Does Scary Matter?: Testing the Effectiveness of New National Weather Service Tornado Warning Messages

Perreault, Mildred F.; Houston, J. Brian; Wilkins, Lee

doi:10.1080/10510974.2014.956942

Cited by 61 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Research has shown that demographic factors such as age, education, and sex are predictors of risk information seeking in routine and non-routine situations, as well as of disaster preparedness (see, for example, O'Keefe, Ward, and Shepard, 2002;Spence, Lachlan, and Burke, 2008;Perreault, Houston, and Wilkins, 2014;Sommerfeldt, 2015;Kirschenbaum, Rapaport, and Canetti, 2017). Research has shown that demographic factors such as age, education, and sex are predictors of risk information seeking in routine and non-routine situations, as well as of disaster preparedness (see, for example, O'Keefe, Ward, and Shepard, 2002;Spence, Lachlan, and Burke, 2008;Perreault, Houston, and Wilkins, 2014;Sommerfeldt, 2015;Kirschenbaum, Rapaport, and Canetti, 2017).…”

Section: Demographic and Geographical Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital disparities and vulnerability: mobile phone use, information behaviour, and disaster preparedness in Southeast Asia

2018

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This paper proposes an ecological view to investigate how disparities in mobile technology use reflect vulnerabilities in communities vis-à-vis disaster preparedness. Data (n=1,603) were collected through a multi-country survey conducted equally in rural and urban areas of Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam, where mobile technology has become a dominant and ubiquitous communication and information medium. The findings show that smartphone users' routinised use of mobile technology and their risk perception are significantly associated with disaster preparedness behaviour indirectly through disaster-related information sharing. In addition to disaster-specific social support, smartphone users' disaster-related information repertoires are another strong influencing factor. In contrast, non-smartphone users are likely to rely solely on receipt of disaster-specific social support as the motivator of disaster preparedness. The results also reveal demographic and rural-urban differences in disaster information behaviour and preparedness. Given the increasing shift from basic mobile phone models to smartphones, the theoretical and policy-oriented implications of digital disparities and vulnerability are discussed.

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Section: Demographic and Geographical Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital disparities and vulnerability: mobile phone use, information behaviour, and disaster preparedness in Southeast Asia

2018

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“…study of IBWs found that increasing levels of impact had a stronger effect on evacuation (an inappropriate action) than on sheltering in‐place (the NWS recommendation). Perreault, Houston, and Wilkins found that IBWs were perceived to be less credible than conventional warnings but had no effect on expectations of taking protective action. Mason and Senkbeil developed a six‐category tornado watch scale (TWS) that provides guidance about the types of shelter that are adequate, questionable, or inadequate for that tornado category.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examination of demographic variables has found that having at least a high school diploma is positively related to responding to a warning message . Females are more likely than males to provide high p s judgments, avoid warning confirmation from environmental cues, and to shelter in safe locations, but there is conflicting evidence on their tendency to seek warning confirmation from social sources.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions and Expected Immediate Reactions to Severe Storm Displays

2017

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The National Weather Service has adopted warning polygons that more specifically indicate the risk area than its previous county-wide warnings. However, these polygons are not defined in terms of numerical strike probabilities (p ). To better understand people's interpretations of warning polygons, 167 participants were shown 23 hypothetical scenarios in one of three information conditions-polygon-only (Condition A), polygon + tornadic storm cell (Condition B), and polygon + tornadic storm cell + flanking nontornadic storm cells (Condition C). Participants judged each polygon's p and reported the likelihood of taking nine different response actions. The polygon-only condition replicated the results of previous studies; p was highest at the polygon's centroid and declined in all directions from there. The two conditions displaying storm cells differed from the polygon-only condition only in having p just as high at the polygon's edge nearest the storm cell as at its centroid. Overall, p values were positively correlated with expectations of continuing normal activities, seeking information from social sources, seeking shelter, and evacuating by car. These results indicate that participants make more appropriate p judgments when polygons are presented in their natural context of radar displays than when they are presented in isolation. However, the fact that p judgments had moderately positive correlations with both sheltering (a generally appropriate response) and evacuation (a generally inappropriate response) suggests that experiment participants experience the same ambivalence about these two protective actions as people threatened by actual tornadoes.

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“…Studies on gender differences in risk perception generally conclude that women perceive risks as greater than do men. A recent study specific to tornadoes in the central United States found women more likely to be risk averse and seek out information about impending or occurring dangerous weather . Women show greater concern than men about chemical exposure, health concerns, and environmental pollution .…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tornado Warning Perception and Response: Integrating the Roles of Visual Design, Demographics, and Hazard Experience

Schumann

Ash

Bowser³

2017

Risk Analysis

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Recent advancements in severe weather detection and warning dissemination technologies have reduced, but not eliminated, large-casualty tornado hazards in the United States. Research on warning cognition and behavioral response by the public has the potential to further reduce tornado-related deaths and injuries; however, less research has been conducted in this area compared to tornado research in the physical sciences. Extant research in this vein tends to bifurcate. One branch of studies derives from classic risk perception, which investigates cognitive, affective, and sociocultural factors in relation to concern and preparation for uncertain risks. Another branch focuses on psychological, social, and cultural factors implicated in warning response for rapid onset hazards, with attention paid to previous experience and message design. Few studies link risk perceptions with cognition and response as elicited by specific examples of warnings. The present study unites risk perception, cognition, and response approaches by testing the contributions of hypothesized warning response drivers in one set of path models. Warning response is approximated by perceived fear and intended protective action as reported by survey respondents when exposed to hypothetical tornado warning scenarios. This study considers the roles of hazard knowledge acquisition, information-seeking behaviors, previous experience, and sociodemographic factors while controlling for the effects of the visual warning graphic. Findings from the study indicate the primacy of a user's visual interpretation of a warning graphic in shaping tornado warning response. Results also suggest that information-seeking habits, previous tornado experience, and local disaster culture play strong influencing roles in warning response.

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Does Scary Matter?: Testing the Effectiveness of New National Weather Service Tornado Warning Messages

Cited by 61 publications

References 24 publications

Digital disparities and vulnerability: mobile phone use, information behaviour, and disaster preparedness in Southeast Asia

Digital disparities and vulnerability: mobile phone use, information behaviour, and disaster preparedness in Southeast Asia

Perceptions and Expected Immediate Reactions to Severe Storm Displays

Tornado Warning Perception and Response: Integrating the Roles of Visual Design, Demographics, and Hazard Experience

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