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Why Rules for Risk Communication Are Not Enough: A Problem‐Solving Approach to Risk Communication

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  • Katherine E. Rowan

Abstract

Current work on risk communication offers practitioners helpful guidelines and rules such as “speak clearly” and “speak with compassion.” While important, these guidelines have limitations. They offer practitioners and scholars little aid in determining why a communication encounter failed. Also, they do not help practitioners anticipate and overcome likely difficulties in future risk situations, nor can they help locate information about how to reduce these difficulties. To overcome the limitations of rule‐based approaches to risk communication, this paper describes a diagnostic or problem‐solving approach. This approach maintains that instead of rules, people need bases for anticipating likely obstacles to effective communication and selecting approaches that reduce these difficulties. Research on building trust, increasing awareness, deepening comprehension, gaining agreement, and motivating action is available in fields such as communication, educational psychology, science education, marketing, counseling, negotiation, and disaster response. This paper describes a framework that assists scholars and practitioners in: (a) identifying communication goals; (b) determining principal obstacles to those goals; and (c) selecting research‐based methods for overcoming or minimizing these difficulties and achieving communication objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine E. Rowan, 1994. "Why Rules for Risk Communication Are Not Enough: A Problem‐Solving Approach to Risk Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 365-374, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:14:y:1994:i:3:p:365-374
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1994.tb00253.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel J. Fiorino, 1989. "Technical and Democratic Values in Risk Analysis," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 293-299, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Branden B. Johnson, 2003. "Communicating Air Quality Information: Experimental Evaluation of Alternative Formats," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 91-103, February.
    2. Takeyasu Suzuki & Takanori Watanabe & Shin’ichiro Okuyama, 2019. "Facilitating Community Risk Communication for Wide-Area Evacuation during Large-Scale Floods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Cynthia G. Jardine & Steve E. Hrudey, 1997. "Mixed Messages in Risk Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 489-498, August.
    4. Matthew S. VanDyke & Andy J. King, 2018. "Using the CAUSE Model to Understand Public Communication about Water Risks: Perspectives from Texas Groundwater District Officials on Drought and Availability," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(7), pages 1378-1389, July.
    5. McCarthy, Mary & Brennan, Mary, 2009. "Food risk communication: Some of the problems and issues faced by communicators on the Island of Ireland (IOI)," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 549-556, December.
    6. C. Natalie van der Wal & Daniel Formolo & Mark A. Robinson & Steven Gwynne, 2021. "Examining Evacuee Response to Emergency Communications with Agent-Based Simulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Annesi, Nora & Battaglia, Massimo & Frey, Marco, 2021. "Stakeholder engagement by an Italian water utility company: Insight from participant observation of dialogism," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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