Work

Scoring the compliance of cell broadcast alert messages: Application in France and insights for authorities and future research

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Effective alert messages must clearly and completely communicate the details of a hazard or threat to motivate protective action, including the message source, hazard impacts, guidance, timing, and location. Although these scientific recommendations are well-established in extant literature, the Alerting Authorities (AAs) who write and disseminate alerts do not always follow them. To address this gap between research and practice, this study applies the compliance grid developed by Douvinet et al. (2023) to Cell Broadcast Alert Messages (CBAMs) for exercises and real alerts that were sent by AAs in France from June 2022 to December 2025 ( n = 482). We observe clear differences between CBAMs sent for exercises ( n = 289), which often detailed the alert sender, mentioned the nature of exercises, and followed a clear and structured layout, and CBAMs sent during real alerts ( n = 65), which more frequently included the danger category, provided additional detail on ongoing events, indicated affected areas, and specified the start time of the alert. We also observe differences in the danger categories for which CBAMs for exercises and real alerts were sent, highlighting a disconnect between the dangers emphasized by AAs during exercises and the dangers that actually occur in France. Compliance with recommended contents also varied between issuing departments, and there was an overall increase in the range of compliance scores over time. Results provide new insights for using the compliance grid to improve message contents, both within France and in European countries where CBAMs are used to alert the population.

Source: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2026.106149