again adapt messages and determine how to best present
complicated information to the public.
Deliberative Process Model. Beyond explaining and attempting to predict publics behaviors and
motivations for processing risk messages, the deliberative decision making process can guide
communication development based on understanding what is required to create and sustain an
atmosphere of tolerance, with plural viewpoints seen as legitimate (Pidgeon, Harthorn, Bryant, & RogersHayden, 2009; Renn, 2003). The process is best suited for an ongoing risk issue at the recovery stage, for
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
10
Actionable risk communication. The actionable risk communication model encourages action by the
general public to limit the risks they face from potential threats, and can inform education campaigns to
encourage desired public preparedness (Wood et al., 2011). According to the model, the most effective
communicators and motivators for preparedness are not public officials, but rather community members
who share information about what actions they have taken to guard against risks with others who are
less prepared (Wood et al., 2011). While there still needs to be guidance from emergency planners on
how to prepare, the most effective communicators to convey that guidance are community members who
themselves have followed Ready.govs recommended actions, such as preparing an emergency kit.
The actionable risk model is supported by survey evidence that provides insights into communication
channels that are effective for risk communication. Empirical studies have shown that to be effective in
prompting risk-reduction behaviors, preparedness information must come from multiple sources
(Basolo, Steinberg, Burby, Levine, Cruz, & Huang, 2009; Mileti & Fitzpatrick, 1992), be communicated
over multiple channels (Rogers, 1985; Smarick, 2010; Turner, Paz, & Young, 1981), and be frequently
repeated (Mikami & Ikeda, 1985; Mileti & OBrian, 1992; Turner, Nigg, Paz, & Young, 1979). For example,
a telephone survey of 504 residents of Los Angeles County and the vicinity impacted by an August 2009
wildfire found that people were more likely to follow evacuation messages when they received multiple
warning messages over diverse communication channels; specific guidelines about what to do and when
further enhanced evacuation behaviors (Smarick, 2010).
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
11
Actionable risk communication is most effective for a short period of time following an event when
people are most receptive to preparedness communications having just experienced a disaster. This is
often referred to as the window of opportunity, as the traumatic experience can be the strongest
motivator for people to prepare for future disasters (Mileti, Bourque, Wood, & Kano, 2011). At the same
time, individuals who have experienced near-miss events (escaping a risk by chance) may be less likely to
prepare for a future event, viewing their good fortune as resiliency (Dillon, Tinsley, & Cronin, 2011).
Communicators trying to encourage mitigation activities may need to supplement risk information such
as statistics with stories of resilience that counteract lack of preparation encouraged by any near-miss
experiences (Dillon et al., 2011).
Mental models. Effective risk communication requires understanding where the public is coming from in
order to convince them to prepare better for risks. Mental models provide a framework to understand
preexisting public perceptions of less-familiar and higher-dread risks and what communication messages
can be developed and tested to improve awareness, understanding, and preparedness. These messages
can then be ready to release should an event occur (Morgan, Fischhoff, Bostrom, & Atman, 2002). The
model examines the choices people face, the beliefs they hold, and experts relevant knowledge to better
understand what information gaps and misperceptions need to be addressed. It also offers a way for the
general public to understand how the risks they face are created and controlled, how well science
understands those risks, and how significant they seem to be (Morgan et al., 2002).
Mental models are significant at the preparedness stage for two reasons. First, undertaking a mental
models approach takes time (weeks or months) and can be resource intensive. It is not a rapid reaction
approach. While its outputs can guide communication during the response phase by knowing upfront
how the public may perceive the risk event, the process needs to be completed prior to an event so the
messages are ready to release. Second, mental models can be effective in assessing the publics
understanding of risks to capture the gap between how experts versus the public assess a risk and what
are the areas of convergence and divergence. This information can help communicators frame their
education preparedness campaigns and inform the public about what the risks are having first
established what they know already and areas of misperception.
Morgan et al. (2002) outlined a five-step process for using the mental models method:
1. Review current scientific knowledge to determine the nature and magnitude of a risk to create an
influence diagram that visually represents the pooled knowledge of the expert community.
2. Conduct open-ended interviews to elicit the publics beliefs about the hazard, expressed in their
own terms.
3. Conduct structured interviews through a confirmatory questionnaire to estimate the populations
prevalence of those beliefs expressed in the open-ended interviews.
4. Draft messages based on the results of the interviews and questionnaire.
5. Evaluate the communications through testing and refining the messages with individuals selected
from the target population using one-on-one read-aloud interviews, focus groups, and
questionnaires. The last step should be repeated until the message is understood as intended.
