COMMUNICATION CHANNELS AND RISK INFORMATION - A COST-UTILITY MODEL

Studies of risk communication examining channels emphasize the mass ve rsus interpersonal dichotomy. This approach has not produced entirely consistent results and has neglected to consider other potential attri butes of channels. This article presents and evaluates a model featuri ng cost and expected utility as fundamental aspects of communication c hannels. Within a case involving risk communication, people are shown to relate channel cost and expected utility to their evaluation of cha nnel usefulness. Recommendations are made for how these concepts might be developed in future research.