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In liberal democracies, journalists can engage the government by unearthing its scandals. Authoritarian regimes, where negative news about the government is heavily guarded, lack this process. Yet, rulers in China do propagate political scandals about themselves. Why? I theorize that they do so to engage citizens with propaganda and strategically control their risk with Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). I test my theory by analyzing a novel dataset of news stories and reader comments posted by Chinese citizens over the course of China's anticorruption campaign between 2012 and 2015. My findings show that users' comments about stories of corrupt national officials were unexpectedly lower than those about lower-ranking officials. Such irregularity suggests that either algorithms or censorship suppressed comments on national-level corruption, which indicates the ruler's uneasiness toward propagating scandals that may implicate themselves. I also find that China's rulers reduce their risks by outsourcing reports of their scandals to media outlets less closely linked to the state. My findings show that advancements in ICT and increasing competition among new media firms can help authoritarian rulers finetune their propaganda by promoting self-damaging political messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) neglect the inverse effect of pollution transfer from environmental regulation interactions on pollution reduction from a risk analysis perspective. Based on the regional differentiated attitudes on the environmental regulation reached in risk communication by the risk awareness biases of multiple interest groups, this article clarifies the causality between risk communication and risk transfer based on multistakeholder engagement processes; furthermore, the article incorporates the simultaneous action of the technological innovation effect and pollution risk transfer effect to construct a spatial environmental hyperbolic model with a bidirectional correlation between pollution emissions and economic growth in different regions. To verify our model, we select the pollution from agricultural watersheds in China as a sample to examine the two inverse effects. The results demonstrate that (1) agricultural watershed pollution and economic growth show an inverted U‐shaped relation and a U‐shaped relation in the local region and adjacent regions, respectively; (2) the pollution reduction assessment of the classical EKC model can be largely attributed to pollution risk transfer behavior; and (3) the turning point of the U‐shaped curve appears earlier than that of the inverted U‐shaped curve in the spatial hyperbola model. The findings suggest that stakeholders should consider the risk awareness bias caused by the imbalance of regional economic development and the scenarios that provide a "haven" for pollution risk transfer. Moreover, our study expands the theoretical connotation of the classical EKC hypothesis and is more suitable for pollution reduction scenarios in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: This paper examines whether and how firms' engagement in related-party transactions (RPTs) is shaped by public communication of audit risks as required by the expanded audit report. Using the phased regulatory changes in China and a difference-in-differences design with firm fixed effects and matching, we find that firms significantly reduce their RPTs after the adoption of expanded audit reports (EARs). To investigate potential mechanisms, we find that (1) investor scrutiny increases after the adoption of EARs, (2) the reduction of RPTs is more pronounced when EARs are more likely to attract investor attention, and (3) the reduction of RPTs is weaker when firms are less concerned about investor scrutiny. The results suggest that EARs can attract investor scrutiny and increase the possible penalty associated with self-dealing, thus motivating firms to reduce RPTs. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: G30; G34; G38; M10; M16; M40; M41; M42: M48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process through which people and society begin to see and frame something as risky is complex. As risk communication practitioners play a critical role in fostering real-world risk governance, this study emphasizes the performative role of language in mobilizing symbolic resources to build and control risks from a communication standpoint. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used to reveal patterns of how two events – the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine dispute – were covered by the Chinese media, and speculate about the relationship between risk communication practice and its wider geopolitical context. Results revealed different frames were used for the two events, and that 'threat' was most frequently used when addressing the Russia-Ukraine dispute, whereas 'risk' was adopted for most COVID-19-related articles. Two themes were generated when interpreting the discourse through a critical geopolitical approach: 'From the COVID-19 Approach to the Political Systems' and 'China as a global Player through its peaceful Rise'. While China prefers to maintain peace in its interaction with other global actors, the Chinese government does not simply accept adversity, particularly when it comes to geopolitical conflicts derived from arbitrary ideological disagreements. The study adds to the current literature on the relationship between the practice and context of risk communication, as well as to the underrepresented regional online news coverage of risks and conflicts that focus on China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study provides real-world evidence for the relationship between strategic communication from a global/multinational perspective and the effectiveness of corporate message strategies in the context of environment risk communication. Among sustainability issues, particulate matter (PM) air pollution has threatened the health and social wellbeing of citizens in many countries. The purpose of this paper is to apply the message framing and attribution theories in the context of sustainability communication to determine the effects of risk message characteristics on publics' risk responses. Design/methodology/approach: Using a 2 (message frame: gain vs loss) × 2 (attribution type: internal vs external) × 2 (country: China vs South Korea) between-subjects experimental design, the study examines the message framing strategies' on publics' risk responses (i.e. risk perception, risk responsibility attribution held toward another country and sustainable behavioral intention for risk prevention). Findings: Findings include (1) main effects of message characteristics on participants' risk responses; (2) the impact of country difference on participants' differential risk responses and (3) three-way interactions on how risk message framing, risk threats type and country difference jointly affect not only participants' risk perception and risk responsibility attribution but also their sustainable behavioral intention to prevent PM. Research limitations/implications: Although this study used young–adult samples in China and South Korea, the study advances the theory building in strategic environmental risk communication by emphasizing a global/multinational perspective in investigating differences among at-risk publics threatened by large-scale environmental risks. Practical implications: The study's findings provide evidence-based implications such as how government agencies can enhance the environmental risk message strategy so that it induces more desired risk communication outcomes among at-risk publics. Insights from our study offer practical recommendations on which message feature is relatively more impactful in increasing intention for prosocial behavioral changes. Social implications: This study on all measured risk responses reveals important differences between at-risk young publics in China and South Korea and how they respond differently to a shared environmental risk such as PM. The study's findings provide new evidence that media coverage of global environmental issues needs to be studied at the national level, and cross-cultural comparisons are imperative to understand publics' responses to different news strategies. Thus, this study offers implications for practitioners to understand and apply appropriate strategies to publics in a social way across different countries so as to tailor risk communication messaging. Originality/value: This study offers new insights to help connect message framing effects with communication management practice at the multi-national level, providing recommendations for government communication practitioners regarding which PM message features are more likely to be effective in forming proper risk perception and motivate sustainable actions among at-risk publics in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the leading country in terms of environmental pollution production, China is experiencing increasing environmental risks. This study explored the types and severity perception of the public's environmental risk perception in China and examined the influence of different types of trust on environmental risk perception. The data used in the study were obtained from the Chinese General Social Survey 2013, which provides the best representative nationwide data in China. