Media usage of evacuees in a multichannel environment

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine structural and psychological factors that may affect disaster evacuees’ usage of different media channels in a multichannel media environment. Design/methodology/approach: The present study uses the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake in Japan as the case study. It adopts a quantitative approach using structural equation modelling with data collected from an original questionnaire survey (n=744). Findings: The results show that the evacuees’ usage of almost all media channels is positively related to the number of different types of media terminals they had. That said, those who were evacuated mandatorily tend to utilise internet-enabled media channels more. It is also found that traditional broadcast and internet-enabled media channels complement each other instead of displacing. Thus, multichannel appears to be an effective means for disseminating disaster information. However, it is also found that having access to a particular media channel does not necessarily mean that people will utilise it. Practical implications: To fully utilise the multichannel media environment for disaster information dissemination, governments and media organisations also need to focus on the quality of the information being disseminated over both traditional broadcast and internet-enabled media channels. Originality/value: Few studies have empirically examined factors that affect disaster evacuees’ usage of different media channels in a multichannel media environment. This study fills this gap and the findings may help governments and media organisations in utilising multiple media channels to disseminate disaster information.