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The impact of
communications on human behavior
in times of crisis.
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Communication is an integral part
of managing crisis, with scholars
such as Heath in 1998
identifying that "communication
is the most important tool
of crisis management."
Therefore, policymakers
have constantly
sought to find the most appropriate
ways to use communication
to influence behavior
during these times
to assist in the
recovery from crises.
This talk will investigate
why policymakers wish
to utilize effective
crisis communication,
and explore the importance
of crisis communication
on influencing human
behavior in a time of crisis,
and the influence of the
medium of communications.
It was noted by Gross in 1996 that
"in order to understand and predict
the effectiveness of one person's
attempt to change the attitude
of another, we need to know,
''who says what in which channel
to whom and with what effect''.
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Whilst we demonstrated that
the medium of the message
is important to ensure that the
correct audience has been reached,
it will be suggested that for
policymakers to maximize the impact
of crisis communications
during a crisis,
they must utilize rhetoric
and cognitive response theory.
This talk will go on to suggest
that the most important factor
in implementing behavior
in a time of crisis
is that communications are
provided from a credible source
and are empathetic in nature.
It was noted by Reynolds and Earley,
since communications
to tailor messages and be
empathetic and considering
the communication needs
of others can help
dispel rumors and engender trust.
