Representative survey data from 2,068 respondents was collected at the same time as the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) distributed the brochure If Crisis or War Comes. By analyzing the responses of individuals who had read or not read the brochure, the study was able to gauge the impact of the crisis communication on defense willingness. The results show that individuals experiencing a higher sense of empowerment and perceiving a higher risk of war when having read the brochure were more willing to engage in total defense activities. This has important implications for the understanding of how specific types of crisis communication influence commitment and defense willingness in the population.
Bäck and Sjöstedt on the effects of authorities’ crisis communication on individual defense willingness
In times of new geopolitical challenges, the concept of total defense has been revived, in which all citizens contribute to national defense efforts. How authorities communicate this new strategy, and when such crisis communication leads to increased defense willingness, is an important issue that Hanna Bäck and Roxanna Sjöstedt, together with Amanda Remsö and Emma Renström from Kristianstad University, examine in a new article published in European Journal of International Security.