Elizabeth C. Ray

Unpredictable weather means that serious threats do not always unfold as forecast. Hurricane near misses create an especially challenging communication context: The absence of harm may invite community explanations that make the event feel less threatening, even as future risk persists. This study examines how community narratives and post‐event risk messages shape risk perception, collective efficacy, preparedness intentions, message sharing, and credibility after hurricane near misses. In an online experiment, Florida residents ( N = 405) viewed social media posts about a hurricane that shifted away from a coastal community. The posts varied by explanation type, comparing a symbolic community narrative with a factual account, and by response source, comparing emergency management, peer, and control messages. Results show limits and leverage points for post‐event risk communication: In the primary analysis, neither community narratives nor risk messages significantly shifted perceived risk; however, supplementary analyses accounting for regional residence revealed a small reduction in perceived risk following narrative exposure. Risk messages increased sharing and collective efficacy, and organizational sources were more credible than peer sources. These findings suggest that post‐event risk communication after near misses may not readily recalibrate individual risk perceptions but can shape how risk information circulates and how communities perceive their capacity to respond. The study advances understanding of near misses as ambiguous risk events in which communication matters even when harm does not occur.

The National Hurricane Center’s cone of uncertainty [track-forecast cone (TFC)] product was updated to include inland tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings, but the nonexpert interpretation of this widely used forecast graphic remains unclear. To examine how these changes are perceived, an online experiment was conducted during the experimental phase of the inland-enhanced TFC (e-TFC), prior to its operational implementation. Residents ( N = 398) in Florida and Georgia were randomly assigned to view either the coastal-only or coastal/inland e-TFC and then answered a questionnaire. From a risk communication perspective, the study assessed how visual modifications to a familiar forecast product influence perceived interpretability, perceived risk, and intended protective actions. The data revealed that those who viewed the inland additions reported significantly higher perceived ability to identify the size of the storm, even though this is not explicitly conveyed by the graphic, and reported greater perceived ability to identify regions where watches had been issued, compared to those who viewed the coastal-only graphic. However, no differences between conditions appeared on the remaining perceived interpretability items, perceived risk (e.g., severity/susceptibility of the threat presented in the graphic), or intentions to take protective action. Suggested visual changes and practical implications for the NHC are discussed.

As user-generated content (UGC) increasingly shapes the digital communication landscape, this study explored how message creators may persuade themselves to engage in healthier activities. In an online experiment, participants (N = 404) were asked to select a topic (healthy eating or exercising) and view a screenshot from a fictitious health organization. Afterward, participants were randomly assigned (based on topic) to: (a) create a video, (b) watch a video, or (c) a control group, and answer a questionnaire. A mediation analysis showed that message-creation was associated with more positive attitudes, self-identity, and self-efficacy. In turn, these variables were associated with greater intentions to adopt healthy practices. Merely watching a video (or doing nothing) was less influential. The data suggest specific mechanisms by which self-persuasion may affect behavior in digital health contexts, particularly via self-efficacy. Results also suggest recommendations for practitioners to leverage the persuasive influence of UGC in health-promotion campaigns.

College students report high psychological distress, mental health problems and anxiety. Research indicates that faculty and staff can help support these students in crisis, but there is limited trauma-informed training for higher education professionals who are not mental health counselors. This study explored an evidence-based online training program designed to help faculty/staff members facilitate well-being and resilience among college students. To test the training, a systematic program evaluation was conducted. Prior to completing the training, participants (n = 52) took a pretest. Then, after completing the training, they took a posttest. Results indicated a significant difference between pre and posttest. There were more positive attitudes toward trauma-informed approaches and resilience resources; stronger beliefs about prevalence and effects of psychological trauma; greater self-efficacy to perform trauma-informed approaches; and greater confidence in trauma-informed knowledge. Additionally, participants reported they were likely to use tools learned during the training. Thus, indicating that a self-paced, convenient, and culturally sensitive training may be beneficial for faculty and staff as they aid in student success. Practical implications, participant comments and specific suggestions for colleges are also discussed.

This study explored how college freshmen, particularly those affected by health inequities, are affected by COVID-19 and whether they would use a university-created online wellness intervention for...

Every year, millions of Americans get sick from foodborne illness and it is estimated half of all reported instances occur at restaurants. To protect the public, regulators are encouraged to conduct restaurant inspections and disclose reports to consumers. However, inspection reporting format is inconsistent and typically contains information unclear to most consumers who often misinterpret the inspection results. Additionally, consumers are increasingly searching for this information in a digital context. Limited research explores inspection reports as communication tools. Using affect-as-information and ELM as theoretical frameworks, this experiment investigated how discrete emotions (e.g., disgust) conveyed through pictorial cues (i.e., emojis) influenced consumers’ processing of inspection reports. Participants, recruited from Amazon’s MTurk, were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions in a 3 (emoji: smiling vs. disgusted vs. none) x 2 (violation level: low vs. high) between-subjects design. Then, participants completed a questionnaire regarding perceptions and cognitive processing of the message. Results revealed that, compared to text, disgusted face emoji increased risk perceptions and avoidance behavior. In terms of emotion, smiling face emoji motivated participants to feel more emotions related to sanitation. In turn, positive feelings decreased elaboration likelihood. As predicted by ELM, involvement also predicted elaboration, such that participants who were highly involved with inspection reports elaborated more than those less involved. Involvement also moderated the relationship between emoji presented and elaboration. Practical implications are also discussed.

To counter the negative effects of viewing unrealistically thin and attractive models in beauty and fashion advertisements, some companies depict women with larger bodies in their advertisement campaigns. Previous experimental evidence suggests women may feel more satisfied with their own bodies immediately after viewing advertisements featuring these models. The current study aimed to extend these findings by examining the moderating role of trait body discrepancies and the presence of objectifying advertising slogans in advertisements. A sample of 202 undergraduate students who identified as female viewed advertisements depicted on Instagram that varied in the model’s body size (thin or plus-size) and slogan type (objectifying or empowering). Body satisfaction and actual-ideal body discrepancy were measured. As expected, the body size of the model significantly improved women’s body satisfaction and this effect was moderated by participants’ actual-ideal body discrepancy. No effects for objectifying slogans (versus empowering slogans) featured in the advertisements were discovered. The implications for these findings are discussed.