Linking Risk Messages to Information Seeking and Processing

Abstract

Abstract:In an effort to better understand the ways in which risk messages can indirectly affect risk-related behaviors, this review explores the links between such messages and information seeking and processing. The narrative first offers a brief look at the literature that shores up salient concepts, then moves to a model of Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP), constructed by Griffin, Dunwoody, and Neuwirth (1999), which seeks to organize those factors into a coherent framework. The RISP model, thus, serves as a crossroads for selected concepts synthesized from Eagly and Chaiken's (1993) Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing, Ajzen's (1988) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and other bodies of research in communication and risk perception. Of particular interest is the extent to which the model can accommodate reactions to both personal risks and risks to persons and objects other than oneself. This last NOT THE PUBLISHED VERSION; this is the author's final, peer-reviewed manuscript. The published version may be accessed by following the link in the citation at the bottom of the page. 2 domain is particularly important to the development of policy in arenas such as public health and climate change. This review explores the theoretical underpinnings of the RISP model, then summarizes a decade of studies that have examined a subset of RISP variables most closely related to information seeking and processing: channel beliefs, perceived information gathering capacity, and two motivation variables, information sufficiency and informational subjective norms. Finally, the authors explore the research potential of both the model and of efforts to track the role of information in risk perceptions and behavior change.

Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model: A Meta-Analysis

“…These notions mainly reflect the findings from communication research that individuals' habitual information processing strategies are influenced by their perceived images of the media (Kosicki & McLeod, ). Informed by Chaffee's () cost–benefit analysis approach to explain information channel selection, Griffin et al () offered a more detailed account for this component, focusing on the perception whether a particular information channel contains information that is most relevant to individuals' processing task. This cost–benefit analysis also involves another component of the RISP model— perceived information gathering capacity ( PIGC ), which will be described in more detail next.…”

Willingness to click: Risk information seeking during imminent threats

“…When facing a risk, individuals assess its likelihood and severity, a process characterized as developing risk judgement (Griffin et al., ). According to Kahlor et al.…”

A United States-China Comparison of Risk Information–Seeking Intentions

“…To conduct a theory-based comparative analysis, we drew from the risk information seeking and processing model (RISP; Griffin, Dunwoody, & Neuwirth, 1999) and more recent iterations of the model (Griffin, Dunwoody, & Yang, 2012;Kahlor, 2007Kahlor, , 2010. These models have been tested across a variety of risk communication contexts, ranging from health risks (Kahlor, 2010) to climate change (Kahlor, 2007) to consumption of contaminated fish caught in the Great Lakes (Griffin, Neuwirth, Dunwoody & Giese, 2004).…”