Communication and Risk Perception During the Coronavirus Pandemic: An Analytical Study According to the hazard and outrage approach

Abstract

The study aimed to examine health risks communication problematic, its strategies and how the public perceives them in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic, based on the approach of the American researcher, “Peter Sandman”, Hazard plus Outrage. The study found that the scale of a pandemic spread and intensity makes clear that public engagement is essential for effective risk reduction, and that communication planning stems from the health risk perception being a mixture between technical perceptions of the pandemic poses to the individual and society and levels of outrage that is controlled by various factors that determine the acceptance or non-acceptance of the risk and the decisions and measures taken to prevent or contain it, Similar to catastrophic potential, familiarity, understanding, and scientific uncertainty, personal control, volunteering, trust in institutions, media interest, and the public’s ability to create a feeling of outrage, Managing this health risk according to this approach is done through four communication strategies: Health education Advocacy for precautions, crisis communication, outrage management