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to distinguish the types of environmental risk perception. Then, the influence of different trust on two types of environmental risk perception was examined by regression analysis respectively. The current study determined that living and natural environmental risk perceptions are two major types of environmental risk perceptions. Regression results revealed that trust in all the central and local government, in most people in society and in the media help to attenuate living environmental risk perceptions. For natural environmental risk perception, trust in the local government and in the media help reduce the public's risk perception. Compared with living environmental risk perception, the public held a relatively low perception of natural environmental risk. Promoting government trust (especially local government trust) and media trust could be a vital risk communication tool for effective environmental risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the first assessment of China's twenty-year experiment with food hygiene barometer rating systems, originally developed in the West for publicly communicating the grades awarded by food safety inspectors to individual businesses. This approach to regulating through disclosure is often celebrated for efficiently 'nudging' improved business compliance by empowering consumers to make 'better' decisions, but little is known about disclosure-based regulation in China or other low- and middle-income countries. Combining policy document and quantitative social media analysis with key informant interviews (n = 35), we show that barometers have failed to improve hygiene in China's rapidly expanding private food sector: more than 75% of restaurants in four diverse case-study localities remain merely 'Adequate' with many of those unable in practice to meet basic safety standards. This is because regulatory implementation has been hesitant and unreliable; consumers ignore or distrust barometers; and food businesses lack the capacity and competitive incentive to improve. That failure to empower consumer sovereignty and leverage business behaviour change, however, also reflects how barometers – despite their liberal individualist conceit - were adapted to China's revolutionary 'mass line' traditions of societal supervision of government regulators as much as food businesses. We conclude that barometers – far from being a 'light-touch' alternative to command-and-control regulation- require significant governance capacity, which may be lacking in low- and middle-income countries that struggle to conduct even basic regulatory oversight. Disclosure-based regulation also requires high levels of economic development, formalisation and trust to inculcate consumer and business responsiveness to information disclosures. Finally, our paper contributes to debates about risk communication and regulation by drawing the novel conclusion that the conceits underpinning seemingly universal tools of regulating through disclosure, get adapted to national state traditions and norms in ways that are far removed from their origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Based on text content analysis using big data, this study aims to explore differences in guest perceptions of peer-to-peer accommodations before and after COVID-19 to provide suggestions for the development of these properties in China postpandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A guest perception dictionary was established by collecting Ctrip customer reviews of peer-to-peer accommodations. After data cleaning, thematic word analysis and semantic association network analysis were used to explore perceptions and thematic differences before and after COVID-19. Findings: This research constructed a multidimensional framework of guest-perceived values for peer-to-peer accommodation in the context of COVID-19. The findings showed that the emphasis on functionality in peer-to-peer accommodation changed; perceived emotional values associated with peer-to-peer stays were more complex; perceived social values decreased, host–guest interactions were reduced and online communication became a stronger trend; tourist preferences for types of experiences changed, and people changed their destination selections; perceived conditional value was reflected in perceived risks, and the perceptions of environmental health, service and physical risks increased. Research limitations/implications: This research has constructed a multidimensional framework of tourist perceived value on the basis of peer-to-peer accommodation context and epidemic background and has thus shown the changes in tourist perceived value of peer-to-peer accommodation before and after COVID-19. Originality/value: To the best of authors' knowledge, this research constitutes the first attempt to explore the perceptual differences for peer-to-peer accommodations before and after COVID-19 based on an extensive data set of online reviews from multiple provinces of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban flood risk communication continues to challenge governments. Community-based organizations (CBOs) aim to rapidly detect deficiencies in capacity to deal with flood risk in vulnerable communities and disseminate accessible risk information to assist in the selection and implementation of risk mitigation measures. This paper discusses the methods through which CBO members think their work is beneficial in the response to urban floods. Grounded theory is utilized to guide a mixed-method approach that included semistructured interviews with CBO members (N = 34), participatory observations, and policy document analysis. The findings show that localization of risk knowledge and the emergence of new social networks are important factors in flood risk communication in vulnerable communities. This discovery may highlight the varied aspects of creating community resilience and explain why traditional risk communication is currently unsuccessful. Our findings also shed light on the priorities associated with urban flood risk communication. Only by linking flood risk management to actual livelihoods can we ensure the smooth execution of relevant disaster mitigation measures, especially for vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: With the frequent occurrences of telecom fraud crimes in China, it is very necessary and urgent to carry out effective anti-telefraud risk communication. In the present study, we investigated the role of metaphorical framing in shaping people’s attitudes toward telecom fraud in anti-telefraud messages through two experiments. Methods: Participants (N = 547, Experiment 1; N = 604, Experiment 2) were randomly assigned to war-framing, disease-framing, or issue-framing conditions. They were asked to read anti-telefraud messages where metaphorical frames were realized through multiple metaphorical expressions in Experiment 1 and relatively shorter messages where metaphorical frames were only instantiated through one metaphorical word in Experiment 2. Results: The results showed that participants without prior experience with telecom fraud perceived severity as significantly higher in the war-framing condition than in the issue-framing condition. Besides, the framing effects were only detected in Experiment 2 where the short anti-telefraud message with limited metaphorical information was provided. Discussion: The study reveals that even one metaphorical word is sufficient to build a framework for thinking about complex concepts, like telecom fraud, and prior experience with a certain risk can serve as a moderator of metaphorical framing on people’s risk perceptions. It is also found that the effectiveness of metaphors may be more salient in the genres of a short length such as anti-telefraud banners. The study can shed light on public legal educators whose job is to use effective ways to communicate telecom fraud risk to citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined initial newspaper coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak (January–May 2020) in the United States and China, countries with contrasting media systems and pandemic experiences. We join the context-rich media systems literature and the longitudinal nature of the issue-attention literature to expand each by providing more system-level context for explaining how media cover an issue over time. U.S. coverage peaked later and stayed consistently high, while Chinese coverage was more variable. The most prominent topics in Chinese coverage were related to domestic outbreak response, while U.S. coverage focused on politics, highlighting how issue-attention cycles differ across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the huge potential of social media, its functionality and impact for enhanced risk communication remain unclear. Drawing on dialogic theory by integrating both "speak from power" and "speak to power" measurements, the article aims to propose a systematic framework to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach: The impact of social media on risk communication is measured by the correlation between "speak from power" and "speak to power" levels, where the former primarily spoke to two facets of the risk communication process – rapidness and attentiveness, and the latter was benchmarked against popularity and commitment. The framework was empirically validated with data relating to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk communication in 25,024 selected posts on 17 official provincial Weibo accounts in China. Findings: The analysis results suggest the relationship between the "speak from power" and "speak to power" is mixed rather than causality, which confirms that neither the outcome-centric