Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Mar 7;14(3):267.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph14030267.

Insight into the Earthquake Risk Information Seeking Behavior of the Victims: Evidence from Songyuan, China

Shasha Li  1 , Guofang Zhai  2 , Shutian Zhou  3 , Chenjing Fan  4 , Yunqing Wu  5 , Chongqiang Ren  6   7
Affiliations

Insight into the Earthquake Risk Information Seeking Behavior of the Victims: Evidence from Songyuan, China

Shasha Li et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Efficient risk communication is a vital way to reduce the vulnerability of individuals when facing emergency risks, especially regarding earthquakes. Efficient risk communication aims at improving the supply of risk information and fulfilling the need for risk information by individuals. Therefore, an investigation into individual-level information seeking behavior within earthquake risk contexts is very important for improved earthquake risk communication. However, at present there are very few studies that have explored the behavior of individuals seeking earthquake risk information. Under the guidance of the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model as well as relevant practical findings using the structural equation model, this study attempts to explore the main determinants of an individual's earthquake risk information seeking behavior, and to validate the mediator effect of information need during the seeking process. A questionnaire-based survey of 918 valid respondents in Songyuan, China, who had been hit by a small earthquake swarm, was used to provide practical evidence for this study. Results indicated that information need played a noteworthy role in the earthquake risk information seeking process, and was detected both as an immediate predictor and as a mediator. Informational subjective norms drive the seeking behavior on earthquake risk information through both direct and indirect approaches. Perceived information gathering capacity, negative affective responses and risk perception have an indirect effect on earthquake risk information seeking behavior via information need. The implications for theory and practice regarding risk communication are discussed and concluded.

Keywords: China; earthquake risk; information need; information seeking behavior; risk communication; structural equation model.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hypothesized relationships among determinants of information seeking behavior. Behavior: Information seeking behavior; Knowledge: Current risk knowledge; Need: Information need; Capacity: Perceived information gathering capacity; Norm: Informational subjective norms; Affect: Negative affective responses; Perception: Risk perception.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Location of study area. The red spot in Jilin Province indicates the epicenters of the earthquake swarm. The shaded part is the survey area.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of the structural equation model. Behavior: Information seeking behavior; Knowledge: Current risk knowledge; Need: Information need; Capacity: Perceived information gathering capacity; Norm: Informational subjective norms; Affect: Negative affective responses; Perception: Risk perception. Solid lines: Significant at p < 0.01; dotted lines: Insignificant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ter Huurne E. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Twente; Enschede, The Netherlands: 2008. Information Seeking in a Risky World. The Theoretical and Empirical Development of FRIS: A Framework of Risk Information Seeking.
    1. Ter Huurne E., Gutteling J. Information needs and risk perception as predictors of risk information seeking. J. Risk Res. 2008;11:847–862. doi: 10.1080/13669870701875750. - DOI
    1. Griffin R.J., Yang Z., Ter Huurne E., Boerner F., Ortiz S., Dunwoody S. After the flood-Anger, attribution, and the seeking of information. Sci. Commun. 2008;29:285–315. doi: 10.1177/1075547007312309. - DOI
    1. Griffin R.J., Dunwoody S., Neuwirth K. Proposed model of the relationship of risk information seeking and processing to the development of preventive behaviors. Environ. Res. 1999;80:S230–S245. doi: 10.1006/enrs.1998.3940. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Afifi W.A., Weiner J.L. Seeking information about sexual health: Applying the theory of motivated information management. Hum. Commun. Res. 2006;32:35–57. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2006.00002.x. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources