Audience Reaction to Biiftuu Jireellyaa with Respect to Enhancing Child and Maternal Health Care
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Date
2014-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
T here is no mi sgiving that any promotion pro gram will succeed in ac hieving its objectives whenever
the target audie nces react in acco rdance w ith the planned reaction. Otherwise, the meaning of
messages delivered via that specific program might be decoded in other way than intended which
results in failure to meet planned objectives of the program. Despite the fact that, audience reaction
stud y is invaluable, it is difficult to get ample research of sa me kind in Ethiopia. Bei ng considerate of
thi s ga p, thi s thes is aims mainl y at examining a udi ence reaction to Biiftuu Jireellyaa i.e . a radio
program that rev olve s around maternal and child health care. It trie s to assess audiences' awareness
level rega rdin g ch ild and maternal health care, challenges and motivating factors behind li stenin g and
understandin g the program and correspondence between planned and actual audi ence reaction . To
thi s end , the study has employed encoding and decoding theory, theory of reasoned action, soc ial
cognitive theory, theory of planned behavior and health belief model as its theoret ical frameworks.
Triangulations of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches have been used so as to
gather appropriate data. Hence, 85 questionnaires were distributed to listening group member
audiences found in ra nd oml y se lected nine (9) li stening groups out of eighteen (18) . Three (3) focu s
group di scussions were held with non-li stening group audiences so as to make the study a ll inclusive.
Each group contains eight (8) total s of twenty four (24) di sc ussa nt s. Inte rv iew was und ertaken with
nine (9) randoml y selected out of eighteen (18) moderators of the li stening group. Usi ng the data
gathered this way, an attempt was made to examine audiences' reaction .
The resu lt of the study revea ls that listening group member audiences are reacting to the program in
accordance with planned audience reaction by producers of the program . But when it comes to nonli
stening group audiences, there is no such tremendous awareness level enhancement unlike listening
group member audiences. This is so due to var ied reas ons such as low access to the program and lack
of support from hea lth extension workers whenever they are unable to understand message of the
program. Nature of the program , way of de livery , topics raise d in the program , real life experience of
others shared in the program and di sc uss ion after the program are posed as major motivating factors
behind listening and understanding the program by listening group member audiences. Non- listening group audiences also share all motivating factors except discussion after the program . Background of
audiences and language barrier are major challenges of understanding the program according to the
findings of the inquiry .
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Keywords
maternal health care