Technical Papers
Aug 2, 2021

Factors Influencing Individual Disaster Preparedness Information Seeking Behavior: Analysis of US Households

Publication: Natural Hazards Review
Volume 22, Issue 4

Abstract

Although various scholars have investigated the different types of media that are used by the public to access disaster preparedness information, few studies have sought to understand what factors influence individuals to engage in specific types of disaster preparedness information-seeking behavior. Using a national sample of Americans, this study observed factors that influence the odds of an individual attending a meeting on disaster preparedness, speaking to others about preparedness, and individually seeking information about disaster preparedness in other ways. Based on a series of analyses, it is observed that an individual’s past experience with disasters influences several of these information-seeking behaviors. Moreover, individual characteristics such as gender, education level, income, and race/ethnicity are also observed to have varying effects. Subsequent to the analysis, recommendations for future research are provided to better understand disaster preparedness-seeking behavior, in addition to what disaster management organizations might consider in relation to these findings.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Data Availability Statement

All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

References

Abdi, H., and D. Valentin. 2007. “Multiple correspondence analysis.” Encycl. Meas. Stat. 2 (4): 651–657.
Ajzen, I. 1991. “The theory of planned behavior.” Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 50 (2): 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T.
Beckjord, E. B., S. Stern, L. S. Meredith, L. R. Shugarman, A. Chandra, T. Tanielian, S. L. Taylor, and A. M. Parker. 2008. Enhancing emergency preparedness, response and recovery management for vulnerable populations. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
Bourque, L. 2015. “Demographic characteristics, sources of information, and preparedness for earthquakes in California.” Earthquake Spectra 31 (4): 1909–1930. https://doi.org/10.1193/013014EQS024M.
Brant, R. 1990. “Assessing proportionality in the proportional odds model for ordinal logistic regression.” Biometrics 46 (4): 1171–1178. https://doi.org/10.2307/2532457.
Brenkert-Smith, H., K. L. Dickinson, P. A. Champ, and N. Flores. 2013. “Social amplification of wildfire risk: The role of social interactions and information resources.” Risk Anal. 33 (5): 800–817. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01917.x.
Burnside, R., D. S. Miller, and J. D. Rivera. 2007. “The impact of information and risk perception on the hurricane evacuation decision-making of greater New Orleans residents.” Sociol. Spectrum 27 (6): 727–740. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170701534226.
Camminatiello, I., and A. Lucadamo. 2008. “Estimating multinomial logit model with multicollinear data.” In MTISD 2008. Methods, models and information technologies for decision support systems, 51–54. Lecce, Italy: Università del Salento.
Chaffee, S. H. 1986. “Mass media and interpersonal channels: Competitive, convergent, or complementary?” In InterMedia. 3rd ed., edited by G. Cumpert and R. Cathcart, 62–80. New York: Oxford University Press.
Chen, J., D. Wilkinson, R. B. Richardson, and F. Waruszynski. 2009. “Issues, considerations and recommendations on emergency preparedness for vulnerable population groups.” Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 134 (3–4): 132–135. https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncp083.
Chess, C. 2001. “Organizational theory and the stages of risk communication.” Risk Anal. 21 (1): 179–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/0272-4332.211100.
Costello, A. B., and J. Osborne. 2005. “Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis.” Pract. Assess. Res. Eval. 10: 7. https://doi.org/10.7275/jyj1-4868.
Drabek, T. E., and K. Boggs. 1968. “Families in disaster: Reactions and relatives.” J. Marriage Family 30 (3): 443–451. https://doi.org/10.2307/349914.
Dunteman, G. H. 1989. Principal components analysis. London: SAGE.
Dunwoody, S., and R. B. Griffin. 2015. “Risk information seeking and processing model.” In SAGE handbook of risk communication, edited by H. Cho, T. Reimer, and K. A. McComas, 102–116. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
FEMA. 2019. “2018 National household survey data set.” Accessed January 2, 2020. https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/182373.
Fischer, H. W., G. F. Stine, B. L. Stoker, M. L. Trowbridge, and E. M. Drain. 1995. “Evacuation behavior: Why do some people evacuate, while others do not? A case study of Ephrata, Pennsylvania (USA), evacuation.” Disaster Prev. Manage. 4 (4): 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653569510093414.
Griffin, R. J., S. Dunwoody, and K. Neuwirth. 1999. “Proposed model of the relationship of risk information seeking and processing to the development of preventive behaviors.” Environ. Res. 80 (2): S230–S245. https://doi.org/10.1006/enrs.1998.3940.
Griffin, R. J., K. Neuwirth, S. Dunwoody, and J. Giese. 2004. “Information sufficiency and risk communication.” Media Psychology 6 (1): 23–61. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532785xmep0601_2.
