Safety at Yellowstone National Park: The U.S. National Park Service

National Park Service: Safety at Yellowstone National Park

The National Park Service (NPS) is assigned the responsibility of managing national parks, historical property, national monuments and such other conservancies by the U.S. federal government. Its primary duties include protection of the park and its visitors, maintenance, recreation and marketing of the country's beautiful natural resources. However, national park rangers and other employees often have to deal with various obstacles in their quest for smooth interactions between citizens and nature. This text presents various challenges faced by Yellowstone National Park. It is based on an inspiring story of Ranger Anny Pidgin, who was passionate about national parks from a young age and explains various experiences by visitors at the park.

The main communication challenge facing the NPS with respect to visitors of Yellowstone National Park

The main communication challenge faced by the NPS is how to express the importance of all rules, regulations, notices, and signs that are placed strategically in various national parks and to warn the visitors of the grave danger they expose themselves to if they continue ignoring them, as they often do. As the signage in Yellowstone increased due to numerous injuries in the park, the number of accidents also increased as the visitors continued to stream in. For instance, there were multiple signs around Giantess Geyser but a young boy managed to break through the formations and later secured serious burn injuries on his feet (xxx). (xxx) also gives another example of Engine Walker and his friend Phillip Bradberry, who skipped the interactions with rangers and consequently failed to receive the required literature with rules and regulations. They went ahead to camp at an illegal section and as a result, Walker was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear.

Different types of social influence

According to Coon and Mitterer (2013), the behavior of different individuals in social interactions is influenced by the way other people act. The mere presence effect describes the tendency of people to perform simple tasks better when in the presence of others. Conformity, on the other hand, describes the tendency to change attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs in order to fit in a particular group. Compliance describes the act of adhering to rules or carrying out requests that may be offered by other people. One does what they are requested to do although they may disagree with the idea.

Which one do you believe to be most relevant to the communication challenges faced by the NPS in the above scenario? Why?

The most relevant social influence in this scenario is compliance. This is because private needs sometimes have to be put aside for the well-being of the public in national parks. Compliance requires an individual to submit to people in authority (Coon and Mitterer, 2013). Yellowstone's management and employees know what is best for the visitors when they lay out the rules and regulations, and hence should require all readers to obey, regardless of their personal needs and intentions.

One example of visitors engaging in undesirable behavior

(xxx) describes one example of visitors who did not understand the realities of the dangers that they were warned about in a sign. In this case, David Kirwan and his friend Ronald Ratliff were well aware that the hot springs they were admiring were very dangerous. However, when Ratliff's dog jumped into the hot springs, to the utter disbelief of fellow visitors who warned him against it, Kirwan decided to dive headfirst into the hot spring to save it. Sadly Kirwan acquired third degree burns and passed away the following morning. Rangers also found a stack of safety pamphlets and literature in their car that had not been opened.

A messaging strategy that NPS can use to discourage that behavior, its design and implementation

The above case is evidence that NPS signs and literature are not well understood and internalized by the visitors. A good strategy the agency can use is to narrate specific stories, such as the one cited above, in maps, literature and pamphlets. Every dangerous site on the map should include a story of visitors that may have ignored the rules and signs, what they did, and what happened to them. The stories should be designed in such a way that they are educative, not meant to instill fear. A great way to ensure this is to place them adjacent to specific rules that target that dangerous site, and they should be highlighted to catch the reader's attention. They should be short and precise, so that they pass the message of the consequences of disregarding clear rules and regulations. The rangers can also narrate these stories to eliminate chances of people ignoring written literature.

One study sought to find out why visitors ignore warning signs in parks. According to the findings, visitors are lost in the spirit of adventure and they do not have time to go through the literature supplied, as they assume that all the rules are the same ones they are used to. By highlighting stories of what happened to fellow visitors, they may stop and reflect on specific actions they need to avoid so that the same thing does not happen to them.

The importance of persuasion to catch the reader's attention to message contents

Persuasion is intended to change, reinforce, or adjust the attitude of others to a particular situation (Stiff and Mongeau, 2003). Since persuasion will target the visitors' intentional behavior, it will be more effective as it gives them a feeling of control and will divert their attention to the contents of the message and what they may be missing. By using persuasion, the communication will influence how visitors read warning signs and the steps they are likely to take thereafter.

What two factors, other than attention to the message, could be important?

Application of general rules to specific situations

It is imperative that visitors apply the messages they have read to various situations. For example, despite the visitors being warned not to interfere with wildlife in any way, one visitor went ahead to pick up a snake lying on the road which later bit him. Visitors should be taught that general rules apply to a variety of situations and they need to judge for themselves where certain rules are applicable.