The Roles of Perceived “Shared” Involvement and Information Overload in Understanding How Audiences make Meaning of News about Bioterrorism

Abstract

This study integrated the situational theory of publics with theories in risk communication to explore reactions to simulated media coverage of food terrorism. Focus group participants, given news scenarios about a terrorist threat on a U.S. food product, discussed problem recognition, level of involvement, constraint recognition, fear, risk, and social connections. Findings revealed a sense of “shared” involvement that influenced how participants perceived risk. When participants perceived the source of information was in “the same boat” as them, they were more likely to pay attention. Also, news coverage increased feelings of “information overload,” which led participants to shut down cognitively and deny the need for protective action.

Warning the world of extreme events: A global perspective on risk communication for natural and technological disaster

“…Because credibility varies between individuals, warnings may be more believable to a larger segment of the population if they come from a mixed panel of scientists, public officials, reputable organizations, and familiar persons (Drabek and Stephenson, 1971). In fact, people are more likely to pay attention to warnings when they perceive that the source of information is ''in the same boat'' that they are; thus, shared involvement between the source and the receiver is likely to enhance risk perception (Aldoory and Van Dyke, 2006).…”

“…Likewise, many people often cite their fear of looters as a reason to ignore evacuation orders (Mayhorn and Watson, 2006;McCallum and Heming, 2006). Moreover, when people were warned of a potential bioterrorist attack on the food supply within the United States, many people described dietary restrictions that would prevent them from avoiding the affected food (Aldoory and Van Dyke, 2006). Other social costs are associated with privacy.…”

Persuasion in the Wild: Communication, Technology, and Event Safety

“…A drawback to the omnipresent smart phone in combination with access to Internet and social media platforms, is that they unlock vast amounts of information, relevant as well as irrelevant, which may lead to overloading [e.g., 24]. An additional down side, particularly from the perspective of event organisers, may be the clutter that this causes.…”

Social engineering in social networking sites: Affect-based model

“…Aldoory and Van Dyke (2006) went further, stating that the problems of performing a risky action have been associated with the HBM and the situational theory of publics [65]. The latter suggests that a population can be classified depending on the way it behaves, that is, whether it is active or passive [66]. The psychological issues concerned with this theory include: 1) extent of activity in the behavior, 2) familiarization with problems, and 3) knowledge of constraints [67].…”