Cognitive and Affective Processing of Risk Information: A Survey Experiment on Risk-Based Decision-Making Related to Crime and Public Safety

Abstract

The current study, using a multi-factorial survey experiment with a sample of the general public ( N = 800), investigates if and how types of risk information on crime and public safety, such as maps, graphs, or tables, commonly used and communicated by law enforcement elicit dual-process (affective and cognitive) risk information processing in risk-based decision-making, and if such processing or decision-making differs depending on the risk level, context, or the type or format of risk information communicated. Participants responded to a vignette in which they were asked to choose a ride-share pick-up point within a certain geographic area with varying risk levels of being involved in a pedestrian-automobile crash. Results showed that risk information related to crime and public safety elicits dual-process risk information processing, and that both affective and cognitive processing significantly predicted risk-based decision-making, regardless of the risk level or type of risk information examined. Interestingly, risk information was used to create an almost “black and white” distinction for participants, in which their lowest-risk choice was treated as their comparison point, relative to all other higher levels of risk, in risk processing and decision-making. Further, the risk level or type of risk information examined did affect the nature and level of affective and cognitive processing elicited, suggesting that different types or characteristics of risk information can change modes of processing and their effects on risk-based decisions. Our findings provide first-of-its-kind data that show members of the general public, as consumers of risk information in relation to crime and public safety, process and make decisions surrounding such information using the dual-process approach. Implications for communicating risk information in relation to crime and public safety to both the general public and police, as well as how to extend the current inquiry to future areas of research on police, are discussed.

Data-Informed and Place-Based Violent Crime Prevention: The Kansas City, Missouri Risk-Based Policing Initiative

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Public Control and Crime Prevention: Interaction at the State and Regional Levels

“…According to Spiller and L"Hoiry (2019), online platforms allow the public to support police tasks and work outside the police and beyond. According to Berryessa and Caplan (2020), community policing is an effective crime prevention strategy; it actively helps to organise the community to cooperate with the police in this area and plays a vital role in the implementation of community participation in crime awareness campaigns organised by the police (Zikhali, 2019). The researcher claims that the general public, as consumers of information about crime and public safety risks, processes and makes decisions about it.…”

How to craft humorous advertisements across diverse cultures? Multi‐country insights from Brazilian, Chinese and American consumers

“…Although researchers have independently studied and demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive and affective humour on persuasion (Gelb & Zinkhan, 1986;Johnson & Mistry, 2013, Lammers et al, 1983Unger, 1995), humour research that investigates both cognition and affect simultaneously is called for (Crawford & Gregory, 2015;Vakratsas & Ambler, 1999). Given that consumer behaviour is dynamic and that each decision involves both cognitive and affective processes (Berryessa & Caplan, 2020;Maheswaran & Shavitt, 2000;Punyatoya, 2019;Verhagen & Bloemers, 2018), investigating both aspects is essential to enhance understanding of the effects of ads and improve predictions about consumer responses to humorous ads (Eisend, 2011;Lammers et al, 1983;Vande Velde et al, 2018).…”