Abstract
In this study, an attempt was made to evaluate the problems and prospects of
mass media advertising in Nigeria. We talk of the media mix and the multi-media
approach to public relations and advertising, but we seem to be uncertain which
particular medium is more success-oriented in carrying out advertising functions —
radio and television on the one side and newspapers, magazines and books, on the
other.
This researcher put forward four hypotheses:
H
A
: Television is better in carrying quality advertisements than the other
media.
H
O
: Television is not better in carrying quality advertisements than the other media.
H
A
: Mass media advertising contributes to national development.
H
O
: Mass media advertising does not contribute to national development.
HA: Broadcast commercial messages have more credibility than print media
messages.
H
O
: Broadcast commercial messages do not have more credibility than print media
messages.
H
A
: The influence of advertis
1.1 PREAMBLE
The mass media of communication are divided into two–print and electronic.
According to Okunna (1999:66), the electronic media of radio and television are
distinct from other electronic media because they make use of transmission
technology through which their signals are scattered far and wide. Hence, of all the
electronic media of communication only radio and television are referred to as
broadcast media.
Okunna (1999:66) goes further to say that this technology involves the use of a
transmitter which generates waves (electromagnetic impulses) that carry voice
transmissions or messages which make up radio and television programmes. Radio
waves travel through the air, carrying the programmes to homes and other locations
where they are received through radio and television sets. There are no wires
connecting the transmitter to these receiving sets, hence communication through the
broadcast media is also known as wireless communication or wireless transmission
(see appendix II of this work).
Radio and television carry different types of messages called programmes. One
of such messages is advertising. Advertising is defined by the Advertising Practitioners
Council of Nigeria (APCON) as communication in the media paid for by an identifiable
sponsor and directed “at a target audience with the aim of imparting information about
a product, service, idea or cause.”
The thrust of this research is to find out whether the broadcast media of radio
and television are more efficient media of advertising than other media of
communication – print and electronic.
Books, newspapers and magazines are part of the print media while the other
media like ultra-wave billboards, recordings, films, cinema, slides
and telephones belong in the electronic media.
This researcher set out to investigate, in an empirical way, whether the
broadcast media are the best media or tools to carry advertising in Nigeria, knowing
the potentials, limitations and characteristics of both print and electronic media of
communication.
1
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Whereas the print media are known for their possession of certain
characteristics such as permanence and special mental demand, the broadcast media
are known to possess characteristics such as transience, limited airtime and limited
mental demand.
When we write for the print media, we are writing information that will be taken
in through the eye. On the other hand, information written for the broadcast media is
taken in primarily through the ear.
This researcher set out to find out how far these basic differences
between the print media and the electronic media would influence consumer behavior.
1.2 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Eminent scholars in the field of Mass communication like Festinger (1957),
Schramm (1976), Rosengren (1985), Tan and Tan (1986) McQuail (1987:4), Bittner
(1989:376) and Okunna (1999:176) have carried out mass media effects studies which
have come out with revelations that give us an insight into what effects mass media
messages could have on the audience. However, studies of effects of mass media
advertising on the audience are quite different from studies of which media are best to
be used for advertising campaigns.
In Nigeria, so many media of communication are involved in the competitive bid
to advertise products, goods and services. Little is known as to which of them is most
appropriate and more rewarding to be used as a medium or media of advertising. It is
necessary to find out the most suitable medium or media of advertising so as to know
which of them is most likely to make a more lasting impact on the mass media
audience.
Advertisement rates are exorbitant and the financial means with which to
advertise goods, products and services is not easy to come by. If the identifiable
sponsors of advertisement must pay heavily for the advertised commodities, is it not
wise then that they choose the most efficient media or tool to do the job of advertising?
A British historian and essayist, Thomas B. Macaulay, once said, “Advertising is
to business what steam is to industry—-the sole propelling force. Nothing except the
mint can make money without advertising.”
Many scholars and academics, including professionals and proprietors in the
field of broadcasting, share Macaulay’s point of view. De Fleur and Dennis (1994:318),
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for instance, agree that “almost without exception, Macaulay’s principle holds true for
businesses today, and is especially true for the mass media.”
