An evaluative study of the influence of Ebonyi State Broadcasting Corporation’s Lassa Fever public service advert on the health attitude of Abakaliki residents

Abstract

This study evaluates the influence of the Ebonyi State Broadcasting Corporation's (EBBC) Lass a Fever (LF) public service advert on the health attitude of residents of Abakaliki metropolis. Using the survey research design, 400 copies of the questionnaire were administered to different areas of Abakaliki metropolis. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 significant level and it revealed that there is a significant relationship between the EBBC's public service advert on LF and the health attitude of residents of Abakaliki metropolis. The study discovered that the EBBC's LF public service advert has greatly influenced the health attitude of the people but some residents still eat and sustain the culture of rat consumption, thereby revealing culture and personal beliefs as very strong variables that can wield strong influence against media effect. The Health Belief Model showed that the impression of „perceived susceptibility' to the LF virus by the individual may be discarded as a result of certain personal beliefs. It was recommended that similar adverts like the one under study should be employed in health campaigns, particularly in sensitizing children and rural communities on the need to maintain good health. Aside the broadcast media, interpersonal campaigns in the form of face to face discussions should be carried to the hinterlands where there may be no television or electric power supply because these are the worst hit with rat consumption. A review of the Stimulus Response Mechanistic theory in order to accommodate numerous intervening variables such as personal and cultural beliefs against such acclaimed irresistible effect is also suggested.