Warning dissemination and public response in China’s new warning system: evidence from a strong convective event in Qingdao City

Abstract

The Chinese national emergency warning system has been officially launched since 2015 to provide multi-hazard warnings to the public, but its efficiency and effectiveness remain unclear. Based on a dataset of 914 samples collected short after a hazardous convective weather event in Qingdao, this paper investigates the dissemination efficiency and behavior-changing effectiveness of various warning communication approaches used in the Chinese system. The results show that the total reception rate of meteorological warnings was 36%, yet to be improved. Out of the three communication approaches, direct transmission by officials was the most effective in fostering risk perception and stimulating behavior, but exhibited the lowest dissemination efficiency. Social diffusion also played a vital role in warning dissemination, followed by media relaying, but both lacked cognitive and behavioral effectiveness. Environmental cues served as an important source supplemental to meteorological warnings, but were subject to a high level of uncertainty and inconsistency. Finally, gender, age and education level of the warning recipients were found to influence the dissemination efficiency and behavioral effectiveness of the three warning approaches to varied extent. These results are partially consistent with previous findings in countries with well-developed warning systems, but shed light on the areas for further improvement of the Chinese warning system, as well as the establishment of efficient and effective new warning systems in other contexts.