AN INTERROGATION OF HIT FM RADIO JINGLES ON CORONA VIRUS AS EDUTAINMENT TO LISTENERS IN CALABAR MUNICIPALITY

ABSTRACT

This research examined the impact of Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality. Relevant conceptual, theoretical and framework literature were reviewed. The result revealed that there is a significant impact of Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality. The finding of the study also reveals that jingles help in promoting people’s knowledge of people towards Corona virus in Calabar municipality. The findings of the study also reveal that there is a significantrelationship between Hit Fm's radio jingles and Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality. The findings of the study reveal that radio jingles help people to have a positive attitude towards Corona virus in Calabar municipality. It was therefore concluded that Hit Fm's radio jingles significantly have effect on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality, Nigeria. It was recommended that Those responsible for handling health issues in other states of the federation should adequately embrace radio jingle to disseminate the messages in view of its advantages over other media of communication.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1Introduction

The most widely available mass media in many African countries is radio. Because it is less expensive to own and maintain with little to no dependence on electricity power supplies, it continues to be the most popular choice among audiences who are literate, semi-literate, and non-literate. Additionally, studies have shown that Nigerians listen to radio with a variety of devices(Oyesomi&Salawu, 2019).

Due to its capacity to overcome language barriers and reach people in the hinterlands, radio is a unique medium for health communication in Nigeria's multi-cultural and multi-lingual society, bringing various health issues to the knowledge of the "common" man. Furthermore, given their larger reach and effectiveness, public health communication initiatives through radio programs are especially cost-effective. Radio jingles are therefore used in health risk communication to increase people's knowledge of health hazards and persuade them to adopt positive attitudes and behaviors that emphasize prevention and effective management of infectious diseases(Ben-Enukora et al., 2020). The public is educated on the risk factors that promote the spread of infectious diseases as well as the necessary precautions that reduce the chances of infection through the use of catchy musical and memorable messages in the form of songs, monologues, dialogical interactions, or a combination of both. It goes without saying that the use of proper language is essential to the efficacy of any radio jingles.Therefore, the effectiveness of radio jingles depends on the usage of "popular" idioms and expressions that help the target audiences understand and remember the message.

Particularly in areas with a high percentage of illiteracy, radio jingles created in indigenous languages can provide outstanding results in comparison to the English versions. When figurative language, such as idiomatic expressions, alliterations, proverbs, metaphors, and humorous statements, is used to give the messages being conveyed to the audience a deeper meaning, indigenous language jingles may become commonplace (Oyesomi&Salawu, 2019).There has been an increase in interest in how risk communication could be most effective because it involves the general public and various population groups. For example, language and lexical content may make it difficult for the general population to understand health-related topics. People frequently display poor comprehension of English when discussing health risks because certain medical terms, both common and specialized, are frequently misunderstood(Amery, 2017). This corroborates the finding that the use of a local term for the Covid-19 Corona virus in Nigeria instead of the medical term had a hugely positive impact on public awareness. Therefore, explaining disease causes, risk factors, and prevention using indigenous language nomenclatures promotes good knowledge and behavior change.

Communication problems significantly affect health outcomes, especially in rural areas where there are more linguistic and cultural differences (Opoku, 2013). The importance of expressing health hazards in the language of social contact among the population in order to improve good comprehension cannot be overstated, especially given the communication gaps among Nigerians and the significant number of inhabitants who are unable to speak in English. As it fosters intimacy with the audience and a better understanding of the circumstances leading to a deeper interpretation of meaning, media messages in indigenous languages promote better understanding and increase audience satisfaction (Oyero, 2007; Oyero et al.,2018; Adeyeye et al., 2020).

However, it might be difficult to convey health information in multilingual countries like Nigeria. Due to the requirement to provide information materials in a number of languages to improve message interpretation by the entire community, the prevalence of indigenous languages of various dialectical groups and their usage pose a significant barrier to health communication(Gore et al., 2014).

One of these health issues is the corona virus (Covid-19), which has been the subject of radio jingles to raise awareness of its prevention. Radio enables World Vision and its partners to reach a wide audience with crucial information that can save lives, inform behavior change, and provide a forum for discussion on a range of topics, including receiving and responding to feedback on our work, in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis where social distancing is essential. According to the available data, public risk communication initiatives for the Corona Virus include radio jingles in indigenous languages (Ben-Enukora, 2018). In an effort to promote positive knowledge, attitude, and behavior toward disease prevention, these jingles persuade the audience to avoid contact with people, practice proper hygiene, maintain good personal and environmental hygiene, and avoid contact with infected individuals, among other things.

The effectiveness of radio jingles from the perspective of advertising has been the subject of numerous studies. The effectiveness of jingles is dependent on customers' income, and the music of jingles has a significant impact on product retention and recall in addition to the consensus regarding the potentials of radio jingles in promoting brand awareness through products' positioning and recall, according to some authors (Iveta, 2012;Jain & Jain, 2016).From a different perspective, authors who examined the effectiveness of radio jingles in promoting environmental sanitation in Ondo and Kwara states respectively found that listeners fully understood the messages packaged in indigenous language (2005). Previous studies examine the use of radio jingles from the perspective of advertising.Hence, the present study is aim at investigating the impact of Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Due to inadequate infrastructure, most individuals did not follow the advised behavior to avoid contracting the virus despite the hoopla surrounding Covid-19's outburst (Ojebude, 2005). Nigeria was also less dependent on the awareness generated by the radio jingles as time and business restrictions increased(International Development Research Centre, 2018).However, there is a paucity of evidence-based research on the Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners. Against this background, this study examined the effectiveness of Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to examine the effectiveness of Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality. Other objectives of the study include;

1. To examine the impact of Hit Fm's radio jingles on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners
2. To determine the effect of radio jingles on promoting people’s knowledge of people towards Corona virus in Calabar municipality
3. To ascertain the effect of radio jingles on the attitude of people towards Corona virus in Calabar municipality
4. To determine the relationship between Hit Fm's radio jingles and Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality.

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions were derived from the objectives of the study so as to give the study a direction;

1. To what extend does Hit Fm’s jingles have on Corona virus as edutainment to listeners?
2. To what extent does radio jingles have effect on promoting people’s knowledge of people towards Corona virus in Calabar municipality.
3. To what extent does radio jingles have effect on the attitude of people’s knowledge of people towards Corona virus in Calabar municipality.
4. Is there a relationship between Hit Fm's radio jingles and Corona virus as edutainment to listeners in Calabar municipality.