ABSTRACT
The media is the channels of disseminating information such as radio, television Newspaper etc.
Each of these channels is preferred by a particular audience the preference is greatly influenced by such factors as age, sex and economic status of the media audience.
There is the general belief that the television is the most efficient medium of disseminating information across the status of the society hence it has both audio and visual appeal to the audience and having Enugu metropolis in focus.
The objective of the work is to ascertain the level of age, sex and economic status influence on media preference. This will help the programme planners for radio, television and Newspaper editors in Enugu to know how best to handle programme schedule, approach and time presentation of programmes.
The method used in carrying out the study is survey method of research. The survey method was used to analyse the influence of Age, sex and economic status on media preference, among the Enugu audience with the administration of 22- point questionnaire.
Finally, the respondents responded to the question administration to them and the findings was in accordance with the research topic.
TABLE OF CONTENT
COVER PAGE I
TITLE PAGE II
APPROVAL PAGE III
DEDICATION IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT V
ABSTRACT VI
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION 1
- Background of the study 1
- Statement of the research problem 4
- Objectives of the study 6
- Significance of the study 7
- Research Questions 8
- Hypothesis 9
- Conceptual and operational definitions 10
- Assumptions 12
- Limitation of the study 12
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 14
- sources of literature 14
- The review 14
- Summary of literature review 44
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY 46
- Research methodology 46
- Research design 46
- Research simple 48
- Measuring instrument 49
- Data collection 49
- Data analysis 50
- Expected results 50
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT 52
- Data analysis 52
- Results 54
- Discussion 67
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDY
- SUMMARY 77
- Recommendation for further study 79
Bibliography 81
Appendix 85
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This study is typically on audience research and I am studying the influence of Age, sex and economic status on media preference among the Enugu Audience”.
The mass media are powerful instruments for opinion formation and change on contemporary issues in the society.
Therefore, the transmission of signals from the various media of mass communication at the same time presents the audience with the problem of choice, that is choosing the media that would best satisfy their needs in their order of preference.
Wilbur schramm (1949) supports the view that choice of media is influenced by needs satisfaction when the he wrote about the concept of reward as a factor that accounts for attendance to mass communication messages. According to him, the mass media are expected to take care of audience needs and satisfaction and to help them solve problems whether the communication is purposive or non-purpossive.
Readers or listeners select news in anticipation of a reward which may be either the immediate reward of drive reductions or vicarious experience or the delayed, reward of threat value; and general preparedness for reality, that for any individual the boundaries of these two are not fixed and immutable but that news of public affairs,
Economic matters, social problems,
Science education, health is usually read for delayed reward and News of crime and corruption, accidents, disasters, sports and recreation, social events and human interests, for immediate rewards”.
Furthermore, the democratic participant theory of the mass media suggests, among other things, that individuals citizens and minority groups have rights of access t media according to their one served by media according to their own determination of need. Thus the mass media should exist primarily for their audiences and not for the media organization, professionals or the clients of media.
The central point of this theory lies with the needs, interests and aspirations of the receiver of mass media messages. The media practitioners should, therefore, avail him self of information regarding such needs, interests and aspirations so as to be able to communicate more effectively.
He should have information regarding such profits as the age, sex, income, education, attitude, values, life-styles and location of his audience members and how these effect media preference.
The traditional approach to audience research is to find out which aspect of a particular communication medium listeners most often emphasize. Research ridges the gap between the mass media and their audience. It represents a perfect example of the two-way concept of mass communication and acts like a mirror to show the media institutions who receivers their messages; how, where and when.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEMS
Professor Alfred Opubar (1975:40)
Once noted that” we do not quite know how people in Nigeria use the various media and how they react to them”.
This is the same issue addressed by Nwunehi (1985) when he stressed that “communication research is still at its infancy in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Very little country case studies on media attitudes and behaviours are available for public use, and no known study has so far concerned it self with listeners attitudes towards programmes.
Moreover, audience research in Nigeria broadcasting is almost non-existent or where it exists is very few and far between,
Infact, the first Nigerian television National Audience research marketing Audits” aimed at providing valuable information for planning programmers and economic strategies for Nigerian television authority (NTA) was launched in Lagos in August (1981).