nor the process-centric method alone can render a full picture of government–public interconnectivity. Besides, the proposed interconnectivity matrix reveals that two provinces have evidenced the formation of government–public mutuality, which provides empirical evidence that dialogic relationships could exist in social media during risk communication. Originality/value: The authors' study proposed a prototype framework that underlines the need that the impact of social media on risk communication should and must be assessed through a combination of process and outcome or interconnectivity. The authors further divide the impact of social media on risk communication into dialogue enabler, "speak from power" booster, "speak to power" channel and mass media alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, smog has become one of the most disastrous weather events in China, hurting daily life and seriously affecting public health. To explore the school sports participants in a smog environment based on risk cognition and communication. This study used literature, questionnaire, and other research methods to deeply understand the current situation of school physical education in the haze weather environment. The spatial autocorrelation index tested the spatial agglomeration characteristics of smog pollution. As was evidenced, sports in a smog environment can cause physical discomfort and mild psychological stress. The significant difference in maximal oxygen uptake was p < 0.01. The level of students' perception of smog positively correlates with students' active of physical exercise, and it has a significant predictive effect. The explanatory power of smog perception level to resisting coping behaviour is 49.5 % (R2= 0.495, P < 0.001). Under the influence of smog, participants in school sports activities showed high smog risk cognition and weak coping behaviour, and schools showed low smog risk communication. Experience and policy supervision explain 50.1 % of the information on risk communication influencing factors, with high explanatory power. One can conclude that outdoor teaching and practice in physical education classes should be carried out because the outdoor air does not influence the human body to enhance physical fitness and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food additives play an important role in the food supply, and it has been a food safety topic of great concern to the public. There has been no systematic research on Chinese consumers' concerns, attitudes, feelings, or opinions on supervision and media coverage of food additives in the past decade, which is an area worth exploring. This study was carried out to deeply understand consumers' cognition of food additives and formulate food safety risk communication strategies of food additives in China. Big data of consumers' online public opinion of China on food additives from 2011 to 2020 was collected and cleaned up using Haina Network Public Opinion Monitoring System version 2.0 (HNPOMS V2.0), followed by data analysis and visual display with the Ansi Food Safety Risk Communication System version 2.0 (AFSRCS V2.0). The results showed that the types of food additives of concern to the public have changed from 2011 to 2020, but the amount of food additives has always been of concern. The type of incident that the public is most concerned about is the illegal addition or abuse of additives. The public's confidence in food production enterprises has been insufficient, but the functions of market supervision are becoming clearer and clearer, and their expectations are constantly increasing. Consumers' cognition level increases with the strengthening of publicity and popular science, but the influence of "self-media" on public cognition is increasing day by day, and there is cognitive deviation, making it easy to mislead the public. Consumers' cognition of food additives is the basis of risk communication. Combined with the research results, this paper puts forward corresponding suggestions on the market and social supervision measures, network media guidance strategy and risk communication strategy of China, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incessant food safety scandals in China have given rise to a loss of public trust in food safety, stimulating a series of studies focussing on food safety governance, accountability, and trust restoration. Against this backdrop, Chinese scholars are keen to reflect on different strategies for ensuring food safety public accountability and credibility, presenting different perspectives on issues like responsibility, trust, risk communication, and transparency. In this paper, we aim to get more in-depth insight into how Chinese scholarly debates co-construct public accountability for food safety as a public issue. We selected 51 articles from 10,790 candidates drawn from four Chinese academic databases for content analysis. Drawing from political theories on public accountability as well as science and technology studies, the analysis shows that arguments for a specific public accountability model (more or less centralised, more or less stakeholder participation) are intertwined with the specific role of scientific expertise (more or less authoritative, more or less democratising). As such, the analysis shows how scholarly debates on public accountability for food safety in China co-construct a public forum for discussing supervision and accountability, risk assessment, and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated how Chinese police engage with the public via WeChat to manage their image, communicate risks, and enhance legitimacy. Drawing on supervised machine learning and topic modeling of 162,981 posts by 31 provincial capital Chinese police forces on WeChat from 2013 to 2020, this study categorized three periods, encompassing six types of posts: image building, civil service, political broadcasting, crime broadcasting, crime prevention advocacy, and others. The results demonstrated a significant decline in image management posts during the pandemic, as the police prioritized risk communication. The research also highlights the increased use of political broadcasting posts during crucial political events. Furthermore, image management posts constitute a substantial portion of image-building content, while civil service posts increasingly emphasize risk communication, especially during the pandemic. In conclusion, the study provides valuable insights into the evolving presentation strategies of Chinese police on WeChat, revealing their multifaceted use of social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, this study aims to examine the key determinants that predispose individuals' online information seeking behavior and prevention intent during the COVID-19 outbreak. Through an online survey with 741 respondents in China, results indicate that affective responses, informational subjective norms, and information insufficiency are positively related to online information seeking about COVID-19. Furthermore, online information seeking is positively associated with prevention intent, and attitude toward prevention partially mediates this association. Finally, theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed in the context of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically engages with dynamics of the Chinese food safety governance infrastructure following the melamine crisis. It presents a qualitative analysis of 16 in-depth stakeholder interviews in Hunan, Hubei, and Henan. We reveal tensions between a segmented model of governance and a centralized model, between a centralized top-down model and stakeholder participation, and between a public model and a private, decentral market where corporate reputation must result in transparency and trust. Stakeholders also see gaps between ideals of inclusive, transparent, and participatory governance, and effective problem-solving. Governance of food safety in China, even when targeting inclusion and public accountability, remains heavily dependent on the central state as a pivotal actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public's voluntary adoption of protective actions is key in risk management, especially when strict regulations no longer apply. This research uses a nationwide sample to understand how cultural worldview influences public adoption of four protective actions against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) following the end of the first lockdown in China. Relying on Grid-Group Cultural Theory of risk and the Protective Action Decision Model, this research finds that cultural worldview rarely influences protective behaviors directly. However, mediational analyses reveal that cultural worldview can influence protective behaviors via protective action perception and trust in stakeholders but not via risk perception. This research finds that protective action perception and trust in stakeholders increase protective behaviors and the positive correlation between trust in stakeholders and protective behaviors is mediated by protective action perception. Moreover, hierarchy increases protective action perception and trust in stakeholders, individualism increases protective action perception but decreases trust in stakeholders, and fatalism decreases protective action perception. Other correlations of cultural worldview with protective action perception and trust in stakeholders vary with types of protective actions. These findings provide implications for behavioral governance and risk communication among diverse cultural groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Against the backdrop of the global public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed significant disparities in the supply and demand of risk information related to public health crises, posing severe challenges to risk governance in megacities. Shanghai, China, introduced community WeChat groups for community communication, effectively facilitating the dissemination and response of grassroots information and providing a new path for interactive governance in the community., Methods: This study collected 1006 questionnaires from residents of 350 communities in Shanghai through an online survey between June 10 and July 10, 2022. