On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

This paper reviews the state of the art on risk communication to the public, with an emphasis on summarizing relevant empirical findings. In particular, the paper reviews empirical results regarding the format of risk communication messages, the use of risk comparisons, audience differences, and the use of mental models as an aid in crafting effective risk communication messages. Later sections discuss the issue of credibility and trust in risk communication, and the use of stakeholder participation processes — important areas in which not as much rigorous empirical information is available. Due to the breadth of the topic, the paper is not intended to be a comprehensive review, but rather an overview of the voluminous literature in this area.