John William Cheng and Hitoshi Mitomo
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine structural and psychological factors that may affect disaster evacuees’ usage of different media channels in a multichannel…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine structural and psychological factors that may affect disaster evacuees’ usage of different media channels in a multichannel media environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study uses the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake in Japan as the case study. It adopts a quantitative approach using structural equation modelling with data collected from an original questionnaire survey (n=744).
Findings
The results show that the evacuees’ usage of almost all media channels is positively related to the number of different types of media terminals they had. That said, those who were evacuated mandatorily tend to utilise internet-enabled media channels more. It is also found that traditional broadcast and internet-enabled media channels complement each other instead of displacing. Thus, multichannel appears to be an effective means for disseminating disaster information. However, it is also found that having access to a particular media channel does not necessarily mean that people will utilise it.
Practical implications
To fully utilise the multichannel media environment for disaster information dissemination, governments and media organisations also need to focus on the quality of the information being disseminated over both traditional broadcast and internet-enabled media channels.
Originality/value
Few studies have empirically examined factors that affect disaster evacuees’ usage of different media channels in a multichannel media environment. This study fills this gap and the findings may help governments and media organisations in utilising multiple media channels to disseminate disaster information.
Details
Keywords
Toshiya Jitsuzumi, Hitoshi Mitomo and Hajime Oniki
There are manifold causal linkages between information and communications technologies (ICTs) and social sustainability. In this article, these linkages are classified into three…
Abstract
There are manifold causal linkages between information and communications technologies (ICTs) and social sustainability. In this article, these linkages are classified into three areas: direct improvement of corporate productivity, changed behaviour of people/organizations, and improved decision‐making capabilities within society. A framework is proposed to analyse the first two of these three linkages, together with the results of a questionnaire survey. These point to a continuous growth trend in Japanese ICT investment with sectoral variations, and statistically significant evidence of ICTs’ contributions to corporate operations and environmental issues.