Griffin, R. J., Z. Yang, E. ter Huurne, F. Boerner, S. Ortiz, and S. Dunwoody. 2008. “After the flood—Anger, attribution and the seeking of information.” Sci. Commun. 29 (3): 285–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547007312309.
Heath, J., C. Nulssen, P. Dunlop, P. Clarke, P. Bürgelt, and D. Morrison. 2011. The February 2011 fires in Roleystone, Kelmscott and Red Hill. Perth, Australia: School of Psychology, Univ. of Western Australia.
Hotelling, H. 1933. “Analysis of a complex of statistical variables into principal components.” J. Educ. Psychol. 24 (6): 417.
Houston, J. B., J. Hawthorne, M. F. Perreault, E. H. Park, M. G. Hode, M. R. Halliwell, and S. A. Griffin. 2015. “Social media and disasters: A Functional framework for social media use in disaster planning, response and research.” Disasters 39 (1): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12092.
Huh, S., and Y. Kim. 2015. “A comparative study on the application of risp in the context of risk types-focusing on typhoon and hydrofluoric acid spill risks.” Korean J. Commun. Inf. 70: 246–276.
James, X., A. Hawkins, and R. Rowel. 2007. “An assessment of the cultural appropriateness of emergency preparedness communication for low income minorities.” J. Homeland Secur. Emergency Manage. 4 (3): 13. https://doi.org/10.2202/1547-7355.1266.
Kahlor, L. 2010. “PRISM: A planned risk information seeking model.” Health Commun. 25 (4): 345–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410231003775172.
Kellens, W., R. Zaalberg, and P. De Maeyer. 2012. “The informed society: An analysis of the public’s information seeking behavior regarding coastal flood risks.” Risk Anal. 32 (8): 1369–1381. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2011.01743.x.
Kemalbay, G., and O. B. Korkmazoğlu. 2014. “Categorical principal component logistic regression: A case study for housing loan approval.” Procedia: Social Behav. Sci. 109 (Jan): 730–736.
Kennedy, C. 2007. “Evaluating the effects of screening for telephone service in dual frame RDD surveys.” Public Opin. Q. 71 (5): 750–771. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfm050.
Kievik, M., and J. Gutteling. 2011. “Yes, we can: Motivate Dutch citizens to engage in self-protective behavior with regard to flood risks.” Nat. Hazards 59 (3): 1475–1490. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-9845-1.
Lachlan, K., P. Spence, and L. Nelson. 2008. Age, gender, and information seeking. San Diego: National Communication Association.
Maddala, G. S. 1977. Econometrics. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Maduz, L., T. Prior, F. Roth, and M. Käser. 2019. Individual disaster preparedness: Explaining disaster-related information seeking and preparedness behavior in Switzerland. Zurich, Switzerland: Center for Security Studies.
McCaffrey, S. M. 2004. “Fighting fire with education: What is the best way to reach out to homeowners?” J. Forestry 102 (5): 12–19.
McCaffrey, S. M., A. L. K. Velez, and J. A. Briefel. 2013. “Differences in information needs for wildfire evacuees and non-evacuees.” Int. J. Mass Emergencies Disasters 31 (1): 4–24.
Mileti, D. S., and E. M. Beck. 1975. “Communication in crisis: Explaining evacuation symbolically.” Commun. Res. 2 (1): 24–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365027500200102.
Mileti, D. S., and J. D. Darlington. 1997. “The role of searching in shaping reactions to earthquake risk information.” Social Probl. 44 (1): 89–103. https://doi.org/10.2307/3096875.
Mileti, D. S., and C. Fitzpatrick. 1993. The great earthquake experiment: Risk communication and public action. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Moore, H. E. 1964. …And the winds blew. Austin, TX: Univ. of Texas.
Neil, R. B. 1989. “Community attitudes to natural hazard insurance: What are the salient issues?” In Natural hazards and reinsurance, edited by J. Oliver and N. R. Britton, 107–121. Sydney: Lilyfield.
Paton, D., L. Smith, and D. Johnson. 2005. “When good intentions turn bad: Promotion natural disaster preparedness.” Aust. J. Emergency Manage. 20 (1): 25–30.
Pearson, K. 1901. “On lines and planes of closest fit to systems of points in space.” London, Edinburgh, Dublin Philos. Mag. J. Sci. 2 (11): 559–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786440109462720.
Perry, R. W., and M. K. Lindell. 2008. “Volcanic risk perception and adjustment in a multi-hazard environment.” J. Vulcanology Geothermal Res. 172 (3–4): 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2007.12.006.
Petersen, T. 1985. “A comment on presenting results from logit and probit models.” Am. Sociological Rev. 50 (1): 130–131. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095348.
Radecki, J. M., and C. Jaccard. 1995. “Perceptions of knowledge, actual knowledge and information search behavior.” J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 31 (2): 107–138. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1995.1006.
Rivera, J. D. 2020. “The likelihood of having a household emergency plan: Understanding factors in the U.S. context.” Nat. Hazards 104 (2): 1331–1343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04217-z.
Rogers, G. O. 1985. Human components of emergency warning. Pittsburgh, PA: Center for Social and Urban Research, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
Schwab, A., D. Sandler, and D. J. Brower. 2017. Hazard mitigation and preparedness: An introductory text for emergency management and planning professionals. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Shi, J., X. Hu, X. Guo, and C. Lian. 2020. “Risk information seeking behavior in disaster resettlement: A case study of Ankang City, China.” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17 (19): 7352–7371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197352.
