The Roles of Place Attachment and Geovisualizations on Hurricane Storm Surge Risk Perceptions and Behavioral...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Risk Communication
• Human Geography

Background:

• Coastal communities face significant hurricane storm surge risks.
• Understanding residents' place attachment is crucial for effective risk communication.
• Geovisualizations are emerging tools for communicating complex environmental risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between place attachment and hurricane risk perceptions/behaviors.
• To assess the impact of geovisualizations on risk perceptions and intended protective actions.
• To explore how varying geovisualization features influence responses.

Main Methods:

• Survey of 1442 coastal residents in Georgia and South Carolina.
• Assessed place attachment, hurricane risk perceptions (exposure, susceptibility, severity, worry), and behavioral intentions.
• Experimental manipulation of geovisualizations depicting storm surge flooding with varied scale, dimensionality, and place features.

Main Results:

• Strong place attachment correlated with higher perceived exposure, susceptibility, severity, and worry regarding hurricane risks.
• Place attachment associated with increased intentions for protective actions (e.g., supplies, boarding up) and compliance with officials.
• Geovisualizations with realistic 3D storm surge increased perceived flood likelihood; some visualizations amplified behavioral intentions, even for those outside depicted flood areas.

Conclusions:

• Place attachment significantly influences how individuals perceive hurricane risks and their willingness to take protective actions.
• Geovisualizations can effectively alter risk perceptions but may have complex, unanticipated effects.
• Thorough testing of risk communication strategies, including geovisualizations, is essential to understand and mitigate potential unintended consequences.