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
12
Empirical studies that have tested the mental models approach include a study by Decision Partners
funded by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) to develop strategic communications for
bio-solids professionals. The WERF study mapped stakeholder perceptions (including landowners,
residents, and regulators) to inform communication strategies, plans, and draft materials (Eggers et al.,
2011).
Affect Heuristic. The term affect heuristic is used to explain how people make risk decisions based on
what they have previously experienced and how they analyze a situation. Understanding the affect
heuristic is critical for three reasons. First, it allows communicators to better understand how people
perceive risk. Second, it can inform how risk communication can elicit desired perceptions of a risk and
desired behavioural responses such as preparation for an event. Third, it assists in conveying
probabilities of a risk in the face of uncertainty.
Risk perception research on affect heuristic has identified that people make risk judgements using two
approaches.
First, the experiential: Individuals recall prior experiences and recollected images (from first hand
or media reporting) of a risk, which influence perceived feelings (goodness or badness) about a
risk or an event.
Second, the analytical: Individuals analyze the risk to inform their judgment.
Research on the affect heuristic found that when people make risk decisions, the experiential precedes
the analytical. Strong emotional experiences related to hazards may increase publics perceptions of risks
(Slovic, Finucane, Peters, & MacGregor, 2004). For example, if you mention terrorism, the first thing that
individuals may think of is the September 11th attacks and the World Trade Center being hit rather than
analyzing the probability of terrorism impacting them.
Research on the affect heuristic research has also found that communicating the benefits of an activity
such an infant receiving their mumps, measles and rubella vaccine can change the perception of risk and
vice versa (Slovic et al., 2004).
Communicating the positive benefits of an activity will lead to the message recipient inferring the
risk to be low;
Communicating the negative benefits of an activity will lead to the message recipient inferring the
risk to be high;
Communicating the risk of an activity to be high will lead to the message recipient inferring the
benefits to be low; and
Communicating the risk of an activity to be low will lead to the message recipient inferring the
benefits to be high.
At the preparedness phase this can be fundamental should communicators need to elevate the perceived
risk and reduce complacency towards preparing for a possible event. This is called the evocation of
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
13
negative affect (Keller et al., 2006) and can be helpful, for example, in getting the public in regions less
prone to natural disasters to prepare a basic disaster supply kit so they can be more self-sufficient
following a major event. Conversely communicators may need to reduce the perceived risk that may be
over amplified in the publics eye. This is called the evocation of positive affect. For example, during the
2001 anthrax attacks the positive affect was evoked to reduce the perceived risk of anthrax to encourage
Americans not to acquire the antibiotic ciprofloxacin unless advised by CDC that they may have been
exposed to anthrax spores. At the time, there were limited supplies of ciprofloxacin and its extensive use
possibly risked changing the bacteriological environment rendering some organisms resistant to
ciprofloxacin (Shine, 2001).
Research has also confirmed that publics that can more easily recall particular risks are more likely to
prepare for those risks than for risks that they cannot easily recall. For example, Siegrist and Gutscher
(2006) found that past experience with flooding was the most important factor in predicting publics risk
perception of future floods.
When conveying the probability of an event in the face of uncertainty, research on affect suggests three
possible approaches:
Present frequencies versus probabilities: Problems should be formulated in terms of frequencies
rather than probabilities (Gigerenzer & Hoffrage, 1995). For example, one study found that
participants rated a disease that kills 24.14% of the population as more dangerous than one that
would kill 1,286 people out of 10,000 even though the 1,286 rate would equal only 12.86% of the
population (Yamagishi, 1997).
Discuss longer time periods: Low-probability risks that are presented in the context of a longer
time period are likely to elicit desired behavioral change. For example, Slovic, Fischhoff, and
Lichtenstein (1978) identified that car drivers who received risk information about a 50-year
period favored stronger, mandatory protection than participants exposed to the risk of a single
trip.
Use risk comparisons: Empirical research shows that low-probability (including lower familiarity
events) can also be communicated using risk comparisons where new hazards are compared with
risks that are more familiar to the public (Johnson, 2003, 2004; Roth, Morgan, Fischhoff, Lave, &
Bostrom, 1990; Slovic, Kraus, & Covello, 1990). For example, the probability of becoming a victim
of a terrorist attack versus being in a car accident.
