The Value of Instructional Communication in Crisis Situations: Restoring Order to Chaos

Sellnow, Timothy L.; Sellnow, Deanna D.; Lane, Derek R.; Littlefield, Robert S.

doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2011.01634.x

Cited by 64 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…An imperative sentence style is also a positive predictor of retransmission in three events (WF, H, FL). Recent research on food safety and public health outbreaks demonstrates that the most effective messages will include instructional communication (43). Therefore, directive messages that use an imperative voice to tell people what to do, coupled with content about the hazard impact, may have the strongest impact for individuals who need to take protective action.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To determine whether this effect was consistent across content categories, we also examined all potential theme/URL interactions over the five events; out of 110 possible interactions, only 1 interaction yielded a net positive URL effect for any content category (see Table S5 for the results and further discussion). Although web links have been suggested as a strategy to provide additional information and clarity (43), under conditions of imminent threat, complete terse messages-messages that do not require additional time and bandwidth to open and view-are more consistently propagated. This result differs from previous research that finds messages with URLs are retweeted more under normal circumstances (4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A cross-hazard analysis of terse message retransmission on Twitter

Sutton

Gibson

Phillips

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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For decades, public warning messages have been relayed via broadcast information channels, including radio and television; more recently, risk communication channels have expanded to include social media sites, where messages can be easily amplified by user retransmission. This research examines the factors that predict the extent of retransmission for official hazard communications disseminated via Twitter. Using data from events involving five different hazards, we identity three types of attributes-local network properties, message content, and message style-that jointly amplify and/or attenuate the retransmission of official communications under imminent threat. We find that the use of an agreed-upon hashtag and the number of users following an official account positively influence message retransmission, as does message content describing hazard impacts or emphasizing cohesion among users. By contrast, messages directed at individuals, expressing gratitude, or including a URL were less widely disseminated than similar messages without these features. Our findings suggest that some measures commonly taken to convey additional information to the public (e.g., URL inclusion) may come at a cost in terms of message amplification; on the other hand, some types of content not traditionally emphasized in guidance on hazard communication may enhance retransmission rates.nder conditions of imminent threat, rapid communication of warning information to the public is a primary strategy for decreasing loss of life and increasing public safety by eliciting protective actions from those at risk (1). For decades, public warnings have been relayed via mass media channels, including radio, broadcast television, and sirens (2). With the advent of social computing, warnings have begun to be disseminated via online social networks (OSNs), where messages can be more easily propagated and amplified by the user population (3-6). Risk amplification via message retransmission in this setting is important because it enables a message to reach individuals beyond the sender's direct contacts, increasing exposure and potentially leading to lifesaving actions (7). Although such transmission occurs offline as well (8-11), OSNs offer the potential for the rapid retransmission of short messages with higher fidelity-and to more persons-than would typically be feasible via other means.In addition to enabling message diffusion, the clustered structure of most OSNs (12, 13) allows retransmission to expose individuals to the same message multiple times. Multiple exposures to messages have been linked to greater confidence in message veracity (14,15), which can lead to further sharing (16,17). Repeated exposures from multiple network ties are often a prerequisite for the spread of information through networks, and are of particular importance for inducing behavioral change (4,(18)(19)(20). Under conditions of imminent threat, exposure to a warning message from a trusted source (such as a neighbor, friend, or family member) strongly affects one's ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-hazard analysis of terse message retransmission on Twitter

Sutton

Gibson

Phillips

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…D. Sellnow, Johansson, Sellnow, and Vigso, 2016;D. D. Sellnow, Limperos et al, 2015;T. L. Sellnow, Sellnow, Lane, & Littlefield, 2012).…”

Section: Theoretical Groundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

An IDEA Model Analysis of Instructional Risk Communication in the Time of Ebola

Sellnow-Richmond

George

Sellnow

2018

JICRCR

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The Ebola outbreak and its rapid spread throughout West Africa and other countries was a megacrisis that imposed numerous challenges to those communicating to nonscientific publics about the epidemic. This article examines the instructional risk messages offered in the days that followed the 2014 infection and death of Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas, Texas. More specifically, we apply the IDEA model for effective instructional risk and crisis communication embellished by exemplification theory to conduct a thematic analysis of messages offered locally (Dallas news stories and press releases), nationally (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Live Chat Twitter posts), and internationally (website content from the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and Doctors Without Borders). Our conclusions reveal that the majority of messages offered from each organization privileged the element of explanation over internalization and action as well as negative over positive exemplification. On the basis of these conclusions, and informed by previous research, we propose a number of potential implications and recommendations for offering a balanced representation among internalization, explanation, and action as proposed in the IDEA model. We also suggest that positive exemplification could be used strategically to motivate receivers to attend to these messages (internalization), reduce potential misunderstandings (explanation), and take appropriate self-protective actions (action). Agency spokespersons and media reporters may find the conclusions and recommendations drawn from this analysis to be useful when crafting similar instructional risk preparedness and crisis response messages.

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“… The message delivered by a credible source (Drabek and Boggs 1968;Mileti and Beck 1975;Mileti and Darlington 1995;Sellnow et al 2012 are those that come from other people whom the individual communicates with or observes (Kuligowski and Mileti 2009;Mileti and O'Brien 1993);  Statuses (e.g., the individual's income, education, occupation, age, race, gender, ethnicity, and country of origin). In other words, people with certain types of statuses, for example, older individuals rather than younger individuals (Proulx and Pineau 1996), are more likely to take protective actions in a disaster (Fothergill 1998;Fahy and Proulx 1997);  Roles or the social position held within a personal or professional environment (e.g., mother, manager, fire fighter, etc.).…”

Section: Public Warning Response In Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%