Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-13-2025
Abstract
Guided by the crisis and emergency risk communication model (CERC), this two-part study identifies strategies law enforcement currently use to crowdsource missing person (MP) information, and experimentally tests message characteristics that facilitate MP post sharing on social media. In study one, quantitative content analysis of 600 MP posts on X (Twitter) and linear regression analyses indicated that timeliness, empathy, and respect predict MP message engagement. These characteristics informed study two, in which participants (N = 377; 18 years or older, X [Twitter] users) were randomly assigned one pilot-tested MP message (i.e. timeliness, empathy, respect, or control). Parallel multiple mediation analyses indicated mixed support for CERC model utility during MP crises. This inquiry is one of the first to experimentally investigate the recently clarified CERC model propositions and extends its application to an other-oriented crisis. Results offer law enforcement recommendations on crafting MP messages that are more likely to spread on social media.
Recommended Citation
Kuchenbecker, C. M., & Ball, H. (2025). Facilitating social media engagement of missing persons posts: an application of the crisis and emergency risk communication model. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2025.2509950
Copyright
Taylor & Francis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Included in
Mass Communication Commons, Other Communication Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Social Media Commons
Comments
This is an Accepted Manuscript version of an article accepted for publication in:
Kuchenbecker, C. M., & Ball, H. (2025). Facilitating social media engagement of missing persons posts: an application of the crisis and emergency risk communication model. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2025.2509950
It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.