Extended Parallel Process Model. The concept of preparedness as a process fits within the extended
parallel process model, which deals with perceived threats and perceived efficacy of behavior change
(Witte, 1992). Designing risk messages emphasize fear such as the fear of another terrorist attack cause
one of two reactions in an audience: (1) A moderate or high perception of threat, which causes the
individual to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed solution or (2) a low perception of threat, which
negates any motivation the individual has to continue processing the message. If perceived threat is high,
but perceived efficacythat is, an individuals belief about his/her power to control the eventis low,
individuals attempt to control and respond to the fear instead of to the danger itself (Witte, 1992), which
often occurs when an individual is in denial about the presence of a threat or reacting against it. An
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
14
increase in threat perception coupled with high efficacy leads to message acceptance and attitude,
intention, or behavior changes to control the danger.
The model has been expanded recently to include perceived collective efficacy (perceptions of how well
prepared a family unit is, instead of how well prepared each individual member is) and perceived societal
risk (perceptions of risk to a unit or group larger than one individual or a family unit). These types of
perceptions can be seen in publics as both logic-based and emotion-based (Roberto, Goodall, & Witte,
2010). There is also evidence of a connection between social perceptions of risk and collective efficacy
and how a lack of social threats can combine with a sense of efficacy to motivate intentions and actions
(Smith, Ferrara, & Witte, 2007). This study looked at individuals dying from AIDS-related illnesses who
had children that would be orphaned as a result. Those in the community not infected with HIV often
responded to this community issue with collective efficacy, or the belief that there are effective or
necessary collective actions that can be taken to address a social or public health predicament, which
often took the form of adopting the orphaned children (Smith, Ferrara, & Witte, 2007). Fear appeals
should be carefully monitored to ensure effective usage and to inform message construction decisions of
risk communicators as fear appeals are only recommended for messages that can be cognitively, and not
emotionally, processed by a public (Witte, 1992).
Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior. Ajzen and Fishbeins (1980) theory of reasoned action
states that an individuals behavior is predicted by his or her behavioral intentions, which, in turn, are
predicted by his or her attitudes toward the behavior and subjective norms. In other words, people
determine if they will do something often based on their own views and those of society. This theory
asserts that behavior is also a function of a personal risk estimate, through which an individual can
determine the potential harm he or she faces from performing or not performing the prescribed
behavior. Donating blood is often used as an example of the theory; individuals have behavioral
intentions to donate based on their own personal desire to help, which is only strengthened by the belief
that helping others and saving lives is supported by society. This combination of personal and societal
acceptance increases the likelihood of the person enacting the behavior.
Ajzen (1991) went on to expand this idea into the theory of planned behavior, which adds an individuals
perceived control over performing a specific behavior. For example, external factors such as a heavy
workload or the inability to control terrorists behaviors might be viewed as barriers in preparing a
family disaster plan. Statistical modeling finds that perception of control helps predict both behavioral
intention and behavior. Thus, risk communicators who can help publics feel more in control of their own
behaviors can potentially improve the publics likelihood to prepare for risks.
The Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) Model. The RISP model combines elements of the
theory of planned behavior and the heuristic-systematic model to identify differences between an
individuals perceived current knowledge and the knowledge needed to mitigate risk appropriately
(Griffin, Dunwoody, & Neuwirth, 1999). Within this model, the focus is on information sufficiency: how
much information a person has about an issue versus how much information they think they need to
make an effective decision. This gap is also influenced by the perceived hazard characteristics (including
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
15
familiarity of the threat and level of dread it invokes) and characteristics of the individual facing the risk,
including relevant hazard experience.
Information sufficiency will impact how individuals seek and process risk information; the publics
beliefs about specific media channels and how much information they can gather before feeling
overwhelmed also come into play (Griffin et al., 1999). When individuals are confident in their knowledge
about a risk but there is less easily accessible knowledge about the risk, they are more likely to put
additional effort into information seeking and processing (Griffin et al., 1999). In enhancing
understanding of what knowledge and information are necessary for a public to have to mitigate risks,
RISP provides clear insight into how information sufficiency affects risk message acceptance and
processing.
In sum, theories and models of communication applicable to the preparedness phase recommend: (1)
incorporating community members into planning, (2) identifying in advance multiple channels to
disseminate risk messages during a crisis, and (3) understanding how publics perceive risks prior to
disseminating messages. The next section reviews theories and models that help understand effective
risk communication during the response phase.
Image Restoration and Repair. Organizational responses to crises often begin with a focus on how they
can restore and repair their tarnished images (Benoit, 1997). Options for strategically restoring and
repairing images range from denial (when the organization is not to blame for the crisis) to blame
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
16
shifting (when someone else is responsible for the crisis) to correcting the issue that caused the crisis and
apologizing (when the organization is to blame for the crisis). All crisis messages and responses should
be targeted and tailored directly to the salient audience(s), and if necessary, unique messages should be
sent to distinct segments of that audience. For more on relevant audience characteristics relevant for risk
communication see the Best Practices document.
