Examining the Effects of Instructional Risk Communication Associated with the Child Restraint System (CRS): Based on the IDEA Framework

Developing a comprehensive framework for instructional risk communication is crucial for effectively addressing the public’s risk perception and behavioural intention in road safety risks. Drawing upon the IDEA model as the theoretical framework, this study investigated the effectiveness of social media messaging by traffic police in China to advocate and popularise the use of child restraint system (CRS). Findings from an online quasi-experiment indicated that compared to the explanation-based (status quo) message, instructional risk messages designed according to the receiver-centred IDEA model were significantly more effective in raising parents’ risk perception, perceived importance of CRS, and perceived self-efficacy. Importantly, these messages appear to have some impact in encouraging parents to consider engaging in appropriate child passenger protection behaviours in a road safety risk situation. Additionally, that there is no statistically significant interaction effect between message type and various socio-demographic traits, suggests that additional expense and time of crafting customised messages may not be necessary. Theoretical and practical implications for road safety risk researchers and communicators are also discussed.