After the virtual flood: Risk perceptions and flood preparedness after virtual reality risk communication
Mol, J.M.; Botzen, Wouter; Blasch, J.E.
(2022) Judgment and Decision Making, volume 17, issue 1, pp. 189 - 214
(Article)
Abstract
Many individuals experience problems understanding and preparing for low-probability/high-impact risk, like natural disasters and pandemics – unless they experience these events, yet then it is often too late to avoid damages. Individuals with recent disaster risk experience are, on average, better prepared. This seems to be mediated through emotions and
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a better understanding of the consequences. In this study, we use immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to examine whether a simulated disaster can stimulate people to invest in risk reducing measures in the context of flooding, which is one of the deadliest and most damaging natural disasters in the world. We investigate the possibility to boost risk perception, coping appraisal, negative emotions and damage-reducing behavior through a simulated flooding experience. We find that participants who experienced the virtual flood invest significantly more in the flood risk investment game than those in the control group. The investments in the VR treatment seem to decrease after four weeks but not significantly so.
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Keywords: Flood preparedness, Risk communication, Risk perception, Virtual reality experiment, General Decision Sciences, Applied Psychology, Economics and Econometrics
ISSN: 1930-2975
Publisher: Society for Judgment and Decision Making
Note: Funding Information: This research has received financial support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) VIDI (452.14.005) grant. The funders have no role in the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. The authors thank Marco Otte and Nadine Kole from the Network Institute at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for technical assistance. Furthermore, we would like to thank conference participants at the Experimental Economics for the Environment Workshop in Heidelberg 2020 and the 2020 ESA Online Global Around-The-Clock-Meetings for valuable comments. Copyright: © 2022. The authors license this article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution. Funding Information: ∗Corresponding author. Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Center for Research in Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making (CREED), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Email: j.m.mol@uva.nl. ORCID: 0000-0002-8833-5125 †Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Utrecht University School of Economics (USE), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. ORCID:0000-0002-8563-4963 ‡Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. OR-CID:0000-0002-1082-9272 This research has received financial support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) VIDI (452.14.005) grant. The funders have no role in the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. The authors thank Marco Otte and Nadine Kole from the Network Institute at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for technical assistance. Furthermore, we would like to thank conference participants at the Experimental Economics for the Environment Workshop in Heidelberg 2020 and the 2020 ESA Online Global Around-The-Clock-Meetings for valuable comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Society for Judgment and Decision making. All rights reserved.
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