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the impact of different participants (including the community, core residents, and the combined community and core residents) on community risk communication, perceived communication quality, and dissemination themes related to COVID-19 on community communication satisfaction. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 core residents from different types of communities, focusing on the specific methods of risk communication through community WeChat groups and their ability to disseminate information, respond to, and solve problems., Results: Perceived information coverage and perceived response efficiency are significantly positively correlated with communication satisfaction. Notably, the speed of community information response has the greatest impact on communication satisfaction. Regarding COVID-19-related information dissemination themes, "community outbreaks, supplies, nucleic acids, outbreak prevention measures, and scientific content" all have a significant impact on communication effectiveness, with "nucleic acid testing information" having the greatest impact. Although the statistical data indicate that the participation of core residents in risk communication does not significantly affect communication satisfaction, it seems to be related to the size of the community, and the interview results further validate this conclusion., Conclusion: In the future, grassroots communities should consider the affordances of social media, recognize the significant correlation between risk communication and grassroots trust, and formulate more detailed and targeted risk communication strategies. In particular, incorporating core residents into "semiformal" grassroots organizations can improve community service quality, thereby enhancing community resilience in the face of public health emergencies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This study examines the relationship between cognitive and affective factors and people's information-seeking and -avoiding behaviours in acute risks with a 1,946-sample online survey conducted in February 2020, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that perceived information insufficiency correlates negatively with information-seeking behaviour and there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between information insufficiency and avoidance behaviour. As for the risk-related cognitive factors, information seeking increases as perceived severity of risks rises, while information avoiding increases as perceived susceptibility rises. Perceived response efficacy positively correlates with information-seeking and negatively with information-avoidance behaviours. Preliminary results also indicated that different affective factors relate to information-seeking and avoidance behaviours differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food safety risk communication has attracted widespread attention in China. The government is the leader in food risk communication. It has even more impact on consumers' willingness to communicate food risk. Thus, this paper constructs a risk communication game model composed of the central government, local government, and consumers under food safety regulatory agencies in China. Based on the evolutionary game theory, we achieved the evolutionary stable equilibrium points under complying different constraint conditions by solving the replicator dynamic equations of parties in the dynamic system. In the end, some numerical examples have been displayed to simulate the agents' choices. The results show that penalty cost, governance intensity, communication cost, and reputation of the government have an essential impact on consumers' enthusiasm for food safety risk communication decision-making behavior. Furthermore, the choice of food safety risk communication strategies is performed with a dynamic process, which is constantly adjusted and optimized. The evolutionary game system can converge on an ideal state under certain conditions. Moreover, this study proposes suggestions and measures conducive to the tripartite game, which can offer valuable guidance on food risk communication practice and improve government efficiency in China. This research can provide the evolutionary mechanism and broaden our understanding of the relationship between food safety risk governance and food risk communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close relationship between governments and their central banks generates risks for both partners. This paper presents an original qualitative empirical approach based on textual analysis of the United States of America, China, and their Central Banks' respective communications. These financial communications are the subject of comparison through a textual analysis to determine these actors' positions in the "cultural theory" and, more widely, the sociology of risk. The risk profiles identified of the United States of America Federal government and the People's Bank of China do not necessarily correspond to their legal status and economic role. These results also shed light on the fact that the cultural background cannot be separated from the risk perception in these countries. However, an eye needs to be kept on the geopolitics and securities risk factors that can influence the global economy's evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food safety risk communication (FSRC) is a very complex two-way system in China and its result strongly affects public confidence level to food safety regulation. In this study, a novel system dynamics (SD) model involving five communication organizations and 36 controlling parameters is established to investigate the interactive relationships among them and the dynamical behavior of FSRC. Subsequently, the nine optimization SD models with different objective functions are developed to investigate their capacities in producing controllable and optimal FSRC strategy. The results indicate that the proposed SD model is effective for the FSRC system to make effective risk assessment, management and decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 required risk communications to mitigate the virus' spread. However, social media not only conveyed health information to minimize the contagion, but also distracted from the threat by linking it to an externalized 'other'-primarily those appearing to be of Chinese descent. This disinformation caused the attribution of blame to Chinese people worldwide. In Canada's Greater Toronto Area, Chinese individuals reported widespread public stigma that compounded their risk of contagion; to the degree that it was driven by cognitive dissonance, it generated experiences of social and cultural vulnerability. In this paper, we draw on the aforementioned study's findings to explain how the risk perception and threat appraisal of Chinese diaspora individuals were impacted by different cognitive dissonance pathways. These findings explore how storytelling is a viable intervention with which to target and mitigate cognitive dissonance. Indeed, the mechanisms of cognitive dissonance can modify risk perception and mitigate social and cultural vulnerability, thereby averting potential long-term negative consequences for one's mental health and well-being. We hope our guidance, training educators to target pathways of cognitive dissonance by drawing on storytelling (with humour), can assist them to better convey information in ways that are more inclusive during public health emergencies.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants were among the most socially vulnerable in Western countries. The Chinese diaspora in Canada were one such group due to the widespread cultural stigma surrounding their purported greater susceptibility to transmit and become infected by COVID-19. This paper aims to understand the social vulnerability of the Chinese diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, during the first wave of COVID-19 from an explanation of their risk perception and threat appraisal of risk communication. We conducted secondary data analysis of 36 interviews using critical realism. The participants self-identified as being of Chinese descent. The results were used to develop a model of how social vulnerability occurred. In brief, cognitive dissonance was discovered to generate conflicts of one's cultural identity, shaped by social structures of (i) stigma of contagion, (ii) ethnic stigma, and (iii) public sentiment, and mediated by participants' threat appraisal and (iv) self-reliance. We assert that risk communicators need to consider their audiences' diverse socialization in crafting messages to modify behaviors, create a sense of responsibility, and mitigate public health threats. A lack of awareness of one's cognitive dissonance driven by cultural vulnerability may heighten their social vulnerability and prevent them from taking action to protect themself from high-risk events.

