Evaluating a novel sign’s impact on whether park visitors enter a dangerous river

Abstract

BackgroundBetween 1972 and 2015, 56 visitors to the two national parks that border the Potomac River Gorge experienced fatal drowning. In 2016, the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP), and the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park (CHOH) partnered with a researcher to see if enhancement of their risk communication strategies could reduce behaviors that contribute to these deaths.MethodsAn experimental sign, which informed visitors that water entry was illegal and could result in a fine exceeding $200 was developed, and displayed on alternating weekend days from July 30 to September 11, 2016. Those signs were displayed at each park’s entrance, on restroom doors, at trailheads, and at both shorelines of the Potomac. At other times the experimental signs were covered, but a standard safety sign was always present. Cameras were used to record water entries.ResultsCameras captured 1441 images. Approximately 2% of the images in CHOH and 1% of the images in GWMP showed a visitor in the water. Our multivariate analysis revealed that air temperature, beach count, and sign condition were significantly associated with water entry. When our experimental sign was displayed, the odds of an image showing someone in the water was reduced by 63%.ConclusionsA sign alerting park visitors to the fact that water entry is illegal, and could potentially result in a considerable fine, was associated with significantly reduced risk-taking. While intuitive, this finding is a reminder to consider whether warnings that focus on non-health consequences might be more salient to at-risk populations.

DANGER! NO HIKING! Risky hiking decisions, framing of normative warning messages, and self-exempting beliefs

“…Several previous studies have examined warning sign attention and compliance, testing the effectiveness of different messages, although mostly in the context of natural resource protection (Ballantyne & Hughes, 2006;Bradford & McIntyre, 2007;Cialdini et al, 2006;Girasek, 2019;Hall et al, 2010;Hockett & Hall, 2007;Johnson & Swearingen, 1992;Marschall et al, 2017;Park et al, 2008;Reiner & Lawson, 2009;Schwartz, et al, 2018;Winter, 2006). A variety of theoretical perspectives are represented in these studies.…”

“…A final limitation of our study was that we only studied the effectiveness of different normative messages; therefore, we don't know if normative messages are more or less effective than other types of information, such as possible sanctions for rule breaking. For example, some studies have found that adding sanctions to messages about park regulations increased compliance (Girasek, 2019;Gramman et al, 1995;Johnson & Swearingen, 1992). However, focusing on normative messages is appropriate for this study because normative messages seem to be commonly used.…”

A Review of Interventions for Drowning Prevention Among Adults

“…Twenty-two studies were included in the review (Table 2). The majority (n = 16) [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] were from HICs; six [54][55][56][57][58][59] were from LMICs. Australia (n = 7) [38,39,43,46,48,52,53] and the US (n = 6) [40-42, 47, 49, 51] were the two most represented geographical locations, representing over half of included studies.…”

“…Studies using observational data noted the potential for observational bias or misclassification of data [39,40,42,61]. Girasek (2019) stated that the introduction of a camera may have influenced behaviour and enhanced the effectiveness of the intervention.…”

Better educational signage could reduce disturbance of resting dolphins

“…Given deviation of existing signage from best practice principles and that signs and education in general have had variable [ 27 , 32 ] but occasionally substantial positive effect on behavior of the target audience [ 27 , 30 ], we think more effective signage might be able to make a meaningful contribution to conservation of spinner dolphins in the Hawaiian Islands. More specifically, we believe such signs could reduce proscribed behavior [ 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 ], be more cost effective than enforcement of regulations [ 35 , 36 ], and dramatically reduce litigation costs by making it clear that those who violated the law had ample opportunity to learn about it.…”