Macaulay’s view is generally true for advertising, but there is still a need to
determine which of the media is best for carrying advertising messages. This is
particularly necessary in view of the distinctions in the characteristics of the different
media–print and broadcast.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
As stated earlier, print media messages are in a permanent form and so the
reader of these messages has the privilege of visiting and revisiting the message as
often as he likes. If he forgets a message or a point in a message, he could still get a
copy of the message. In the broadcast media, once a message is given, within a few
seconds, the audience forgets it. If the broadcast media have reach and glamour, do
these attributes place them at an advantage over the print media?
Constant power cuts in Nigeria is a veritable source of worry and frustration to
many a consumer of broadcast media messages. Once there is electric power outage,
media consumers are forced to look for alternative power sources.
The audience has no such worry if he is a print media consumer. Messages are
waiting for him in a permanent, printed form whether there is power cut or not. In the
case of broadcast media, messages can never wait. As the media audiences look for
alternative power sources, the messages keep going and very soon get to the end.
Which of the mass media of communication then is the best to be used as a tool for
advertising in Nigeria? Where do the media audience get more benefits from
advertising? From which medium or media?
It was the aim of this researcher to delve into this area of study with the hope of
coming out with empirical findings.
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this research are as outlined below:
1. To find out the various reasons given by the mass media audience as to which
medium is better in carrying quality advert messages than the others.
2. To determine the extent to which mass media advertising contributes to national
development.
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3. To determine whether broadcast advert messages have more credibility than
the print media advert messages.
4. To find out whether the influence of advertising on the audience depends on the
medium carrying it.
5. To offer useful suggestions and recommendations in this area of study.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is significant in that it aims to find out the problems and prospects of
mass media advertising in Nigeria and the suitability of various mass media of
communication for advertising. If the broadcast media, for instance, are preferred by
the audience, what are the likely reasons for the preference?
This research will enable the researcher to break a new ground in a relatively
new field of study in mass communication. It is envisaged that the knowledge acquired
in the course of this study will help in no small measure in encouraging other
researchers who may be interested in replicating this study.
Managers of the print and electronic media, advertisers and advertising
agencies, governments as well as private individuals stand to gain from this study.
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
For the purpose of this study, answers were sought to the following questions:
1. Are the broadcast media of communication better tools for advertising than the
other media of communication or are the latter better than the broadcast
media?
2. Which of the media of mass communication has more credibility than others?
3. Does advertising influence the media audience more when carried by the
broadcast media than it does when carried by the print media?
4. Which medium is preferred more for the purpose of advertising?
1.7 HYPOTHESES
For the purpose of this project, this researcher put forward four hypotheses:
H
A
: Television is better in carrying quality adverts/commercials than other media.
H
O
: Television is not better of carrying quality adverts/commercials than other
media.
H
A
: Mass media advertising contributes to national development.
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H
O
: Mass media advertising does not contribute to national development.
H
A
: Broadcast commercial messages have more credibility than print media
messages.
H
O
: Broadcast commercial messages do not have more credibility than print media
messages.
H
A
: The influence of advertising on the audience depends on the medium carrying
it.
H
O
: The influence of advertising on the audience does not depend on the medium
carrying it.
1.8 DEFINITION OF VARIABLES
1.8.1 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS
* Mass media is defined as media used for communicating to a mass of people
simultaneously.
* Broadcasting is defined as the dissemination of information, ideas, opinions,
messages using the radio or television as channels.
* Tool is defined as an implement used in performing a task.
* Credibility is defined as the amount of confidence or trust reposed on
something or someone by another.
* Advertising is the selling of goods, products and services by creating
awareness on them in the potential consumer.
1.8.2 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
* Mass media, operationally, is defined as radio, television, newspaper and
magazine.
* Broadcasting for the purpose of this research refers to the use of radio and /or
television to transmit advertising messages.
* Tool, in this study, is used as synonym for medium or a channel.
* Credibility is defined as the belief the media user has in the advertising
message.
* Advertising is that portion of the media occupied by a message intended to sell
goods, services and products.
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1.9 ASSUMPTIONS
The assumption of this research work was that the mass media consumers who
will constitute the respondents of this researcher are active users of the print and
broadcast media of communication.
1.10 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study was limited to media consumers in Enugu State. This purposeful decision to
confine the study to Enugu was made because a study such as this is concerned with
respondents who have access to the mass media; such people still live mainly in
urban areas. This study in no way attempted to study everything that is concerned with
the problems and prospects of mass media advertising in Nigeria. This decision
therefore necessitated the use of sampling as explained in chapter three of this work