Effects of Framing on Earthquake Risk Perception in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Abstract

The effects of framing are important to the perception of earthquake risk. This research investigated the effects of framing on the people’s perception of earthquake risk in Chiang Rai, Thailand. There were three frames conveying the same earthquake risk but presented in different terms. These statements were in frequency terms of building damage: 475 severely damaged private buildings in 500 years, 10% chance of occurrence in 50 years, and one severely damaged private building per year. The objective of this research was to determine whether framing the same earthquake risk in different terms led to different perceptions of the risk by different people, leading to 1. what would be the most effective framing type regarding severely damaged private buildings, 2. which affected people’s earthquake risk perception most, and 3. whether experiencing an earthquake disaster would change the risk perception of the residents. The result showed that presenting the risk as “one severely damaged private building per year” was the most commonly selected among the three frames and was statistically significant. This finding clarifies that short time frames influence people’s earthquake risk decisions, and agencies can effectively use framing to communicate the earthquake risk to people in seismic regions to stimulate their earthquake preparedness and to reduce future earthquake risk. However, earthquake experience does not change the risk perception of the residents.