The evolution of stakeholders' perceptions of disaster: A model of information flow

Abstract

This paper proposes a diffusion model to measure the evolution of stakeholders' disaster perceptions by integrating a disaster message model, a stakeholder model, and a stakeholder memory model, which collectively describe the process of information flow. Simulation results show that the rate of forgetting has a significantly negative effect on stakeholders' perceptions and the incremental increase in the number of affected individuals has a positive effect on the maximum level of stakeholders' perceptions, but negative effect on the duration of stakeholders' perceptions. Additionally, a delay effect, a stagnation effect, and a cumulative effect exist in the evolution of stakeholders' perceptions. There is a spike at the beginning of the profile of stakeholders' perceptions in the Damped Exponential Model. An empirical test supports the validity of this model of stakeholders' disaster perceptions.

Exploring the Information Worlds of Older Persons During Disasters

“…It is also suggestive of the absence of older persons in the literature on social media use in disasters. Like other studies, the use of broadcasting media, informal networks, and formal and institutional sources of information were common and also the most trusted (Lopatovska & Smiley, ; Wei et al, ). The children of the subjects played a particularly pertinent information role connecting different information worlds.…”

“…In addition to the question of the most appropriate method of disseminating and accessing information, there are challenges around how information is framed and when it is released (Schmidt & Galea, ; Wei et al, ) and the ability of individuals to interpret information on low‐probability and high‐intensity incidents. For instance, multiple warnings such as “Do Not Panic,” “Amber Alert,” or “Stay/Go” do not inform citizens why they should be alarmed or what action to take (Choo & Nadarajah, ; Schmidt & Galea, ), and can be overwhelming as people may not recognize the information as important (Hiltz & Plotnick, ; Eppler & Mengis, ).…”

“…As societies attempt to cope with the increased frequency of natural disasters there is a recognition that we need to improve understanding of information behavior during these events. This has led to growth in research to understand the information behavior of citizens and responding organizations during such incidents (for example, Choo & Nadarajah, ; Hagar, ; Lopatovska & Smiley, ; Wei, Wang, & Lindell, ). Natural disasters, the focus of this article, are time‐critical incidents that require departure from routine activity and place unfamiliar demands on individuals.…”

Well Known or Well Liked? The Effects of Corporate Reputation on Firm Value at the Onset of a Corporate Crisis

“…Being known leads to more developed cognitive structures, which facilitate the acquisition and comprehension of information (Brucks, ; Marks & Olson, ; Park & Lessig, ; Wood, Rhodes, & Biek, ). When a firm is well known, stakeholders therefore possess a large amount of information, which they can recall and leverage to deal with the uncertainty and ambiguity at the onset of a crisis (Brooks & Highhouse, ; Wei, Wang, & Lindell, ; Wei, Zhao, Wang, Cheng, & Zhao, ). This may mitigate the buffering effect of generalized favorability for two reasons.…”

Optimal decision model for emergency resource reserves in chemical industrial parks in China: A risk perception perspective

“…In addition, Wei et al . indicated the relationship among risky information, demographic characteristics and risk response, which illustrates that the decision‐making process and the risk perception model, are related. Dealing with resource reserves is not only a scientific decision problem but also an individual subjective consideration of decision makers .…”