When Information Becomes Action: Social and Political Drivers of Individualss Trust in Broadcast Versus Peer-to-Peer Information During Disaster Response

Abstract

Information communication technologies (ICTs), primarily mobile phones and social media, are an increasingly important for disaster and crisis response in developing countries. This raises an important question: in an information environment that includes traditional media such as TV and radio, who are the people that trust the information from ICTs enough to act on it during disasters? Using a case study and original survey data from the island state of Independent Samoa this article provides insight about who uses new technologies, particularly mobile phones, to make decisions at the local level during crises such as natural disasters, and the socio-political factors that motivate their behavior. The results add to the growing knowledge of using ICTs and new technologies in developing countries for disaster response, and provide practical insight about the social and political factors that lead people to trust different information mediums and sources.