Risk Communication, Overview

Risk

In finance and business, the term risk has several meanings. Sometimes it refers to the volatility of an investment or the likelihood that a certain use of money will cause unpredictable losses or gains. Financial risk managers are often responsible for investment strategy.

In social science, natural science, and technical fields, risk is often viewed as an index of the severity of a particular harm and the chances it will adversely affect people or the environment. For instance, people can be helped by a new pesticide that keeps their crops from being eaten by pests, but pesticide use can be harmful if those applying it fail to follow instructions or if it is manufactured in an area that lacks the infrastructure to support production of complex products. People disagree about the risks and benefits of phenomena such as pesticides, genetically modified organisms, processed foods, vaccination, and nuclear power. Because they disagree, communication about their management is challenging.

Risk Communication

The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) has defined risk communication as a process of exchange of information and opinion among individuals, groups, and institutions. The NRC said risk communication involves multiple messages not strictly about risk, such as messages that present opinions, legal analyses, and arrangements for risk management. The NRC authors explain that risk communication is not solely a one-way, expert-to-novice communication process. Instead, decisions to stop smoking, for example, might be more influential from a child urging a parent to quit than by recommendations from a physician or a medical association.

In addition to risk communication, there are several related academic fields. These include risk perception and risk management, disaster sociology, hazard communication, warnings research, emergency management, health communication, crisis communication, crisis informatics, and industrial hygiene. The lines between these fields and risk communication are blurry. Each shares a focus on situations where phenomena with potential for harm are perceived, analyzed, discussed, and managed. Those skeptical of risk communication view it as damage control and image restoration for organizations that have harmed the public. Others view it as a field capable of deepening understanding and improving communication about loss and harm.

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