New Tools for Environmental Protection Education, Information, and Voluntary Measures (2002) / Chapter Skim
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7. Understanding Individual and Social Characteristics in the Promotion of Household Disaster Preparedness
7. Understanding Individual and Social Characteristics in the Promotion of Household Disaster Preparedness
Pages 125-140
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From page 125... ...
For example, some of the most widely used social marketing campaigns have encouraged people to stop smoking for their health, fasten seatbelts to save lives, and recycle to reduce waste and improve environmental quality. The major themes these campaigns share is that they (1)
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From page 126... ...
The natural hazards literature reviewed in this chapter references a wide range of environmental extremes, including floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and tsunamis. WHO PREPARES AND WHO DOES NOT Certain personal and social characteristics of individuals and households make them more or less likely to heed information about hazards and do something to increase their safety (Oliver-Smith, 1996; Lindell and Perry, 2000~.
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From page 127... ...
WHAT HAS WORKED IN HAZARDS MARKETING Much research has been done in a variety of disciplines on how human behavior can be changed. However, relatively few empirical studies have been made to measure the impact of nonemergency hazards education on public risk perception and subsequent risk reduction behavior (for exceptions, see Haas and Trainer, 1974; Ruch and Christenson, 1980; Palm, 1981~.
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From page 128... ...
The U.S. Geological Survey had announced that the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas fault in central California was likely to experience a moderate earthquake between 1986 and 1993.
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From page 129... ...
A study of public education outside California was undertaken by a professional staff member of the American Red Cross in affiliation with the University of Maryland (Lopes, 1992~. This study included 60 slides illustrating disaster damage and 60 additional slides that did not include any images of disaster damage.
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Following are suggestions for public education based on what has been learned about hazards education, derived from the systematic research mentioned earlier, and from experience with social marketing campaigns and education programs. First, the ideal message is explained, then ways for delivering it are recommended.
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From page 131... ...
Moreover, educators must account for individual characteristics and social elements in designing hazards social marketing campaigns. The following paragraphs elucidate these components of an ideal educational message.
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From page 132... ...
Appropriate assistance may take many forms: a how-to video for homeowners on strengthening the disaster resistance of their homes; evacuation guidelines for schools; a business resumption planning process for a corporation or a city government; encouragement and help from a neighborhood emergency response team; or recommended policy changes for a water system. People can be guided to mitigation in endless ways.
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From page 133... ...
Consider Personal and Social Characteristics of the Audience Finally, in developing the ideal message, it is imperative to keep in mind that the message should be designed from the perspective of the target audience. Research has clearly shown the importance of personal characteristics (i.e., knowledge, attitudes, beliefs)
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From page 134... ...
Indeed, recent findings that have come out of the Disaster Research Center's work in evaluating Project Impact for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have shown that mainstream media sources are not the only channel that can be used to reach the public or various segments of the public.
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From page 135... ...
Organize the information presented to highlight related themes successively. Some education organizations or emergency services agencies distribute to participating communities monthly newsletters with reproducible masters on different aspects of hazards safety and preparedness.
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From page 136... ...
Include an Evaluation Component Some sort of evaluation component should be built into any social marketing or public education campaign. When you assess the efficacy of your materials and approaches, you can revise what doesn't work.
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From page 137... ...
PEEK 137 HOW MUCH CHANGE CAN SOCIAL MARKETING ALONE ELICIT? The research literature on the effectiveness of public hazards marketing campaigns reports the full gambit of impacts; they range from no behavior change to a relatively great deal of public and household behavior change to reduce losses from future disasters.
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From page 138... ...
Fort Collins: Hazards Assessment Laboratory, Colorado State University. 1992 Fostering public preparations for natural hazards: Lessons from the Parkfield Earthquake prediction.
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From page 139... ...
United Nations/International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (UN/IDNDR) Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of Urban Areas Against Seismic Disasters (RADIUS)
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