Exploring risk communication

Exploring Risk Communication presents a systematicplanning approach to risk communication. Risk communication is seen bymany as an important tool for managing technological, environmental,and natural risks. The book’s goal is to improve risk communicationprocesses in these areas between private and public risk communicationsources and the public. The systematic planning approach focuses onresearch activities which are considered to be diagnostic toolsproviding insight into the public’s reactions to risks and into thepublic’s cognitive abilities to process risk information. Thesestudies give us the necessary ingredients for an adequate riskcommunication from the audience side of the risk communicationprocess. Evaluation studies are considered necessary to monitor theeffectiveness of the communication. Exploring Risk Communication provides a review of currentresearch in risk communication, focusing on perceived trust andcredibility of risk communication sources, and arguments in riskmessages, risk comparison, and framing of risk. Special attention ispaid to the mass media context of risks and its impact on publicperception. Finally, the potential of the new interactive media forrisk communication is reviewed. The authors have performed several communication studies in the riskarea, working from their social psychological background. This resultsin a monograph interesting to those working on risk communicationissues on an academic level, but the systematic planning approach isalso a useful frame of reference for risk communication practitioners,or for those who are just interested in the often complex riskcommunication issues.