One organizational crisis response strategy in particular, the apology, has received great attention
because it can be viewed as scripted rather than as an honest response (Hearit & Roberson, 2010, p. 552).
Thus, using an apology simply to remove the organization from an unflattering glare of media attention
shows a lack of understanding of image restoration and repair. An apology should be utilized when guilt
is easily established, the costs of the wrongdoing are clearly known, and continuing to speak about the
issue is a logical, strategic step forward, not backward, such as the apologies offered by the White House
in February 2012 after the burning of Qurans at an Air Force base in Afghanistan. If all of the facts
surrounding the issue are not yet clear or known, or if the act of apologizing would put an organization
out of business, an apology may be a misstep (Hearit & Roberson, 2010).
When a risk communicator is responding to criticism, highlighting positive actions taken in response to
the crisis can reduce the offensiveness of the event even without an apology (Liu, 2007). This is often
most effective when paired with an action that corrects the problem that caused the crisis or a discussion
of what the organization will do to ensure an issue never occurs again (Benoit, 1997). Risk
communicators and spokespeople should consider both public expectations of organizational crisis
responsibility and the organizations ability to prevent future occurrences of the same crisis when
crafting response strategies (Liu, 2007). Often, when publics have high rates of negative emotion toward
the responsible organization, this can significantly decrease the effectiveness of taking corrective action
(Muralidharan, Dillistone, & Shin, 2011).
Image repair and restoration is most frequently studied through qualitative case studies, with analysis of
strategies utilized by a spokesperson or organization and discussion of best (and worst) practices and
their impacts. These strategies can be helpful when discussed and analyzed prior to risks or crises, when
communicators can determine which strategies may be effective or influential based on case studies of
similar organizations, communities, and risks that they face.
Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). Beyond image repair, the situational crisis
communication theory (SCCT) supports organizational efforts to select the most effective crisis response
strategies based on publics crisis perceptions and the goals of the organization. Goals can involve
changing perceptions of the organization or of the crisis, and should include an understanding of the
crisis type, the organizations crisis history, and its reputation prior to the crisis event, where a favorable
prior reputation is often seen as an asset in a crisis (Ulmer, 2001). Coombs (2012) noted that crisis
management should be a proactive function of an organization; institutions and organizations should be
in a continual process of learning from previous crises to be better prepared for or to prevent future
crises entirely, and this includes having a current and vetted crisis communication plan. Once this
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
17
process is understood, organizations and individuals faced with a crisis should consider using at least one
of SCCTs response strategies.
These strategies are grouped into four groups, or what SCCT refers to as postures: denial, during which
the organization attempts to distance itself from the crisis (strategies include attacking the accuser and
scapegoating), diminishment, which aims to reduce the impact of control attributions or negative effects
(strategies include excusing the organizations behavior or responsibility and justification or reduction of
the perceived damage), rebuilding, which attempts to improve the organizations reputation (strategies
include compensation toward victims and apology or acknowledgement of responsibility), and bolstering,
which supplements the other three by aiming to improve the connection between the organization and
stakeholders (strategies include reminding stakeholders of prior good works, ingratiation through
praising stakeholders, and victimizing the organization as well) (Coombs, 2012). Coombs (2012) sees
SCCT as identifying the most common strategies and encourages an organization to choose wisely when
attempting to repair reputational damage. SCCT has mainly been tested with college students (Coombs,
2004; Coombs, 2006; Coombs & Holladay, 2002), with some attempts at reaching adult community
members (Coombs, 2004), often through the use of constructed crisis scenarios and surveys aimed at
evaluation of participants perceptions of organizations and strategies utilized.
In sum, the crisis response phase can be guided by two theories that focus on organizational response
strategies: image restoration and repair theory and SCCT. However, more theory development is needed
to provide conceptually-strong guidance on how to encourage public safety in the midst of a crisis,
though best practices independent of theories have been identified as featured in the Best Practices
document.
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
18
19
behavioral responses by publics. While the model can be applied to all phases of an event, it has
particular value during the recovery stage by providing a systemic process for understanding the level of
awareness and desired behaviors sought in the weeks and months after an event. In the first stage, an
individual may be completely unaware of a hazard. The person may subsequently become aware of the
issue but remain unengaged by it (Stage 2). Next, the person faces a decision about acting (Stage 3); may
decide not to act (Stage 4), or may decide to act (Stage 5). The stages of action (Stage 6) and maintaining
the desired behaviors such as using a previously attacked transportation system); (Stage 7) follow
(National Cancer Institute, 2003). Appendix F, in the Appendices document, outlines the stages of the
model. The model, however, has not been subjected to empirical testing and is conceptual in
development. Thus, recommendations from the model may be updated as they are tested.
