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Article information:To cite this document: Anne M. Sanquini Sundar M. Thapaliya Michele M. Wood , (2016),"A communications intervention to motivate disaster risk reduction", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 25 Iss 3 pp. 345 -359 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to apply social theory to the creation of a mass-media communications intervention designed to encourage earthquake-resistant construction in Nepal. Design/methodology/approach -A three-step process was employed in this study: first, a narrative literature review was completed regarding the motivation of protective action. Second, key informant elicitation interviews with 15 community members at five public schools who supported making their buildings earthquake-resistant informed the script for a documentary film. Finally, the film was reviewed with stakeholders, plus 16 community members associated with a school in need of seismic work. Sociograms were used to determine relative closeness of the study participants to the film role models. Findings -Motivating factors identified in the literature synthesis were included in the film, which focussed on effective actions taken by role models, and avoided the use of fear-based appeals. Key informant interviews yielded role-modeling details for the film script, including triggers and obstacles faced by the community members, and outcomes of their actions. Sociogram outcomes guided film editing and increased relative screen time for those community members with whom the study participants felt greater closeness. A pretest-posttest cluster randomized trial (details reported elsewhere) showed greater gains in knowledge, perceived outcome effectiveness, and intended behaviors among intervention film viewers than control participants. Originality/value -This three-step process yielded the information required by a practitioner to develop a theory-based, culturally appropriate mass-media intervention designed to motivate reduction of disaster risk.

We created a film designed to accelerate the rate at which communities retrofit or rebuild their school buildings to be earthquake resistant, and tested its effectiveness using a pretest-posttest questionnaire. This theory-based intervention featured local Nepalis who had strengthened their school buildings, as role models to others. Sixteen schools in Kathmandu Valley in need of seismic work were matched into eight pairs. One school in each pair was randomly assigned to view either the intervention film or a placebo film on an unrelated topic. Compared to the control schools, community members who viewed the intervention film statistically significantly increased their pretest-posttest scores on the following factors: (1) earthquake-resistant construction knowledge, (2) belief in its feasibility, (3) intent to support a school strengthening project, and (4) willingness to recommend that others build earthquake-resistant homes.

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