Reciel Ann Cullano, Ann Myril Tiu, Purity Mata, Kafferine Yamagishi, Gamaliel Gonzales, Fatima Maturan, Samantha Shane Evangelista, Angelo Burdeos, Lanndon Ocampo
Recent reports modeled the quality of government disaster response via service quality, public trust, perceived justice, and government image in disaster situations. This study explores the mediating role of government image in the relationships between service quality, perceived justice, and public trust, thereby addressing the existing gaps in understanding these complex interactions. Using a cross-sectional survey with non-probability sampling, 860 valid responses were analyzed to test the hypothesized direct and mediating effects related to Typhoon Rai, which hit the Philippines in December 2021. The case was chosen for its significant disaster event, which caused broad spatial and temporal impacts, and the Philippines' frequent exposure to about 20 typhoons annually. Results from Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling generate insights from the proposed model's five hypothesized paths and two mediation effects. We uncover salient results to serve as inputs for disaster risk reduction and management. All of the main hypothesized structural paths are statistically supported, except for the path from service quality to public trust, whose significance changed after the Gaussian copula analysis was performed to remove possible endogeneity problems. Thus, public trust is developed when there is quality information and fairness in the delivery of services. The government image fully mediates the overall relationship between service quality and public trust, while a partial mediating effect was found between perceived justice and public trust. We discussed insights in light of findings and systematically connected the results to the emerging discussions in the field. © 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Institute of Food Science, Innovation and Technopreneurship, Cebu Technological University, Cebu City, Philippines; Department of Foods, Garments, and Cosmetology Technology, College of Technology, Cebu Technological University, Cebu City, Philippines; College of Education at Carmen Campus, Cebu Technological University, Cebu, Carmen, Philippines; Center for Applied Mathematics and Operations Research, Cebu Technological University, Cebu City, Philippines; Department of Tourism Management, Cebu Technological University, Cebu City, Philippines; Educational Research and Resource Center, Cebu Technological University, Danao, Philippines; College of Education at Danao Campus, Cebu Technological University, Danao, Philippines; Department of Business Administration, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines
