Reaching Vulnerable Populations and Building Trust Crisis Communication

Reaching Vulnerable Populations and Building Trust: Crisis Communication in the Gulf of Mexico Elizabeth Petrun Sayers 1, Andrew M. Parker 1, Rajeev Ramchand 1, Melissa L. Finucane 1, Vanessa A. Parks 2 1 RAND Gulf States Policy Institute, New Orleans, LA 2 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA March 14, 2017

Vulnerable populations: Who are they and why do they matter? • “any group that cannot be reached effectively during the initial phases of a public safety emergency with general public health messages delivered through mass communication channels” (Reynolds, 2007, p. 97) – Need to know which populations require specialized messages or communication during a crisis – Identify cultural differences among non-dominant groups – Determine if communication from the government or other authorities involved in disaster response is received differently by non-dominant groups • Failing to examine these needs could mean that vulnerable populations fail to receive risk/crisis communication; or receive communication that is unnecessary or confusing 2

Demographics, Source Preferences, and Trust • A variety of factors will influence how individuals use and engage with media • Preferences and trust in sources vary with the availability of new channels (e. g. new media and explosion of mobile devices) – Although, trust in media today has fallen since the 1990 s (Swift, 2016) • RQ 1: How do demographic characteristics (i. e. sex, race/ethnicity, age, and education) affect source preferences? • RQ 2: How do demographic characteristics (i. e. sex, race/ethnicity, age, and education) affect trust in information sources? 3

Survey on Trauma, Resilience, and Opportunity in Neighborhoods in the Gulf 3 Counties 2 Counties N=375 N=384 16 Counties N=623 12 Parishes N=609 23 Counties N=529 Examine the effects Probability-based telephone Weights yield survey generalizable results of the DHOS (landline/cell phone) 4

Sample Spanned the Population of Gulf Coast Residents (Weighted) Sample Characteristic Female Age 18 -34 35 -64 65+ Race White, Non-Hispanic African-American, Non-Hispanic Other race, Non-Hispanic Education Less than HS diploma Some college Associate’s degree Vocational/ technical diploma Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree or more Total % 51. 2 29. 8 50. 6 19. 7 55. 1 24. 4 15. 4 5. 2 16. 3 28. 4 21. 9 5. 6 1. 9 16. 8 9. 1 5

Results: Source Preferences, Relative to TV SEX (Ref=Female) Television RACE/ETH (Ref=White) AGE (Ref=35 -64) 41% Internet 33% - Other Print media 10% - Blacks Word-of-mouth 10% - Hispanics - 65+ - Blacks - 65+ Radio EDUCATION (Ref=H. S. ) 5% + Males + 18 -34 - 65+ + Bach. + Masters + Less than H. S. - Vocational 6

Key Take-aways TV and the Internet reign supreme for source preference • The Gulf Coast is consistent with the national population Those without a H. S. diploma or GED are more likely to prefer word-of-mouth when compared to those with a H. S. diploma • Community opinion leaders could be an important group to engage to generate support The Internet, encompassing social media applications, could be out of reach for some Gulf residents • Social media is increasingly used to deliver risk and crisis messages, yet vulnerable populations like those falling into the “other” race category and those aged 65+ do not prefer to use it (or they simply cannot access it) 7

Results: Trust in Info. Sources Mean; SE SEX (Ref=Female) RACE/ETH (Ref=White) AGE (Ref=35 -64) EDUCATION (Ref=H. S. ) +Younger adults; +65 Doctor 2. 94; 0. 05 Local Media 2. 33; 0. 05 Academic 2. 11; 0. 05 +Younger - Less than H. S. adults + Some college+ Friends/Family 2. 08; 0. 05 + 65 Religious 1. 99; 0. 05 National Media 1. 86; 0. 04 Business 1. 67; 0. 04 - Males + Blacks + 65 - Some college - College - Less than H. S. * To measure trust in doctors, respondents were asked about trust in health information 8

Key Take-aways Sex results suggest that men do not trust national media as much as women; yet Blacks tend to trust national media more when compared with whites • Emphasizes the continued importance of local content, spokespersons, and stories; Blacks could prefer national/ religious sources if local content does not reflect them Youngers adults are increasingly skeptical of media; finding ways to use academic/ health professional sources could help • Other findings note how religious institutions can be important portals for reaching older adults Less educational attainment suggests less trust in academic and business institutions, while more education increases evaluation of social networks (when compared to the H. S. diploma group) • Academic and business resources need to be tailored to reach those without a H. S. diploma (important for this project!) • Educational attainment and diminished trust in word-of-mouth communication is consistent with API research 9

Conclusion • The U. S. Gulf Coast has unique source preferences that differ from the national population – This survey is the first of its kind to offer local insight to source preferences • Trust in information sources also varies; and is likely attributable to the unique social, political, and economic conditions • Response organizations tasked with mitigating the short and long term consequences of disasters may find this data useful – Reaching and cultivating trust with vulnerable populations is important for delivering essential messages and facilitating recovery 10

