Consumer response to public notification

Harding, Anna K.; Anadu, Edith C.

doi:10.1002/j.1551-8833.2000.tb08989.x

Cited by 23 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This article focuses on one aspect of a larger study that also investigated certain variables as predictors of response to public notification regarding drinking water contamination, as well as alternative measures people take in response to public notification. These findings are reported elsewhere 29 …”

Section: Study Examines Differences In Risk Perceptionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Risk Perception and Bottled Water Use

Anadu¹,

Harding²

2000

Journal AWWA

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110

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This paper discusses a study of four communities in Oregon that were divided into two control groups and surveyed according to water contamination problems and how their perceptions of risk affected their use of tap water versus bottled water. Results indicated that risk perception about drinking water appears to be affected by three factors: the consumer's level of awareness of a problem; the presence or absence of drinking water contamination problems; and, the chronicity of the problem. Findings suggest that water contamination problems contribute to increased levels of risk perception with those drinking tap water. Also, long‐term problems that are not easily solved by the water utility may heighten consumers' perception of risk. Higher levels of risk perception may be the driving force behind higher rates of bottled water use in some communities.

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Section: Study Examines Differences In Risk Perceptionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Risk Perception and Bottled Water Use

Anadu¹,

Harding²

2000

Journal AWWA

Self Cite

110

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show abstract

“…Phrasing the last action as a 'buy action' rather than a 'fetch action' ensures that the participants had to consider and rate a potentially costly and cumbersome action, just as they might have to in the beginning of a real water incident. In addition, studies of 'boil water' notices have revealed that bottled water is generally favoured over having to boil the water (Harding & Anadu 2000). A total of 124 people responded (19.7% response rate), but two participants were excluded because they answered 'no' to the question whether they were students.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The semantics and pragmatics of water notices and the impact on public health

Rundblad

2008

Journal of Water and Health

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In communicating health risks to the public, it is essential that the message delivered is not misunderstood, as this can lead to risk behaviour. There has been much interest in risk communication and trust, but here we take this further by a cognitive and linguistic analysis of the intended and understood meanings of core words in drinking-water incidents. Based on a questionnaire study of 107 undergraduate UK students using the example of a 'do not drink' notice, we found that, although the majority (87.9%) would buy and drink bottled water, as many as 44% would still drink the polluted tapwater. Males and females would generally behave similarly; however, significantly more men would drink water straight from the tap. All in all, 78% of the population -males in particular -could potentially be at risk. We trace the risk behaviour to a misinterpretation of the words drink and not. Public health protection is generally perceived as the choosing of what is safe behaviour and informing the public of appropriate actions in the event of a crisis: however, communicators need to also address the words used to make up risk messages and the prior beliefs that they invoke.

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“…( 31 ) In a California incident, only 20% of the population complied with a notification, ( 32 ) and a study of the behavior of consumers in four towns in Oregon found that 76% of the population boiled water or bought bottled water in response to public alerts. ( 33 )…”

Section: Example Application: a Virtual Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Agent‐Based Modeling to Simulate Contamination Events and Evaluate Threat Management Strategies in Water Distribution Systems

Zechman

2011

Risk Analysis

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In the event of contamination of a water distribution system, decisions must be made to mitigate the impact of the contamination and to protect public health. Making threat management decisions while a contaminant spreads through the network is a dynamic and interactive process. Response actions taken by the utility managers and water consumption choices made by the consumers will affect the hydraulics, and thus the spread of the contaminant plume, in the network. A modeling framework that allows the simulation of a contamination event under the effects of actions taken by utility managers and consumers will be a useful tool for the analysis of alternative threat mitigation and management strategies. This article presents a multiagent modeling framework that combines agent-based, mechanistic, and dynamic methods. Agents select actions based on a set of rules that represent an individual's autonomy, goal-based desires, and reaction to the environment and the actions of other agents. Consumer behaviors including ingestion, mobility, reduction of water demands, and word-of-mouth communication are simulated. Management strategies are evaluated, including opening hydrants to flush the contaminant and broadcasts. As actions taken by consumer agents and utility operators affect demands and flows in the system, the mechanistic model is updated. Management strategies are evaluated based on the exposure of the population to the contaminant. The framework is designed to consider the typical issues involved in water distribution threat management and provides valuable analysis of threat containment strategies for water distribution system contamination events.

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Consumer response to public notification

Cited by 23 publications

References 21 publications

Risk Perception and Bottled Water Use

Risk Perception and Bottled Water Use

The semantics and pragmatics of water notices and the impact on public health

Agent‐Based Modeling to Simulate Contamination Events and Evaluate Threat Management Strategies in Water Distribution Systems

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