Slovic, P., M. L. Finucane, E. Peters, and D. G. MacGregor. 2004. “Risk analysis and risk as feelings: Some thoughts about affect, reason, risk, and rationality.” Risk Anal. 24 (2): 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0272-4332.2004.00433.x.
Spence, P. R., K. Lachlan, J. M. Burke, and M. W. Seeger. 2007. “Media use and information needs of the disabled during a natural disaster.” J. Health Care Poor Underserved 18 (2): 394–404. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2007.0047.
Steelman, T. A., S. M. McCaffrey, A. L. K. Velez, and J. A. Briefel. 2015. “What information do people use, trust, and find useful during a disaster? Evidence from five large wildfires.” Nat. Hazards 76 (1): 615–634. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1512-x.
Tabachnick, B. G., and L. S. Fidell. 2007. Using multivariate statistics. New York: Pearson/Ally & Bacon.
Teo, M., A. Goonetilleke, A. Ahankoob, K. Deilami, and M. Lawie. 2018. “Disaster awareness and information seeking behavior among residents from low socio-economic backgrounds.” Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 31 (Oct): 1121–1131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.09.008.
ter Huurne, E., R. J. Griffin, and J. M. Gutteling. 2009. “Risk information seeking among U.S. and Dutch residents: An application of the model of risk information seeking and processing.” Sci. Commun. 31 (2): 215–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547009332653.
ter Huurne, E., and J. M. Gutteling. 2008. “Information needs and risk perception as predictors of risk information seeking.” J. Risk Res. 11 (7): 847–862. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669870701875750.
Tierney, K. J. 1993. Socio-economic aspects of hazard mitigation. Newark, DE: Disaster Research Center.
Velez, A. K., J. M. Diaz, and T. U. Wall. 2017. “Public information seeking, place-based risk messaging and wildfire preparedness in southern California.” Int. J. Wildland Fire 26 (6): 469–477. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF16219.
Vieweg, S., A. L. Hughes, K. Starbird, and L. Palen. 2010. “Microblogging during two natural hazards events: What Twitter may contribute to situational awareness.” Accessed December 23, 2020. http://www.pensivepuffin.com/dwmcphd/syllabi/insc547_wi13/papers/microblog/vieweg.et.al.TwitterAwareness.CHI10.pdf.
Warner, R. M. 2008. Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Wenger, D. E., and J. M. Weller. 1973. Disaster subcultures: The cultural residues of community disasters. Newark, DE: Disaster Research Center.
West, D. M., and M. Orr. 2007. “Race, gender and communications in natural disasters.” Policy Stud. J. 35 (4): 569–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2007.00237.x.
Wolling, J. 2016. “Environmental crises and the public: Media audiences in the context of environmental and natural threats and disasters.” In The handbook of international crisis communication research, edited by A. Schwarz, M. W. Seeger, and C. Auer, 236–247. Malden, MA: Wiley.
Wood, M. M., D. S. Mileti, M. Kano, M. M. Kelley, R. Regan, and L. B. Bourque. 2012. “Communicating actionable risk for terrorism and other hazards.” Risk Anal. 32 (4): 601–615. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2011.01645.x.
Yang, J. Z., and J. Zhuang. 2020. “Information seeking and information sharing related to hurricane Harvey.” Journalism Mass Commun. Q. 97 (4): 1054–1079. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699019887675.
Yang, Z. J., A. M. Aloe, and T. H. Feeley. 2014. “Risk information seeking and processing model: A meta-analysis.” J. Commun. 64 (1): 20–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12071.
Yeo, J., C. C. Knox, and Q. Hu. 2020. “Disaster recovery communication in the digital era: Social media and the 2016 southern Louisiana flood.” Risk Anal. 519–535. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13652.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Natural Hazards Review
Natural Hazards Review
Volume 22Issue 4November 2021

History

Received: Jan 18, 2021
Accepted: Jun 1, 2021
Published online: Aug 2, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 2, 2022

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Jason D. Rivera, Ph.D. [email protected]
Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Public Administration Tack of the MPA Program and the Certificate in Disaster & Emergency Management Program, SUNY Buffalo State, Dept. of Political Science and Public Administration, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY 14222. Email: [email protected]

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

  • Drivers of Household Preparedness for Natural Hazards: The Mediating Role of Perceived Coping Efficacy, Natural Hazards Review, 10.1061/NHREFO.NHENG-1620, 24, 2, (2023).
  • Relationship between Teachers’ Awareness of Disaster Prevention and Concerns about Disaster Preparedness, Sustainability, 10.3390/su14138211, 14, 13, (8211), (2022).
  • Perceived Disaster Preparedness between Asian Americans and Other Races: Mediating Roles of Information Seeking and Self-Efficacy, The British Journal of Social Work, 10.1093/bjsw/bcac166, (2022).

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share