Thank you! Contact: epetrun@rand. org

Appendix: Demographic Pref. Literature • • Women are more likely to discover news on social media; share information with others; and watch network morning shows (API, 2014 b; Pew, 2008) Men are more likely to rely on traditional sources like 24 -hour TV news, listen to the radio, and read the newspaper regularly (API, 2014 b; Pew, 2008) Older adults (65+) are more likely to rely on the TV, radio, and print sources (API, 2014 b) Young adults (18 -29) primarily use TV and their mobile devices (API, 2014 b) • Social media is generally best for reaching those under the age of 35 (Norman, 2016) • African Americans and Hispanic Americans are more likely than white Americans to say that is is very important to see their communities and people like them reporting (API, 2016) • Limited English proficiency can limit information to word-of-mouth (NCI, 2012) • College educated individuals report higher media when compared to those with a high school education/ some college (API, 2014 b) • Print sources drop in popularity when you move down each step of educational attainment (Saad, 2013) • Americans with higher incomes are more likely to receive news through a computer or mobile device (API, 2014 b) • Digital divide in the U. S. impacts accessible sources of information

Appendix: Trust Literature • Research is still somewhat mixed on gender and trust, yet men do appear to be slightly more trusting when it comes to advertising (Nielsen, 2013) • Women place more with on visual presentation of information than men (API, 2016) which could suggest they are less likely to trust text-dense sources • Even though younger adults (18 -29) are more likely to receive information through social media, they still have more trust in information provided through websites of established news sources (Huang, 2009) Older adults are generally more likely than younger adults to trust the media (Riffkin, 2015; Swift, 2016) • • • Television is the most trustworthy source across races/ethnicities (API, 2014 a) African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and White Americans are most likely to trust news alerts/ subscriptions they opted into (API, 2014 a) • Education, along with income, seems to influence how Americans evaluate news. • Those with higher education are more likely to carefully evaluate social media (API, 2016) Education attainment points to preferences for receiving news from a variety of sources (API, 2016) • • • Americans with lower levels of income are more likely than other to trust 24 -hour TV news channels “completely” (API, 2014 b) Americans making $100, 000 are much less likely to trust the news “completely” (API, 2014 b)

References • • American Press Institute (API). (September 16, 2014 a). News consumption patterns among African Americans and Hispanics. American Press Institute. Retrieved from: https: //www. americanpressinstitute. org/publications/reports/survey-research/news-consumptionpatterns-african-americans-hispanics/ American Press Institute (API). (March 17, 2014 b). Social and demographic differences in news habits and attitudes. American Press Institute. Retrieved from: https: //www. americanpressinstitute. org/publications/reports/survey-research/social-demographicdifferences-news-habits-attitudes/ American Press Institute (API). (April 17, 2016). How trust differs across generation, socioeconomics, race and ethnicity, and gender. American Press Institute. Retrieved from https: //www. americanpressinstitute. org/publications/reports/survey-research/news-trust-across-ageclass-race-gender/ Berube, A. , & Katz, B. (2005). Katrina’s window: Confronting concentrated poverty across America. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https: //www. brookings. edu/research/katrinas-window-confrontingconcentrated-poverty-across-america/ Huang, E. (2009). The causes of youths' low news consumption and strategies for making youths happy news consumers. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 15(1), 105 -122. doi: 10. 1177/1354856508097021 Lasker, R. D. , & Weiss, E. S. (2003). Broadening participation in community problem solving: a multidisciplinary model to support collaborative practice and research. Journal of Urban Health, 80(1), 1447. doi: 10. 1093/jurban/jtg 014 National Cancer Institute (NCI). (2012). Trust and use of media for health information among U. S. Hispanics. hints briefs. Retrieved from: https: //hints. cancer. gov/docs/Briefs/HINTS_Brief_22. pdf

References • • National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA). (2011). New NOAA report highlights economic and ecological value of the Gulf coastal region. NOAA. Retrieved from http: //www. noaanews. noaa. gov/stories 2011/20110802_gulfataglance. html Nielsen. (March 5, 2014). The female/ male digital divide. Nielsen. Retrieved from: http: //www. nielsen. com/us/en/insights/news/2014/the-female-digital-divide. html Norman, J. (July 8, 2016). Americans increasingly turning to specific sources for news. Gallup. Retrieved from: http: //www. gallup. com/poll/193553/americans-increasingly-turn-specific-sourcesnews. aspx? g_source=position 5&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles Pew Research Center. (February 6, 2008). Where men and women differ in following the news. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from: http: //www. pewresearch. org/2008/02/06/where-men-and-womendiffer-in-following-the-news/ Reynolds, B. (2007). Crisis and emergency risk communication: Pandemic influenza. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Riffkin, R. (September 28, 2015). Americans’ trust in media remains at historic low. Gallup. Retrieved from: http: //www. gallup. com/poll/185927/americans-trust-media-remains-historicallow. aspx? g_source=position 3&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles Saad, L. (July 8, 2013). TV is Americans’ main source of news. Gallup. Retrieved from: http: //www. gallup. com/poll/163412/americans-main-source-news. aspx Swift, A. (September 14, 2016). American’s trust in mass media sinks to new low. Gallup. Retrieved from: http: //www. gallup. com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low. aspx