Exploring Risk Communication

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Hazards and Risks

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 1-26

3. Risk Communication

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 27-57

4. The Context of Risk Communication: The Mass Media

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 58-87

5. The Risk Communication Audience

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 88-119

6. Influences of Risk Messages

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 120-150

7. The Sources of Risk Messages

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 151-169

8. Risk Communication Media

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 170-182

9. Risk Communication Revisited and Future Developments

   • Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

   Pages 183-189

10. Back Matter

    Pages 191-223

    PDF

Exploring Risk Communication presents a systematic planning approach to risk communication. Risk communication is seen by many as an important tool for managing technological, environmental, and natural risks. The book's goal is to improve risk communication processes in these areas between private and public risk communication sources and the public. The systematic planning approach focuses on research activities which are considered to be diagnostic tools providing insight into the public's reactions to risks and into the public's cognitive abilities to process risk information. These studies give us the necessary ingredients for an adequate risk communication from the audience side of the risk communication process. Evaluation studies are considered necessary to monitor the effectiveness of the communication.
Exploring Risk Communication provides a review of current research in risk communication, focusing on perceived trust and credibility of risk communication sources, and arguments in risk messages, risk comparison, and framing of risk. Special attention is paid to the mass media context of risks and its impact on public perception. Finally, the potential of the new interactive media for risk communication is reviewed.
The authors have performed several communication studies in the risk area, working from their social psychological background. This results in a monograph interesting to those working on risk communication issues on an academic level, but the systematic planning approach is also a useful frame of reference for risk communication practitioners, or for those who are just interested in the often complex risk communication issues.

• Emotion
• Evaluation
• communication
• communication studies
• environment
• experiment
• mass media
• production
• hydrogeology
• structural geology

`Gutteling and Wiegman provide a useful overview of the burgeoning field of risk communication .... '
Nature, 385 (1997)

• Department of Psychology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

  Jan M. Gutteling, Oene Wiegman

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