Reassurance or reason for concern: Security forces as a crisis management strategy

Abstract

This paper examines effects of the deployment of security forces to a popular winter migrant destination faced with a unique humanitarian crisis situation. The study surveyed past winter migrants to the region to evaluate their perceptions regarding sociocultural, economic, and psychological impacts of security forces deployed to the region. In addition, this study evaluates the deployment's impact on satisfaction with life in the region, return intention and likelihood of recommending the region to others to find that perceived safety from the security forces significantly affected community factors and that satisfaction with life fully mediated community factor effects on destination loyalty. These finding significantly add to the limited research in crisis management response effects and substantiates the use of signaling and signal crimes perspective in managing crises.