Risk communication, women's participation and flood mitigation in Vietnam: An experimental study. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Binh, Phung Thanh; Zhu, Xueqin; Groeneveld, Rolf A.; van Ierland, Ekko C.
• Is Part Of: Land use policy. Volume 95(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Floods -- Mitigation intention -- Protection motivation theory -- Risk communication -- Women; Land use -- Periodicals; Land use -- Government policy -- Periodicals; Sol, Utilisation du -- Périodiques; Sol, Utilisation du -- Politique gouvernementale -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 333.7305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104436
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-8377

Abstract

Highlights: Flood risk communication had more indirect effects on mitigation intentions through psychological variables than direct effects. Coping appraisal rather than risk perception was found to be the most significant factor of the flood mitigation intentions. Experience with the flood coping adoption rather than with the flood hazard was an important determinant of the mitigation intentions. The existence of wishful thinking and disaster subculture could hinder the shift toward integrated flood risk management in Vietnam. Women's participation did not make significant changes in households' intentions to take flood mitigation measures in Vietnam. Abstract: Flood risk management has become important more than ever, because an escalating threat of unpredictable and extreme weather is affecting flood-prone communities. People-centred risk communication has been proposed as an effective strategy that can stimulate people to protect themselves against flood risks. However, little research with a sound theoretical underpinning has been done to examine the effectiveness of such a strategy in developing countries. We use a field experiment to analyse how risk communication can influence households' intentions to implement mitigation measures. Our results show that communicating about the risk of floods and how to cope with floods significantly increased both threat and coping appraisals, and thereby motivated households to take more non-structural measures. While formal risk communication had certain direct effects on mitigation intention, informal risk communication percolated through psychological variables. Risk communication should focus on coping capacities for financial measures and address the problems of wishful thinking and disaster subculture of flood-prone households. Furthermore, women's participation in risk communication did not change the intentions to take mitigation measures of the male household heads in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.