It is obvious from foregoing that only few studies have been conducted on media use or consumption patterners in the country. Even where such studies are found the researchers confine themselves to variables like literally level and occupations factors in media preference, based on our literature search, no researcher has studied the influences of age, sex and economic status on media preference of the audience.
The pervastive nature of mass media and its impact in informing, educating, entertaining and surveying the environment has made it possible for people to rely on them for information. It has increased the urge on the part of the audience to seek that medium which will best serve them.
The mass media no doubt render valuable services to the society. But the question that immediately come to mind are; why do people choose among the media available to them?
Do demographic and psychographics factors play a part in media choice?
Where is the place of age, sex and economic status in this choice making process?.
When such question arise, an answer is sought and research the systematic search for pertinent answers-becomes a functional necessity.
This, I am going to solve part of this problem by determining the influence of age, sex and economic status on media preference among Enugu audience.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
Based on the problems stated in section i.e above. The objectives of this study, therefore, are
- To present comprehensive and relative information on the general media
behavior of the audience in Enugu with regards to age, sex and economic status.
- To make such information available to people who plan programmes on radio and television. This would enable them know more about their audience
– who they are, when they watch or listen, what they like and the kind of programmes that interest them, as well as when to feature particular programmes for them.
- To extend the information on readership patterns to newspapers in Enugu.
- To provide advertisers with same information so as to enable them understand the media use patterns of their prospective customers, and to know which medium or media best to use in conveying specific messages to specific audience at particular periodic of the day, week or year.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is significant because of the foregoing contributions it will make to the following areas of mass communication; programme scheduling on table television and radio, Newspaper readership patterns and mass media of advertising in Enugu.
In the area of mass communication research and theory this study will provide a frame work for testing other existing theories that have been propounded in Europe and North America concerning audience media preference. for instance, that children are likely to prefer television to other media. I am intend to test these theories to see whether they have cross-cultural validity.
The study will also offer the governments knowledge of the communication behavioiur of the inhabitants of Enugu so as to know the effective media mix to use for its mass mobilization campaigns and development purposes.
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- what factors are likely to influence media preference among the Enugu audience?.
- Is one’s age likely to influence his or her media behaviour?
- Is sex likely to influence the way an individual living in Enugu behaves towards the mass media?
- Are people in the upper, middle, or lower classes of economic status likely to behave differently or the same way towards the mass media?
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
From the literature review and the significance of this study, the following hypothesis were tested;
H1 Children are likely to prefer television to radio and Newspaper then adolescents and adults.
H0 Adults are likely to prefer newspapers to radio and television than adolescent and children.
H2 Females are likely to prefer movies to educational programmes on television than media.
H0 Males are likely to prefer movies to educational programmes on television than females
H3 People of lower economic status are likely to prefer radio to Newspapers and television than people of middle and upper economic status.
H0 People of upper and middle economic status are likely to prefer radio to Newspapers and television than people of lower economic status.
1.7 CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
There are four variables in this study, Namely age, sex, economic status and media preference.
Age; Is the length of life or of existence of a person
For this study, age is operationalised as follows
TABLE 1.1
AGE DISTRIBUTION
Age(year) category
- children
- Adolescent
25 and above Adults
national population commission (1988) boys and girls one defined as falling between 10-24 years.
SEX: This is defined as being either male or female eg man and woman.
ECONOMIC STATUS: This is defined as the condition that determines an individuals material prosperity. In this study, it is categorized as follows:
TABLE 1.2
INCOME (PERANNUM) CLASS
1,500-3 924 – lower
5,112-13,812 – middle
14,000 and above – upper
source: New salary structure – 1988
MEDIA PREFERENCES: Is the living of one medium or programme better than another. This variable represents the media habits of the individual. The habits , however, are only limited to radio, television and newspapers.
1.8 ASSUMPTIONS
It is assumed that females attend more to television than males do. It is also assumed that the media behaviour of people in the middle income group would likely be the same as that of people in the upper income class.
Also, any information collected with regard to the sample would be a true representation of the entire Enugu population. The responses received from pupils and students would be a reflection of the opinion held by the larger population of children land adolescent in Enugu.
- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study would be subjected to all the limitations inherent in collecting data by the use of questionnaires.
This means that I have no way of verifying the truthfulness of respondents in answering the questions. The study also has the limitations of external validity.
Thus, findings made in this study may not be generals able outside Enugu.
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