Increasing Preparedness for Wildfires by Informing Residents of Their Community’s Social Norms (original) (raw)
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Risk Analysis, 2022
Preparing for natural disasters and adapting to climate change can save lives. Yet, minimal research has examined how governments can motivate community members to prepare for disasters (e.g., purchasing flood insurance or installing water barriers in homes for floods and hurricanes). Instead, studies have focused on how to communicate actions individuals should take during disasters, rather than before disasters. This study develops messages targeting social norms, which are promising approaches to motivate community members to adopt disaster risk preparedness and mitigation behaviors. Specifically, we developed a variety of messages integrating descriptive norms (i.e., what others do), injunctive norms (i.e., what others believe should be done), and a social norms-based fear appeal, or social disapproval rationale (i.e., a negative social result of [not] taking behaviors). Then, we tested these messages through two between-subject factorial online experiments in flood- and hurricane-prone U.S. states with adult samples (N = 2,286). In experiment 1 (i.e., purchasing flood insurance), the injunctive norms message using weather forecasters and the social disapproval rationale message significantly increased social norms perceptions, which in turn influenced behavioral intentions. In experiment 2 (i.e., installing water barriers), the injunctive norms message using weather forecasters, the injunctive norms message using neighbors, and the social disapproval rationale message significantly increased social norms perceptions, which in turn influenced mitigation intentions. However, the descriptive social norms message was not effective in increasing social norms perceptions. We provide some of the first empirical evidence on how organizations’ risk communication can empower community members to prepare and mitigate the impact of disasters.
Climate Risk Management, 2021
The health impacts of wildfire smoke are an important and growing global issue, as extreme wildfire events are expected to increase in frequency and intensity throughout this century due to climate change. Research into individual protective health decision-making can elucidate how wildfire smoke exposure contributes to adverse health outcomes and aid in public health interventions to mitigate risks. In this study we investigate the role of psychological factors (threat and efficacy perceptions) and social processes (social norms and social support) in shaping protective behavior in response to wildfire smoke. Through semi-structured interviews of forty-five individuals in Northern California, we explore perceptions of threat and efficacy, social processes, and protective behaviors in response to wildfire smoke events between 2018 and 2020. We found that for many participants sensory experiences and engagement with wildfire smoke information were instrumental in forming perceptions of threat and efficacy. Three themes related to social processes emerged: interpreting information together, protecting vulnerable others, and questioning protective actions. Through these themes we show how social norms and social support interact in complex, non-linear ways to influence threat and efficacy perceptions, and directly affect protective health behavior. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework of wildfire smoke protective behavior. This study contributes to a growing body of knowledge within the disaster risk and protective health literatures related to wildfire smoke response. Our findings demonstrate how the study of psychological factors and social processes during natural hazards, like wildfire smoke events, is essential to understanding individual protective health decision-making pathways and ultimately, to developing a more comprehensive view of how individual actions affect exposure.
Catching Fire? Social Interactions, Beliefs, and Wildfire Risk Mitigation Behaviors
Social interactions are widely recognized as a potential influence on risk-related behaviors. We present a mediation model in which social interactions (classified as formal=informal and generic=fire-specific) are associated with beliefs about wildfire risk and mitigation options, which in turn shape wildfire mitigation behaviors. We test this model using survey data from fire-prone areas of Colorado. In several cases, our results are consistent with the mediation hypotheses for mitigation actions specifically targeting vegetative fuel reduction. Perceived wildfire probability partially mediates the relationship between several interaction types and vegetative mitigation behaviors, while perceptions of aesthetic barriers and lack of information play a mediating role in the case of fire-specific formal interactions. Our results suggest that social interactions may allow mitigation and prevention behaviors to ‘‘catch fire’’ within a community, and that wildfire education programs could leverage these interactions to enhance programmatic benefits.
Developing Behavioral and Evidence-Based Programs for Wildfire Risk Mitigation
Fire, 2020
The actions of residents in the wildland–urban interface can influence the private and social costs of wildfire. Wildfire programs that encourage residents to take action are often delivered without evidence of effects on behavior. Research from the field of behavioral science shows that simple, often low-cost changes to program design and delivery can influence socially desirable behaviors. In this research report, we highlight how behavioral science and experimental design may advance efforts to increase wildfire risk mitigation on private property. We offer an example in which we tested changes in outreach messaging on property owners’ interest in wildfire risk information. In partnership with a regional wildfire organization, we mailed 4564 letters directing property owners to visit personalized wildfire risk webpages. By tracking visitation, we observed that 590 letter recipients (12%) sought information about their wildfire risk and response varied by community. This research–...
Persuading the Public to Make Better Use of Natural Hazards Information
Prometheus (St. Lucia), 1995
Although natural hazards information is enthusiastically promulgated. research shows that the majority ofthe public adopt few ofthe 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 tofind it worthwhile to search for more information about what they and their neighbours andfriends can do for themselves to reduce the risks.