Information credibility is important for effective disaster communication, and its strength affects the evacuation willingness of residents. However, few reports have studied the correlation of information credibility and disaster risk perception with residents' willingness to evacuate during earthquake threats. Using survey data of 327 rural households located in four counties within earthquake-affected areas in Sichuan Province, this study systematically analyzed the credibility of public and private information about rural households, disaster risk perception and residents' evacuation willingness. After creating an ordinary least square regression model (OLS) to investigate the correlations of the above factors, the results showed that: (1) Both positive public information and negative private information were positively correlated with residents' evacuation willingness, and negative public information and positive private information were negatively correlated with residents' evacuation willingness; (2) the perceived severity of disaster was significantly correlated with residents' evacuation willingness, and the perceived probability of disaster was not significantly correlated with residents' evacuation willingness; and (3) both positive and negative public information indirectly affected residents' evacuation willingness through the perception of disaster severity. This study contributed to our understanding of the correlation of information credibility and disaster risk perception with evacuation willingness and provided important information for effective communication and disaster risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective is written to give a rapid response to discuss the role of media in risk communication in the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze two sets of media data, China's social media and global news event, and draw a few initial observations in relation to the impacts of China's information control policy, global risk governance, and the role of WHO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating risk communication and community engagement into the national public health emergency response is crucial. Considering the difficulties and challenges faced by China in the prevention and control of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) and based on interim guidelines from the World Health Organization, this article makes several recommendations addressing the outbreak in China. These include improvements in the internal governmental risk communication systems, enhancing the coordination between internal and partner governmental emergency management, and promoting public communication in response to societal concerns. Regarding these recommendations, we emphasize community engagement in joint prevention and control, confronting uncertainty and countering rumors effectively, and strengthening international cooperation and evidence‐based decision making for prevention and control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a careful understanding of the impact of information dependence on public attitudes (PAs) towards genetically modified (GM) technology in China by employing a structural equation modelling approach. Results in this study provide further empirical evidence to support the point of view that PAs towards GM technology vary with their information dependence. Information evaluation is the reasoning mechanism between information dependence and the perception of risks and benefits, ultimately determining PAs towards GM technology. Empirical results can serve as the basis for risk communication, suggesting that the public sector, scientific institutions, scientists, and officials must be more active in sharing scientific knowledge about GM technology with the public by developing more open channels for the dissemination of authoritative information, and public education is also needed. On the other hand, the medias' discourse system on GM technology should return to the scientific field for inspiring a rational attitude towards GM technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ABM can couple the social and flood processes and then simulate the psychological responses to flash flood warnings. • The longer lead time for flash flood warnings in the early stages does not guarantee the better performance in evacuation. • Risk communication is an effective and a robust way to improve the evacuation performance. Flash floods, as a common disaster, cause serious casualties and economic losses every year. Flash flood warnings have been taken as one of the most important ways to prevent flash food disasters through triggering evacuation. The flash flood warnings will not be effective without positive human responses to the warnings. However, few studies have been conducted to simulate the human responses to the flash flood warnings and find ways to improve the evacuation performance. As the response processes involve the interactions between social and natural systems, this study proposed an agent-based model (ABM) suitable for solving the complex system problem to simulate the human responses to the flash flood warnings. There are three sub-modules, namely early warning, social, and flood sub-modules, and their interactions in the ABM. The ABM was applied to Liulin Town, China, which experienced a severe flash flood disaster on August 12, 2021. The results highlight that the longer lead time for flash flood warnings in the early stages does not guarantee the better performance in evacuation. A low trust level in early warning information refrains residents from evacuating through making them tend to wait for the evacuation of others, especially when no pioneer evacuates. People-centered risk communication is more effective than the one-size-fits-all approach, even this top-down communication approach can reach more residents. And risk communication is more robust than engineering measures to reduce casualties under extreme rainstorms. These findings demonstrate that the proposed ABM is an effective tool to understand the human responses to the flash flood warnings for improving the evacuation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how risk communication and risk perception related to the pandemic affect tourists' intention to engage in pro-environmental travel behavior. An online survey was conducted, yielding 449 valid responses. The data was analysed using Partial Lease Square – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results indicate that risk communication and cognitive risk perception significantly impact pro-environmental travel behavioral intention (PETBI). Although the output of PLS-SEM does not support the positive effect of affective risk perception on PETBI, the results of fsQCA support this relationship. Additionally, this study confirms the mediating role of cognitive risk perception between risk communication and PETBI. Environmental responsibility is found as a significant mediator between affective and cognitive risk perception and environmental moral obligation, while environmental concern is established as a significant mediator between cognitive risk perception and environmental moral obligation. Although social influence did not moderate the relationship between environmental moral obligation and PETBI, based on the results of the fsQCA, it can positively influence PETBI. These findings provide valuable insights for the tourism industry in China and other countries, enabling them to develop effective strategies to address risk communication and perception of the pandemic and promote pro-environmental travel behavior. Furthermore, the study offers theoretical and managerial implications for scholars and practitioners alike. [Display omitted] • This study has developed and tested a conceptual model of tourists' PETBI based on : Attribution Theory, Terror Management Theory, and the Norm Activation model. • This study conceptualized risk perception in terms of affective and cognitive risks and analysed their combined effect. • This study developed and tested new relationships. • This study employed fsQCA analysis alongside PLS-SEM methodology to gain a comprehensive understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the chemistry between information dissemination channels and