Responses to risk messaging concerning Hurricane Sandy: two studies utilizing the health belief model

ABSTRACT

During emergencies and disasters, effective communication of risk messages is essential in mitigating loss of life and property. The Health Belief Model (HBM) provides a comprehensive understanding of the variables that are key to the desired responses to information concerning environmental threats or hazards . While this model has been used extensively in explicating both message-related and personological variables in health communication contexts, it has gone largely unexamined in the context of large-scale crises and disasters. To that end, two survey studies were conducted to examine the applicability of the HBM in this context. The findings are discussed both in terms of the utility of the HBM in examining the effectiveness of crisis and risk communication efforts, the utility of considering other predictors alongside the HBM model, and in the specific lessons that crisis communication practitioners may learn by considering these variables.