Social trust is a vital component of risk communication, determining its failure or success (Mc Comas,
2006; Haynes et al., 2008). Citizens tend to accept more easily information from authorities or organisms they trust, including their recommendations in the decision-making process. For example, in the case of natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, trusting official authorities can favor the adoption of preparedness and mitigation measures, and of appropriate life protection actions, such as evacuation, influencing community’s resilience for natural disasters (Becker et al., 2011). On the contrary, if authorities are not trusted, information and warnings may be ignored, putting citizen’s lives in danger (Becker et al., 2012; Carlino et al., 2008; Kapucu, 2008). Therefore, the identification of trusted and not trusted authorities or organisms can reinforce risk communication. Haynes et al. (2008), studying the volcanic hazard in Montserrat, found the most trusted organisms to be friends and family, followed by scientists, emergency management officials, the local newspaper, a community group, the government, and world press.The study of trust components can also aid the understanding of this complex concept, allowing the identification of factors to promote trust. For Renn and Levine (1991), the concept comprises perceptions of competence, the objectivity of information provided, fairness, consistency, and faith. According to Haynes et al. (2008), trust consists of perceptions of competence, the credibility of the information provided, the reliability of the information provided, integrity, care, fairness, and openness. The authors performed a backward multivariate regression analysis to verify which dimensions predicted trust in scientists and the government in Montserrat, finding (a) reliability of the information provided, competence, openness and integrity as predictors of trust in scientists, and (b) competence, reliability, and fairness as predictors of trust in the Government. Thus, reliability and competence seem to be determinant issues in institutional trust (Haynes et al., 2008).
Authority’s preparedness refers to the development of networks and enduring institutional relationships, plans and procedures, and to the acquisitions of knowledge, skills, and resources that foster the capability to deal with a disaster before it happens (Levac et al., 2012; Sutton and Tierney, 2006). Prepared authorities are more capable to face the adverse conditions imposed by natural disasters, thus they are more resilient (Bird and Gísladóttir, 2012; Boyle, 2012; Kapucu, 2008). For example, Bird and Gísladóttir (2012) reported the success of the emergency management authorities on the protection of the populations from the eruption of the of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, attributing it to training, and Heller (2010), analyzing the case of Hurricane Katrina, stated that better emergency planning and response could have prevented numerous human losses. Therefore, despite other variables that may be involved, one can assume preparedness as an important factor to the success of the disaster management actions, as it promotes the capacity of the authorities to deal with a disaster, and consequently their competence.
Acknowledging the mentioned research, this study explored the relationship between perceptions of preparedness of the Civil Protection of the Azores and general trust in this entity, considering the case of a volcanic eruption. It was used a stratified representative sample of residents in Vila Franca do Campo (n = 443), a town exposed to the volcanic risk due to its proximity to Fogo volcano, one of the active volcanoes of S. Miguel Island, Azores.
Contrary to other studies (Haynes et al., 2008) the results point to the Civil Protection of the Azores as the most trusted authority or organism in the case of a volcanic eruption, followed by the Firefighters. For the participants, the least trusted authority or organism was the Government, followed by the Police. Regarding perceived preparedness of the Civil Protection of the Azores, most participants consider it to be ‘somewhat’ prepared to respond to a volcanic eruption.
To verify if the perceived preparedness of the Civil Protection of the Azores was associated with the mentioning of this entity as the most trusted for the case of a volcanic eruption a Pearson’s Chi-square test was conducted. Test assumptions were verified. It was found a significant statistical association between the perceived preparedness of the Civil Protection of the Azores and the mentioning of this entity as the most trusted for the case of a volcanic eruption, X2 (4, N = 443) = 15.498, p = 0.004.
To extend the findings, it was performed a logistic regression to ascertain the effects of perceived preparedness on the likelihood that participants mentioned the Civil Protection of the Azores as the most trusted entity for the case of a volcanic eruption, when controlling for sex, age and education. The logistic regression model was statistically non-significant, indicating that perceptions of preparedness do not determine high levels of trust in the emergency management authorities, in this case, the Civil Protection of the Azores.
These results can have implications for risk communication and for the implementation of measures such as the evacuation of Vila Franca do Campo town in the case of a volcanic eruption.