Risk Here vs. Risk There: Intention to Seek Information About Gulf Coastal Erosion

Abstract

The Gulf coast is losing land to erosion at a rapid rate. Applying the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM; Kahlor, L. (2010). PRISM: A planned risk information seeking model. Health Communication, 25(4), 345–356), this survey research examines the cognitive and affective determinants of individuals’ intention to seek information about Gulf coastal erosion, and the moderation effect of geographic distance on the proposed relationships through multigroup Structural Equation Modeling. Results showed that PRISM performs well in this novel context, confirming its robustness. Further, the relationship between knowledge insufficiency and information seeking intent was stronger for Gulf residents than residents of other states. The results suggested that PRISM can increase its explanatory power by including a psychological distance factor. Also, communication about Gulf coastal erosion to local residents should focus on their lack of knowledge of this risk.