Abstract

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s COVID-19 message on frequent hand washing was aimed at enlightening the citizens about preventing the disease. Focusing on Abia State residents, this study made an enquiry into the effect of President Buhari’s use as model in the message delivery on the message receivers. The study sought to determine the extent to which respondents got exposed to the message, recalled the message, understood why the president was used as model, as well as ascertain the relationship between the message and adoption of frequent hand washing by Abia residents. The survey research method was adopted in the study to evaluated data obtained from 384 respondents, calculated using the Cozby’s formula. The questionnaire was used in obtaining data while the social learning and the agenda-setting theories were used as framework to explain results. It was found that there was high level of both exposure and message recall. However, it was established that the level of understanding of the reason the president was used to demonstrate the practice was very low and as such, the use of the president did not persuade the residents to adopt hand washing as preventive measure against COVID-19. It was concluded that exposure to and creation of the necessary recall of the COVID-19 preventive hand washing message did not guarantee mass adoption of the suggested frequent hand washing by the residents of Abia. This implied that the use of the president, instead of persuading the residents, dissuaded them. It is, therefore, recommended that since message understanding is essential for its adoption, the items used in the demonstration and the model employed for persuasion should match the expectation of a target mass audience for the message campaign to be effective. In so doing, possible disinformation would be avoided.

Key Words: Information, Disinformation, Hand Washing, COVID-19, Campaign, President

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, Special Issue 2, June 2022, pp. 72-79

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

About the author

*Innocent Paschal Ihechu is of the Department of Mass Communication, Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria

Article Citation

Ihechu, I. P. (2022). Using the President as a model? NCDC’s (Dis) information in the hand washing campaign against COVID-19. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 14 (1, SP. 2): 72-79.

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