Mortality Salience and Mobile Voice Calling: A Case of a Massive Natural Disaster

Abstract

Observational studies have found that the frequency of mobile communication with close ties increases in times of emergency. However, the mechanisms underlying such increases are not well understood. Drawing upon terror management theory, this study predicted that increased mortality salience due to disaster promotes mobile voice calling to close ties. By analyzing digitally traced behavioral data, Study 1 found that mobile voice calls to close ties increased after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, especially in areas where there were severe tremors. Study 2 employed a field experiment and demonstrated that psychologically priming respondents to recall the earthquake led to an increase in the number of outgoing mobile voice calls to close ties, but not to non-close ties. The theoretical implications for mobile communication in time of disaster are discussed.