receivers has hindered the development of efficient risk communication strategies. Hence, this study proposes an exploratory framework that evaluates streaming video attractiveness crossing message contents as well as streaming video attributes and formats. The study employs a series of statistical analyses on 235 COVID-19-related videos collected from the Bilibili video-sharing website in China during the first wave of the pandemic. The results indicate significant differences between live-action introductory videos, evidence-based presentation videos, and animations in community power, receiving capacities, message contents, and attractiveness. Notably, message content emerged as the most critical factor in determining a video's attractiveness, while animations can adjust the effects of different message types. The findings facilitate the efficient dissemination of risk messages by specifying which video formats are more effective in communicating which types of risk messages. Additionally, it highlights that the use of animations can enhance the level of attractiveness. The proposed framework and findings can be utilized in future research and practical applications to develop more comprehensive risk communication strategies. • The study examines video attractiveness in communicating risk messages. • Video formats differ in reception, message structure, and attractiveness. • Message contents are the most critical factor in determining video attractiveness. • Animations are unique in adjusting message contents' effects on attractiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do resources available to regulatory agencies matter for public perceptions of social risks? In this paper we use the case of food safety in China to empirically examine the relationship between regulatory resources and risk concerns. The multilevel model estimates suggest that neither regulatory revenue nor personnel is significantly related to public concerns over food safety. There is also no significant interaction effect between regulatory resources and food scandals. Despite the fact that sufficient fiscal revenue and manpower are the prerequisites of effective food safety regulation, they do not elicit more favorable public perceptions. These are the two missing links leading to the insignificant effect of regulatory resource inputs. First, ineffective distribution and deployment of resources and the lack of external participation retard the growth of regulatory capacity. Second, underinvestment in risk communication and the amplification effect of risks undermine regulatory legitimacy. We discuss the theoretical and policy implications of the results, and conclude with research limitations and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster resettlement, as a mitigation and preparedness measure, entails significant economic, physical, and social impacts, which continue to challenge understanding of recovery from major events, especially regarding the extent of the context and environmental efforts to rebuild livelihoods. Based on a case study of Qinling Mountains, China, this research investigates the effects of disaster resettlement from a livelihoods perspective. Methodologically, it proposes a framework that combines the pressure–state–response framework and the sustainable livelihoods approach, and it employs a structural equation model to examine how specific factors affect disaster resettlement. The results indicate that conflicts may occur during and after resettlement owing to the difference or disparity between the concerns of resettled peasants and those of the government. Consequently, the risks related to livelihoods need to be taken seriously. Effective risk communication is critical to bridge the gap between different stakeholders. The paper concludes with some practical and policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear power development is a controversial issue in the post-Fukushima era. Outlining the effective risk communication strategies is very important. This study attempts to examine the determinants of information-seeking intentions in the context of nuclear power risks. Guided by risk information-seeking models, such as the risk information seeking and processing, this study developed a conceptual model to explore this issue. A survey of the residents ( N = 487) near the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant significantly validated the hypothesized causal relations. Perceived knowledge about nuclear power is important in predicting the perceived risk, information need, and information-seeking intentions. The information need and channel beliefs are significant predictors of information-seeking intentions. Moreover, results also suggest the mediating role of information need in the information-seeking process. However, information-seeking intentions are indirectly, rather than directly, stimulated by perceived risk. Implications and further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines risk communication and perception differences via social media in the context of crisis management. Based on data from the Shifang Protest, this study constructed a relational matrix identifying how critical actors facilitated risk communication and interactions. In addition, the article identified measures of network structure and risk perception differences with Social Network Analysis (i.e. density, centralization, structure holes and subgroups) using UCINET software program along visual structures with NetDraw. Key findings of this study include: a) ranked actors controlled most of the information resources and threat diffusion; b) the level of interaction between government users and others users is extremely low; and c) divergence occurred between personal (informal) and official (formal) nodes in the context of risk perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although recent research suggests that Twitter and other forms of micro-blogging are becoming increasingly relied upon by both the public and response agencies dealing with crises and disasters, little is known about how these dynamics may play out in a non-Western context. The current study examines the use of the Chinese Weibo service during a 2013 smog emergency, and compares user generated content to that found in earlier data concerning a weather event in North America. The results indicate that by way of comparison, the Weibo sample contained proportionately similar degrees of informative and affective content, but that users were less likely to use humor and showed no increase in affective outpouring as the crisis developed. Results are discussed in terms of implications for those designing social media campaigns for informing and motivating those affected by large-scale weather-related crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we employed the Extended Parallel Process Model of risk communication to investigate the effectiveness of combining threat and efficacy messages to increase public engagement with climate change. A total of 515 Mandarin-speaking residents of Beijing, China were randomly assigned to view one of two climate change messages sourced from an online environmental website. The first message (high threat - low efficacy) described the negative impacts of climate change for China, but provided no information about what actions could be taken by citizens to reduce the threat. The second message (high threat - high efficacy) provided the same threat information, but also provided practical information on how to reduce the threat. Mediation analyses revealed that the high threat - high efficacy message elicited higher levels of perceived efficacy in viewers, which in turn predicted higher levels of danger control processing (intention to seek our more information and take action) and lower levels of fear control processing (message rejection and denial of threat). Moderation analyses revealed that the high efficacy messages were less effective for viewers with moderate to strong anthropocentric worldviews and very high ecocentric worldviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the Chinese public’s risk perceptions of genetically modified (GM) food from the 1990s to 2015. We adopt socio-psychological and cultural approaches to investigate factors underlying the change