There is evidence that greater levels of perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of the disease and greater belief in the effectiveness of recommended preventative and avoidant measures are important predictors of behavior [3] [4] [5] . It is important to accommodate the fact that disbelief in the effectiveness of measures can result in people failing to act and developing distrust of sources of information [6] . Previous New Zealand research identified a general belief that local agencies will manage a pandemic well and that New Zealand is a relatively safe place to be in the event of a pandemic. However, there was also a lack of trust in information providers as well doubt that the health system would cope [4] . Trust is a crucial component of effective risk communication when people face uncertainty and levels of trust are correlated with people's perceptions of the integrity of information. Lack of trust can be exacerbated by scepticism about the veracity of health risk warnings and the view that media are sensationalist and untrustworthy [7, 8] . Being uncertain about an outbreak, and thinking it, and its consequences had been exaggerated have been associated with a lower likelihood of behavioural change [5] . Increasing trust is a function of the degree to which agencies engage with and empower communities [6] .