Social Amplification of Wildfire Risk: The Role of Social Interactions and Information Sources
Wildfire is a persistent and growing threat across much of the western United States. Understanding how people living in fire-prone areas perceive this threat is essential to the design of effective risk management policies. Drawing on the social amplification of risk framework, we develop a conceptual model of wildfire risk perceptions that incorporates the social processes that likely shape how individuals in fire-prone areas come to understand this risk, highlighting the role of information sources and social interactions. We classify information sources as expert or nonexpert, and group social interactions according to two dimensions: formal versus informal, and generic versus fire-specific. Using survey data from two Colorado counties, we empirically examine how information sources and social interactions relate to the perceived probability and perceived consequences of a wildfire. Our results suggest that social amplification processes play a role in shaping how individuals in this area perceive wildfire risk. A key finding is that both “vertical” (i.e., expert information sources and formal social interactions) and “horizontal” (i.e., nonexpert information and informal interactions) interactions are associated with perceived risk of experiencing a wildfire. We also find evidence of perceived “risk interdependency”—that is, homeowners’ perceptions of risk are higher when vegetation on neighboring properties is perceived to be dense. Incorporating social amplification processes into community-based wildfire education programs and evaluating these programs’ effectiveness constitutes an area for future inquiry.
Householder bushfire preparation : decision-making and the implications for risk communication
2010
In order to minimise the impact of bushfire hazard consequences on the Australian community it is important to promote protective behaviours among those members of society living in at-risk locations. The adoption of protective behaviours is a core component of contemporary bushfire risk management, and is known to increase the capacity of individuals to maintain or regain prior levels of functioning following significant hazard activity. However, although considerable effort has been directed towards encouraging preparedness for bushfires in Australia, this effort has largely been unrewarded, and levels of household preparation remain low. In particular, research examining a broad range of hazards has demonstrated that neither susceptibility to a hazard and perception of risk, nor providing information about a hazard or its consequences results in a significant increase in preparation. These discontinuities point to the influence of additional motivational and interpretive (social-...
Just Blowing Smoke? Residents’ Social Construction of Communication about Wildfire
Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture, 2009
This study uses social constructionism as a basis for understanding the effectiveness of communication about wildfire risk between agency officials and wildlandÁurban interface (WUI) residents. Risk communication literature demonstrates a welldocumented difference in the way land managers and stakeholders conceptualize risk. This is especially true of fire because management of these hazards have changed so drastically in past decades; fire managers have typically struggled to clearly articulate the current management policy to the public or integrate their specific knowledge in the risk management process. This study contributes to an understanding of how WUI residents construct communication about wildland fire and agency effectiveness in communicating the new era of fire inclusion. Specifically, we explore the personal and professional sources of information residents' use to understand their fire risk and the subjects they would like more information about. We also explore the continued viability of Smokey Bear, the most enduring symbol of fire management.
What Motivates Individuals to Protect Themselves from Risks: The Case of Wildland Fires
Risk Analysis, 2007
This research investigates the cognitive perceptual process that homeowners go through when faced with the decision to protect themselves from the risk of wildfires. This decision can be examined by looking at the interaction between the integrated protection motivation theorytranstheoretical model and different levels of homeowners' subjective knowledge related to wildfire risks. We investigated the role of motivation, decision stages of risk readiness, and subjective knowledge on the number of risk-mitigating actions undertaken by homeowners living in high-risk communities. The results indicate that homeowners who are in an early or precontemplative stage (both low and high subjective knowledge) as well as low knowledge contemplatives are motivated by their perceived degree of vulnerability to mitigate the risk. In contrast, high knowledge contemplatives' potential behavioral changes are more likely to be motivated by increasing their perceptions of the severity of the risk. Risk-mitigating behaviors undertaken by high knowledge action homeowners are influenced by their perceptions of risk severity, self-efficacy, and response efficacy. In contrast, the low knowledge action homeowners engage in risk reduction behaviors without the influence of any of the PMT variables; demonstrating their motivation to emulate others in their community. These results have implications for the type of information that should be used to effectively communicate risks in an effort to influence the diverse homeowner segments to engage in risk-reduction behaviors.
Effective Communication: communities and bushfire - Engagement and Education Guidelines
Bushfire is a natural feature of the Australian environment. There has been an ongoing concern about how to manage the risk of bushfires effectively. The idea of promoting resilient communities, which are able to recover from natural disasters, features prominently in contemporary emergency management thinking. Community-based bushfire education is a key strategy in the attempts to promote bushfire safety and should be seen as part of an all-hazards approach to risk. Evidence shows that the abundance of educational materials and programmes engages those already interested in bushfire mitigation measures. It appears that information or risk awareness does not convince people to adopt a more proactive response to bushfire safety. Bushfire education occurs within wider social, political and economic contexts. It is suggested that education strategies could be understood as an integrated (planned) or as a variegated (loose) approach. Education efforts should involve local people in their design and delivery, be localised to account for specific contexts and fire agencies should work towards a more collaborative model that promotes authentic community engagement. Further work is required to develop education materials that affirm people’s values, rather than challenge predisposed worldviews. Delivering community education and engagement strategies is challenging work requiring long-term resourcing and a commitment to understanding people and their communities.