Coping behaviors in short message service (SMS)-based disaster alert systems: From the lens of protection motivation theory as elaboration likelihood

Abstract

Short message service (SMS)-based disaster alert systems are used as critical methods that inform people of natural disasters. This study investigates how two different decision-making routes influence adaptive copings based upon users’ protection motivations. The two important routes, argument quality and source credibility, are presented as focal antecedents of coping adaptiveness. And perceived threat and coping efficacy are tested as a moderator as elaboration likelihood. To achieve these goals, we propose a theoretical framework and analyze survey data to test the hypotheses. The results illustrate that two elaboration likelihood variables show significant moderating roles in the proposed research model. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.