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Helping behavior in a virtual crisis situation: effects of safety awareness and crisis communication

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  • H.E. Stubbé
  • M.L. van Emmerik
  • J.H. Kerstholt

Abstract

Incident evaluations show that bystanders tend to help: they do not wait for professionals to arrive, but act as required by the situation at hand. In the present study, we investigated how safety awareness (induced before an accident happened) and providing a course of action by emergency services affect helping behavior after witnessing a virtual accident with two victims. The main task of the participants was to arrive at a job interview in time. Safety awareness was manipulated by the specific organization they went to: either promoting safe traffic or healthy living. The results show that all participants were inclined to help. Participants who were primed towards safe traffic more often called the emergency number, but talked to the victim less often. Participants who had received specific courses of action moved the victim less often. In all, the results clearly indicate the value of effective risk communication (before an event occurs) and crisis communication (after an event has occurred), as both types of information improve the quality of actual helping behavior at the scene.

Suggested Citation

  • H.E. Stubbé & M.L. van Emmerik & J.H. Kerstholt, 2017. "Helping behavior in a virtual crisis situation: effects of safety awareness and crisis communication," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 433-444, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:20:y:2017:i:4:p:433-444
    DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2015.1071865
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bev J. Holmes & Natalie Henrich & Sara Hancock & Valia Lestou, 2009. "Communicating with the public during health crises: experts' experiences and opinions," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 793-807, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Samuel Collins & Thomas James & Holly Carter & Charles Symons & Felicity Southworth & Kerry Foxall & Tim Marczylo & Richard Amlôt, 2021. "Mass Casualty Decontamination for Chemical Incidents: Research Outcomes and Future Priorities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Alan Kirschenbaum, 2021. "Reducing patient surge: community based social networks as first responders," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 108(1), pages 163-175, August.
    3. Chiara Mio & Marco Fasan & Carlo Marcon & Silvia Panfilo, 2022. "Exploring Corporate Crisis Communication after COVID-19: The Role of Enterprise Risk Management in (Re)Building Trust," Working Papers 05, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.

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