Information Preference and Information Supply Efficiency Evaluation before, during, and after an Earthquake: Evidence from Songyuan, China

Shasha Li, Xinyu Peng, Ruiqiu Pang, Li Li, Zixuan Song and Hongying Ye
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Shasha Li: Jangho Architecture College, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, China
Xinyu Peng: Jangho Architecture College, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, China
Ruiqiu Pang: Jangho Architecture College, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, China
Li Li: Jangho Architecture College, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, China
Zixuan Song: Rosedale Academy Shenyang Campus, Shenyang 110011, China
Hongying Ye: China Building Technique Group Co., Ltd., Beijing 100013, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-28

Abstract: Efficient risk communication is aimed at improving the supply of risk information to meet the information needs of individuals, thus reducing their vulnerability when facing the risk of emergency. There is little information available in the literature regarding information preference from an individual’s need perspective, and there is a lack of differentiation in evaluation between information need and supply. Under the guidance of the crisis stage analysis theory, using multiple response analysis and weighted analysis methods, this study explores earthquake disaster information content and communication channel preferences, and develops an information deviation index (IDI) to evaluate the efficiency of risk communication before, during, and after an earthquake. A questionnaire-based survey of 918 valid respondents in Songyuan, China, which had been hit by a small earthquake swarm, was conducted to provide practical evidence for this study. The results indicated the following. Firstly, the information needs of individuals are highly differentiated in the different stages of an earthquake. From pre-disaster to post-disaster, individuals show a shift in information need from “preparedness and response knowledge” to “disaster information”, then to “disaster information and disaster relief information” in parallel, to “reconstruction and reflection information”. Based on the above analysis, a composition of the main earthquake disaster information is proposed for different stages. Secondly, by measuring the values of the IDI, we found that most individuals’ information needs were met for the earthquake. Thirdly, the TV and the internet were the two preferred commutation channels for acquiring disaster information from among all the effective channels in all the stages.

Keywords: earthquake disaster; information preference; information deviation index; crisis stage analysis theory; risk communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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