5-Minute Message: Mythbusting: “Standardizing Messages Is Critical”
There is growing pressure to standardize all preparedness messages – but different people need different guidance, and respond to different messengers. For example, poor and low-income people who struggle to have enough food every day will not benefit from being told to stockpile 7 days’ worth – instead, it will likely leave them feeling hopeless and unable to take any action. A more helpful message for lower-income communities would recommend aiming for 3 days of food and water, and would stress the benefits of having as much as they can comfortably sustain. It would also provide information about free and low-cost food resources in their community; something not widely recognized as “preparedness” education. Audiences differ in culture, language, resources, experiences and countless other ways that homogenized messages can’t address. Standardized messages only work if they are receivable, believable and achievable.
