RAPID: Information Sufficiency, Source Preferences, and Mitigation Behaviors Surrounding Hurricane Ian

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

Natural disasters, such as the devastating Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida, present a unique opportunity to examine risk information seeking behavior. When faced with a high-risk weather event, individuals are likely to be motivated to seek information in order to alleviate anxiety and gather information about how to protect themselves. While these tendencies are well documented, less is known about the extent to which media dependency translates into desired behavior, and whether specific source dependencies are contingent on information sufficiency. Recent studies in other emergency contexts have suggested that these dependencies may cluster around information depth, but this has not yet been linked empirically to sufficiency thresholds. The extent to which engagement with risk news content motivates mitigation and evacuation efforts surrounding a natural disaster has also not been directly examined. The findings contribute to our knowledge base by filling a significant gap in the social science literature on emergency response by evaluating the links between self-perception, processing styles, source preferences, and protective actions. The study consists of an online survey distributed to 1,000 residents of southwest Florida impacted by Hurricane Ian. Participants are identified by zip code and drawn from counties in Florida that were directly impacted by the storm. Participants are asked about the relative importance of varying news outlets, sources of first alerts, time spent seeking information, risk perception (including magnitude and probability), mitigation and evacuation behaviors, and information sufficiency thresholds. The aim is to extend previous research by investigating the extent to which risk perception and information sufficiency are tied to specific source preferences, and the degree to which these dependencies are subsequently associated with mitigation and evacuation. By examining preferences for specific news outlets, along with the role of information sufficiency thresholds in information consumption and response, these organizations may be able to develop best practices for message placement and content. The data may also provide valuable guidance to emergency managers and crisis responders in terms of identifying audiences that are less inclined to internalize risk and/or take protective actions, and appeal to those audiences directly. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.