TY - JOUR
T1 - Nuclear weapons risk communication
T2 - evaluating the impact of message exposure and format
AU - Karl, Kristyn L.
AU - Lytle, Ashley
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Many experts believe the risk of nuclear war today is the highest it’s been in generations. Yet much of the public has little awareness of nuclear threats and is ill-prepared to take the actions needed to save lives, including their own. Using a survey experiment on a diverse national sample of U.S. citizens fielded across two time periods, this study evaluates the impact of risk communication regarding nuclear weapons threat. We measure the effectiveness of nuclear preparedness messages across formats, finding infographics to be the most effective. Importantly, we also find that any message exposure improves recall of the recommended action, confidence, and message acceptance, with these shifts positively impacting subsequent behavioral intentions.
AB - Many experts believe the risk of nuclear war today is the highest it’s been in generations. Yet much of the public has little awareness of nuclear threats and is ill-prepared to take the actions needed to save lives, including their own. Using a survey experiment on a diverse national sample of U.S. citizens fielded across two time periods, this study evaluates the impact of risk communication regarding nuclear weapons threat. We measure the effectiveness of nuclear preparedness messages across formats, finding infographics to be the most effective. Importantly, we also find that any message exposure improves recall of the recommended action, confidence, and message acceptance, with these shifts positively impacting subsequent behavioral intentions.
KW - Nuclear weapons
KW - emergency preparedness
KW - infographic
KW - message format
KW - risk communication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091798222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85091798222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13669877.2020.1819387
DO - 10.1080/13669877.2020.1819387
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85091798222
SN - 1366-9877
VL - 24
SP - 1205
EP - 1227
JO - Journal of Risk Research
JF - Journal of Risk Research
IS - 10
ER -