INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: LOOKING A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH A Paper Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the North Dakota State University Of Agriculture and Applied Science By Aleczandre Nikoluas Cole-Corde In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major Program: Emergency Management Department Name: Emergency Management March 2013 Fargo, North Dakota North Dakota State University Graduate School Title INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: LOOKING A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH By Aleczandre Nikoluas Cole-Corde The Supervisory Committee certifies that this disquisition complies with North Dakota State University’s regulations and meets the accepted standards for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: Dr. George Youngs Chair Dr. Daniel Klenow Dr. Carol Cwiak Dr. Gregory Sanders Approved: March 22, 2013 Dr. Daniel Klenow Date Department Chair ABSTRACT Informal material convergence behavior is the spontaneous movement of unsolicited donations from donors to emergency management for disaster relief activities. This behavior is widely accepted as an appropriate social response after disasters. However, this behavior frequently results in excessive amounts of unsolicited donations which create numerous problems for emergency management. Most donors appear unaware of the issues associated with contributing unsolicited donations. The challenge is to reeducate the media and the public about what are considered the appropriate types of donations to contribute for disaster survivors. Informal material convergence behavior is a problem that can be resolved through social- psychological approaches. Social-psychological research can be used in donation strategies to help solve this problem. This includes incorporating persuasive techniques into hazard awareness messaging, using technology and social media to convey the messaging, and conducting more disaster research and monitoring to ascertain if messaging is received, interpreted, and acted upon as intended. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been blessed to have had so much support and assistance. With much gratitude and thanks I first want to acknowledge God Almighty, for He has generously given me His divine love, mercy, and kindness throughout this process. “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” 1 John 4:16. I want to thank Christ Jesus, the Lord and Savior of my life, through grace and faith I have been redeemed. “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” Ephesians 2:7-9. I want to thank the Holy Spirit for all the divine inspiration, guidance, and providence that I have received exactly when it was needed. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” John 14:26. With very special thanks, appreciation, and much gratitude I am very beholden to Dr. George Youngs for his excellent stewardship, governance, and supportive voice as the head of my graduate committee. I would like to express much gratitude to Dr. Daniel Klenow, Dr. Carol Cwiak, Dr. Greg Sanders, and Dr. D.K. Yoon for their superb guidance throughout my graduate education. Much thanks to friends and colleagues, Dr. Jessica Jensen and Jeanine Neipert, for their continued support, guidance, and camaraderie. I would like to thank the Department of Emergency Management at North Dakota State University for their excellent support and tutelage. Lastly, I am thankful to my mother Gail Green for continually praying for me to follow God’s plan for me. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28. iv PREFACE According to The Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms (2003) to look a gift horse in the mouth means “to criticize or refuse to take something that has been offered to you.” This idiom often follows the words “never” or “not” as in this example: never look a gift horse in the mouth. The McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs (2002) defines this in the figurative: “to be ungrateful to someone who gives you something; to treat someone who gives you a gift badly.” The etymology of gift horses comes from the notion that the age and the potential value of horses can be determined by looking inside their mouths at the condition of their teeth – also known as long in the tooth (Cambridge, 2003). The indication is that it is considered disrespectful to inspect for flaws in what is given and received freely. Don't look a given horse in the mouth first appears in English print in 1546 in John Heywood’s A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue: “No man ought to looke a geuen hors (i.e., gift horse) in the mouth.” The English version likely comes from the 5th Century writer Jerome in The Letter to the Ephesians: “Equi donati dentes non inspiciuntur” (A given horse’s teeth are not inspected) or “Noli equi dentes inspicere donate” (Never inspect the teeth of a given horse) (Funk, 1948; Titelman, 1996). Although scholars disagree on the exact origin of this idiom, in modern terms, this is what can be derived: receivers should be thankful for what is given to them and not insult givers by inspecting gifts for value and usefulness. However, when it comes to unsolicited donations contributed to emergency management for disaster relief activities, it is wise to examine informal material convergence behavior and look the gift horse in the mouth. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv PREFACE ............................................................................................................................v CHAPTER ONE. CONVERGENCE POINTS: INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT .........................1 CHAPTER TWO. HISTORICAL IMPACTS OF INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR ON DISASTER RELIEF ACTIVITIES ........................16 CHAPTER THREE. CURRENT STRATEGIES USED TO CONTROL INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR AND UNSOLICITED DONATIONS .....34 CHAPTER FOUR. USING SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH TO MODIFY INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR.............................................47 CHAPTER FIVE. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? .................................................73 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................87 vi CHAPTER ONE. CONVERGENCE POINTS: INFORMAL MATERIAL CONVERGENCE BEHAVIOR AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Informal material convergence behavior and its effects on emergency management and disaster relief activities in the aftermath of disasters are examined. Disasters are described as the “central gravitational field for convergence” that attracts people, information, and materials to the nexuses of the disaster-impacted areas (Fritz and Mathewson, 1957, p. 13). Disasters are defined as extreme events that exceed the local available resources to effectively manage them (Auf der Heide, 2003). Local capacities are often strained by the amount of resources required to manage disaster relief activities. Survivors in heavily-impacted communities often are without essential resources and services for prolonged periods. Disasters and extensive media coverage of survivors’ plights repeatedly trigger convergence (Johnstone, 1919; Fritz and Mathewson, 1957; Scanlon, 1992). Convergence is a behavioral response to disasters in which the movement of personnel, news/information, and/or material resources are sent into disaster-impacted or threatened communities intended to support disaster relief activities; hereon known as convergence behavior (Fritz and Mathewson, 1957). There are three forms of convergence behavior: personal as the movement of people, informational as the flow of information and communications, and material as the movement of goods (Johnstone, 1919; Prince, 1920; Fritz and Mathewson, 1957). Informational and material convergence are considered substitute convergence for personal convergence; sending news/information and material resources instead of going to and/or sending personnel to disaster sites (Fritz and Mathewson, 1959; Phillips, 2009). Personal convergence and informational convergence are well-researched in the disaster 1 literature; however, material convergence behavior, its causes and effects have not been studied as thoroughly. Material convergence behavior is defined as the movement of physical resources, such as goods, supplies, and/or equipment, from one source or site to another source or site (Fritz and Mathewson, 1957). There are two types of material convergence behavior, formal and informal. Formal material convergence is the authorized movement of material resources from public sector entities (i.e.., government), private sector entities (i.e., nongovernmental for-profit), and private nonprofit sector entities (i.e., nongovernmental, nonprofit – hereon, nonprofit sector)