of the Chinese public’s perceptions of the risk of GM food in this period. The analysis involves surveys of ‘Chinese publics and biotechnology’, Chinese newspaper coverage of GM food and website and social media sources. Our main finding is that the Chinese public’s risk perceptions of GM food have gone through three different phases: from ‘ignorant of the risk’ in the 1990s, to ‘tolerant of the risk’ between 2000 and 2009, to ‘mindful of the risk’ from 2010 to 2015. Among a variety of factors, social, economic and political transformations in China occurring over the same three decades as our investigation are major factors underlying the change of Chinese public’s risk perception of GM food. Furthermore, with the prominence of risk perception in recent years, as of yet there are no effective mechanisms for coping with the problems of risk communication and management that we have detected; this lack may impede the future development of GM food. We suggest that more studies are necessary to further investigate risk communication and risk governance issues, thereby contributing to better decision making with regard to GM food and risk governance of science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies on disaster-risk management from the humanistic perspective have focused on disaster-risk perception as the starting point and ignored the important role of risk communication in shaping individual risk perception and changing behavioural responses. Taking Sichuan Province―a typical disaster-prone province in China―as an example and selecting rural residents in mountainous areas threatened by multiple disasters as interviewees, this study measured the characteristics of interviewees' disaster-risk communication in the four dimensions of content preference, channel selection, communication frequency and communication form, and appraised the levels of their disaster-risk perceptions in the four dimensions of possibility, threat, self-efficacy and response efficacy. Additionally, econometric models were used to explore the chain of disaster-risk communication, perceptions and relocation decisions in different scenarios in the context of multiple disasters. The results revealed two main findings. (1) In the scenario where social relations promoted the relocation decision, interviewees derived their relocation decisions by two action paths: disaster-risk communication indirectly influenced relocation decisions through risk perception and disaster-risk communication directly influenced relocation decisions. For the indirect action path, the disaster-risk communication of interviewees had a significant impact on their risk perceptions, and self-efficacy and response efficacy played effective roles in their relocation decisions. For the direct action path, some channels of access to information and indicators of the communication form were significantly correlated with the relocation decision. (2) In the relocation-decision scenario promoted by the government, interviewees derived their relocation decision only by their disaster-risk communication. In risk communication, some channels of access to information and the communication forms of residents were significantly correlated with their relocation decisions, while the role of disaster-risk perceptions was ineffective. • The path of 'risk communication.→ perception → relocation decision' was verified. • The path of 'risk communication.→ relocation decision' was also verified. • Risk communication played a significant role on relocation decision. • Risk perceptions worked on relocation decision driven by social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two options for environmental tort remedy in China: resorting to environmental administration or environmental justice, with an ongoing debate over which of the two should lead. Firstly, it compares the structure of China's environmental tort remedy system and the two types of power: administrative power and judicial power, concluding that administrative power is dominant. Then, it argues for the indispensability of judicial power, attempts to find a clear boundary between the two sides, and justifies their mutual division of labor and collaboration. Through sufficient demonstration, it clarifies why the dominant position of environmental administrative power must be guaranteed. Then, it summarizes the experience of other countries and the practice of environmental protection in China; and provides three innovative paths of the future environmental rights remedy system. These three aspects are setting up a review procedure for administrative priority judgment before filing an environmental lawsuit, establishing the independent position of experts in environmental litigation, advocating a risk communication mechanism other than litigation, and providing a richer institutional guarantee for the relief of environmental rights.

Since the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), characterized by solid infectivity, rapid communication and diverse communication routes, has become widespread worldwide. This study investigates the motivations of older adults to exercise and keep fit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research is based on a survey of older adults in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. It adopts the event strength system theory as a conceptual framework and the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory for causal inferences. (1) the perception of COVID-19's novelty had a significant negative impact on older adults" intention to exercise and stay fit, and the perception of COVID-19's disruptiveness and criticality had a significant positive impact on older adults" intention to exercise and fitness; (2) The perception of COVID-19's novelty had a significant negative effect on risk cognition, and the disruptive and critical cognitions had a significant positive effect on risk perceptions; (3) risk perceptions had a prominent positive effect on older adults" intention to exercise and fitness; and (4) risk communication played an important moderating role between COVID-19 event strength cognition and older adults' intention to exercise and fitness. The study revealed that the perception of COVID-19's seriousness significantly impacted older adults" intentions to exercise and keep fit and that risk perception and communication acted as mediating factors., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

COVID-19 has given rise to a surge in the number of policy instruments used to deal with the pandemic at different levels of governments globally. While much attention has been placed on travel bans, lockdown, social distancing, and economic stimulus packages, government dissemination of epidemic information as a policy instrument has received less attention. Based on 14,637 news items collected from the portals of 79 municipal governments in China, this study aims to 1) conduct a content analysis of news items and construct three key attributes of governments' practices of epidemic information dissemination, namely, comprehensiveness, responsiveness, and the protection of privacy, and 2) study the patterns and determinants of the dissemination of epidemic information. Our results show that these cities vary substantially in how they disseminate statistical data and information on individual cases of COVID-19 infections within their localities, which are shaped by government performance in open data, severity of the pandemic, cities' administrative level, population, and health sector capacities. The findings generate theoretical and policy implications for government dissemination of epidemic information. • We examined government dissemination of epidemic information through three dimensions: comprehensiveness, responsiveness, and privacy protection. • We collected data from the portals of 79 municipal governments in China to explore the patterns and determinants of the dissemination of epidemic information by local governments. • Practices in epidemic information dissemination are shaped by government performance in open data, severity of the pandemic, and socio-economic factors such as cities' administrative level, population, and health sector capacities. • Better performance in open government data is correlated with better performance of