Social amplification of risk framework (SARF). This model posits that the public may overestimate risks if
institutions fail to take the social context of risks into account when making decisions and conveying
information to the public (Rogers, Amlot, Rubin, Wessely, & Krieger, 2007). The social context
encompasses factors that may amplify or attenuate the risk, the secondary effects they may cause, and
their consequences. There are four stages in SARF that emergency responders can use to better
understand and anticipate the possible secondary effects of an event:
1) The risk event: The characteristics of an event itself.
2) Risk amplification or reduction: How factors such as personal experiences, opinion leaders
actions, traditional and social media coverage, social group membership and behaviours, and
pre-existing trust in institutions can increase or reduce perceived risk.
3) Ripple effects: How the public may change their behaviours in response to the risk such as
altering travel routines, where they decide to work and live, and purchasing habits in order to
reduce or avoid exposure to a perceived risk. Second and third order ripple effects may also
occur beyond directly affected.
4) Impacts: The consequences of the perceived risk and behaviour changes such as financial
losses, loss of confidence in government institutions, litigation, and casualties.
The ripple effects and impacts may resonate for months or years after the original risk event as occurred
after the September 11th attacks and Hurricane Katrina. SARF helps to contextualize the identification of
factors that may amplify or attenuate risks; the spread of risks from one party, location, or generation, to
another; and risk impacts. In turn this can inform risk communication development through better
anticipating what adverse behaviors to discourage and desired behaviors to encourage during the
recovery phase. For example, it may be important to discourage residents from a hard-hit hurricane area
from permanently relocating elsewhere, thereby jeopardizing the vitality and long-term health of the
original community.
SARF studies have focused on analysis of media and risk reporting (Freudenburg, Coleman, Gonzales, &
Helgeland,1996), how public and private organizations can increase or decrease perceived risk
(Kasperson, 1992; Poortinga & Pidgeon, 2003), institutional trust (Slovic, 1993, 2000), and nuclear
power and stigma (Flynn, Slovic, & Kunreuther, 2001). Each of these studies employed experiments or
field surveys to draw their conclusions. SARF studies show that perceived risks can be increased or
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
20
reduced depending on how emergency managers and public health authorities manage and communicate
about events and that these actions can also contribute to secondary effects such as changes in peoples
daily routines and permanent population movements. However, there needs to be more empirical
research to examine what factors collectively increase or decrease perceived risks, how communication
messages can influence outcomes across an array of different publics, and the complex interactions and
feedback loops that occur across society, such as among publics, the media, and government institutions.
Systems dynamic model. A prominent area of research related to SARF involves the use of systems
dynamic modeling to quantify and model how perceived risk of events can increase or decrease, and
what messages can be used to encourage desired behaviors in the weeks, months and years following an
event. Although at its early stage of development, systems dynamic modeling could aid communicators
during the recovery phase by evaluating and testing how the public may respond and what messages may
be needed. Systems dynamic modelling examines how communication can increase or reduce the
secondary effects from events, and how this interacts with other social institutions. The model displays
the key interactions and feedback loops that influence public perceptions and behavioral responses to
risks that emanate from manmade and natural disasters (Burns, 2011). Central to this approach are three
interacting feedback loops that portray how the community may engage to reduce short-term and midterm risk (protecting the community), how public response may amplify risk during a crisis (public
response), and how mid-term and long-term societal impacts may be eventually mitigated.
Initial research included a study by Burns and Slovic (2007) that modelled the consequences of a
terrorist attack in an urban center. The study examined three scenarios: an anthrax attack, an IED attack,
and a propane tank explosion. The research showed that delays in community interventions (for
example, effective risk communication) can lead to higher and more prolonged levels of fear, impeding
recovery. The findings suggest the importance of employing effective risk communication as a tool to
mitigate adverse secondary effects that may undermine recovery efforts through reduced public trust in
the communicators and their institutions.
In sum, theories and models relevant to risk communication in the recovery phase highlight the
importance of understanding factors that affect how publics recover from risks including the context of
these risks and their secondary effects.
Taken as a whole, the theories and models reviewed in this document provide insights into the
complicated process of developing and disseminating risk messages before, during, and after crises.
Additional insights independent of theory and models are detailed in the Best Practices document. Read
together, these two documents provide a comprehensive understanding of current art and science of
communicating risk to publics.
Understanding Risk Communication Theory: A Guide for Emergency Managers and Communicators
21
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