Actionable and understandable? Evidence-based recommendations for the design of (multi-)hazard warning messages

Abstract

Communicating event-related hazard information can help prompt effective public responses and, consequently, reduce injuries and fatalities. Real-time information is commonly communicated to the public through multi-hazard platforms. However, whether these platforms' messages are correctly understood and whether they increase people's intention to take action is yet to be proven. We thus aimed at compiling recommendations on how to develop actionable and understandable (multi-)hazard warning messages. To this end, we designed various multi-hazard overviews and hazard messages, which were refined during the five virtual workshops we conducted with experts (N = 15) from different fields. We then surveyed (N = 601, between-subjects experiment) the Swiss public to check whether our designs increase people's intention to take action and help them correctly interpret the information presented. The design of the hazard overviews, we found, exerted no significant effect on people's intention to take action, probably because the participants showed a generally high interest in seeking further information. In contrast, the hazard overviews with time and action indications significantly increased people's understanding of whether they should take immediate actions. Moreover, adding a time- and action-related icon to the hazard messages significantly increased people's intention to take action. For both hazard overviews and messages, people's intention to take action was found to be proportional to the hazard's severity and urgency and influenced by various personal factors, such as past hazard experiences. To conclude, rendering information on multi-hazard platforms more actionable can prompt public responses and, in turn, increase society's resilience toward disasters.