disclosing information comprehensively and higher risks to data privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The affordance of microblogging services has made them an ideal tool for communicating risk and crisis. However, research on social media and risk communication is still in its infancy. This study, following the uses and gratifications framework, attempts to give some insight into the way micro-bloggers communicate about risk by investigating food safety communications on the microblogging service in China. A content analysis was conducted on 6186 microblog posts relating to 12 recent food safety incidents in China. A series of bivariate chi-square tests was conducted to test the association between micro-bloggers and gratifications. The results indicate that different types of micro-bloggers gratify different needs. Compared to other types of micro-bloggers, the general public tends to use microblogging to express opinions on food safety incidents, regulation and/or policy, rather than simply disseminating information; members of the public enjoy fewer multimedia affordances in their microblog posting but express more negative feelings. Although we anticipate growth in the use of social media in environmental health communication, caution is still needed: communication in China still follows a traditional top-down pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine the ways in which media frames and rhetorical devices in the Chinese media shaped the representation of the genetically modified (GM) golden rice. We draw on a study of Chinese media representations of an experiment designed to test the efficacy of golden rice as a source of Vitamin A using school children in China’s Hunan province as subjects. The study analysed Chinese web news stories about the Hunan experiment posted between 30 August 2012 (when Greenpeace first reported on the issue) and 30 October 2012. This experiment resulted in allegations of breaches in scientific protocols and created a hostile public reaction. The incident fuelled the long-standing debate about the risks and benefits of GM crops in China. In this article, we analyse 25 online news reports, examining the attitudinal orientation of the articles, the readers’ comments on the articles and GM crops, the writing style and rhetorical devices employed, the emotions provoked and the frames manifest and embedded in these articles and comments. We found that although only one-third of the articles manifested an obviously negative attitude towards golden rice and GM foods, their use of strident metaphors and analogies were designed to arouse readers’ fear and concerns about GM crops. In the anti-golden rice articles, we identified conspiracy frames, including the view that the West was using genetic engineering to establish global control over agriculture and that GM products were instruments for genocide. The pro-golden rice articles emphasised the scientific humanitarian progress, but it appears to be less attractive to the readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For several decades scholars have studied media reporting on scientific issues that involve controversy. Most studies so far have focused on the western world. This article tries to broaden the perspective by considering China and comparing it to a western country. A content analysis of newspaper coverage of vaccination issues in the UK and China shows, first, that the government-supported ‘mainstream position’ dominates the Chinese coverage while the British media frequently refer to criticism and controversy. Second, scientific expertise in the British coverage is represented by experts from the health and science sector but by experts from health agencies in the Chinese coverage. These results are discussed with respect to implications for risk communication and scientists’ involvement in public communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Investigate how the speech context of news conferences reveals the risk communication strategies for health authorities during COVID-19 and measure the evolution of those risk communication strategies. Methods: We collected news conference transcripts concerning COVID-19 for the first quarter from the official websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHC) in 2020. Quantitative analyses were conducted on the topics and emotions of transcripts to measure the evolution of risk communication strategy. A total of three types of analysis were carried out in our study: topic, sentiment, and risk communication evolution analyses. Results: The trending topics and the number of these in the two institutions evolved with the infection status. The CDC and NHC maintained primarily neutral sentiment, while the non-neutral sentiment of the CDC swung more dramatically. Furthermore, the changing pattern of risk communication evolution for the CDC and NHC varied, where the latter had a more stable change routine. Conclusion: Our study finds that the strategies could be measured by topic variation, emotional expressions, and confirmed cases. The CDC and NHC tend to adopt different risk communication strategies and have specific change routines facing the pandemic. In addition, our findings contribute to addressing the WHO research agenda for managing risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, which helps health authorities formulate and measure risk communication strategies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Yuan and Pang.)

Non-adaptive evacuation behavior refers to a safety risk that cannot be disregarded throughout the evacuation process. In order to lower the risky behavior of evacuation, enhancing people's psychological states and behaviors plays a significant role. This study developed a conceptual model connecting risk communication and non-adaptive evacuation behavior by analyzing the interaction between risk communication, risk perception, emotional exhaustion, and non-adaptive evacuation behavior. The structural equation model was adopted to analyze the 557 questionnaires collected, by which the findings demonstrated that risk communication has a negative impact on non-adaptive evacuation behavior, which is also indirectly affected by risk perception and emotional exhaustion. With the aim to prevent non-adaptive evacuation behavior during the evacuation process, enterprises and organizations can adjust the behavior level, psychological state, and physiological condition of individuals from the perspectives of risk communication, risk perception, and emotional exhaustion.

Abstract: The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) was originally developed in Canada. However, little is known about its validity in communicating morbidity risks. We aimed to establish the AQHI in Shanghai, China, and to compare the associations of AQHI and existing Air Pollution Index (API) with daily mortality and morbidity. We constructed the AQHI as the sum of excess total mortality associated with individual air pollutants, and then adjusted it to an arbitrary scale (0–10), according to a time-series analysis of air pollution and mortality in Shanghai from 2001 to 2008. We examined the associations of AQHI with daily mortality and morbidity, and compared these associations with API from 2005 to 2008. The coefficients of short-term associations of total mortality with particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10μm (PM10), PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were used in the establishment of AQHI. During 2005–2008, the AQHI showed linear non-threshold positive associations with daily mortality and morbidity. A unit increase of the PM10-AQHI was associated with a 0.90% [95% (confidence interval, CI), 0.43 to 1.37], 1.04% (95%CI, 0.04 to 2.04), 1.62% (95%CI, 0.39 to 2.85) and 0.51% (95%CI, 0.09 to 0.93) increase of current-day total mortality, hospital admissions, outpatient visits and emergency room visits, respectively. The PM2.5-AQHI showed quite similar effect estimates with the PM10-AQHI. In contrast, the associations for API were much weaker and generally statistically insignificant. The AQHI, compared with the existing API, provided a more effective tool to communicate the air pollution-related health risks to the public. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]