UV rays, electromagnetic fields or natural radioactivity such as radon are almost omnipresent, but invisible to us humans. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) therefore has the task of informing the public comprehensively about radiation and promoting protective measures.
Our research project investigated the effects of different information materials on the risk perception and risk understanding of recipients for the BfS. The aim was to understand how the information materials work and whether they need to be adapted. This was done using selected BfS information materials and maps as examples.
First, the current state of research was reviewed and the effects of selected BfS materials were evaluated and tested in qualitative analyses and two behavioural experiments.
The first experiment showed that the information materials had a positive effect on the recipients: Their knowledge increased as a result of viewing, risk perception was sharpened and high levels of protective intentions were reported. It was of secondary importance which information material (PDF brochure, (interactive) website or Instagram post) was viewed. It is therefore important that target groups are reached with BfS information materials; the quality of the materials already seems appropriate.
In the second experiment, the revised BfS maps were able to further sharpen risk perception and promote map comprehension. Here, too, the most important thing was that the maps reached the recipients at all.
More information on the project is available here.
The final report is available here.