ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to examine the Influence of Advertisement on the Market share of Beverages among Secondary School Students in Kumasi. The general objective of the study was to examine the influence of Advertisement on the Market share of Beverages among Secondary School Students in Kumasi. The specific objective amongst others was to determine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of secondary school students in Kumasi and the effect of advertisement on their choice of Beverages. Four research questions and four null hypotheses were raised. The population of the study was 32,040, while the sample size was 701. Questionnaire was used to collect the data. Spear Man Rho was used to analyse the four hypotheses. The findings revealed that the students’ socioeconomic characteristics were significantly correlated to the students’ choice of advertised beverages. The null-hypothesis one was rejected. The result further indicated that students’ perception and interpretation of advertisement was significantly correlated, therefore, null-hypothesis two was rejected. In addition, the result to null-hypothesis three revealed that students’ perception and interpretation of advertisement was significantly correlated to their use of beverages. Therefore, the null-hypothesis three was rejected. Null-hypothesis four revealed that students’ perception and interpretation of advertisement is significantly correlated to their food habit. The null-hypothesis four was also rejected. In view of the findings, the researcher concluded that, the market share of beverages among secondary school students in Kumasi were significantly influenced by advertisement. Based on this, the researcher recommended amongst others that, parents and teachers should educate their children on the dangers of advertisement. Industries involved in deceptive advertisement should be made to pay for it or close down. Nutrition as a subject should be made compulsory for all students in secondary schools.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
There are a wide range of products to consumers in the market place. The consumer’s choice for any particular product is often based on the number of factors; such as his or her awareness of the products – a situation that is promoted by advertisement. Producers and sellers in an attempt to attract customers advertise their products. They view the business of selling products as a war to market their products with increased sales and profits as their victory. Advertisement is the weapon for fighting such a war. According to Baker and Baker (1992), advertisement is the key to tactical weapon. The right advert seen by the right people can change a company’s position in the sales war almost overnight. That’s why companies continue to spend more and more on advertisement. Yet advertisement is a battle in itself, a battle for recognition and response, and a clash of creative concepts and creative minds.
Dyer (1992) defined advertisement in its simple sense as, drawing attention to something, notifying or informing somebody of something. The primary function of advertisement is to introduce a wide range of consumer goods to the public and this supports the free market economy. In essence, advertisements are aimed at convincing consumers to purchase the advertised products. Consequently, anyone living and working in any modern society today is under the influence of advertisement. Every day and for most of our lives, we see and hear many advertisements. Even if one doesn’t read newspaper or watch television one will still find it impossible to avoid some forms of publicity. It could even be displayed in the corner of the window (Dyer, 1992).
Thus, advertisement has taken a new importance, not only for the student of business or journalism who may one day become a practitioner, but also for the student of liberal arts or social sciences and every other person who will continue to be a consumer of goods and services (Bovee and Arens, 1982). Ruskin (2002) explained that over the years, advertisement has become more and more involved in the manipulation of special values and attitudes and less concerned with the communication of essential information about goods and services. He also explains further that current global trends in advertisement are to be bid for the minds, emotions and adoption of consumers. In other words, advertisement controls or directs the minds of consumers in making choices about the products advertised. Therefore, people’s thoughts are shaped by what they see and hear.
Teenagers are especially vulnerable to such pressure, as they are more concerned about having what they want right now than about how it will affect them in the future (Plate and Eubanks, 1994). This may be attributed to the fact that adolescents often do not analyze or critique the intent of an advertisement, and actually believe that advertisement claims are true, thereby making the wrong choice of products. Of all the products advertised, processed foods tend to attract more attention. Processed foods are defined as foods that have primarily gone through the whole process from raw materials to final products (Ihekoronye and Ngoddy, 1985). They are usually designed to save consumers’ time in the kitchen, reduce costs due to spoilage, and reduce costs using economies of scale. Processed foods require minimum preparation, typically just heating, and then packed for a long shell life with little lost of flavour and nutrients over time. They are produced specifically to preserve the oversupply of agricultural products available at the time of harvest in order to stabilize the food markets in developed countries (“Convenience Food”, 2006).
Advertisement on foods are usually tempting. They claim to be nutritionally adequate and more so are inviting and appetizing (Glossan, Meek, Smock, 1997). Contrary to this, the most advertised products (foods, drinks and beverage) are hardly nutritionally adequate on their own as meal. Such products which include junk foods, pastries, and carbonated drinks have adverse effects on the health of children. According to Tarevene (2004), advertisement created misconceptions among children about the nutritional values of foods and how to maintain positive health. The importance of a good diet during the teenage years cannot be overemphasized. During this period, lifestyle is dictated by desire for independence and greater mobility, as well as by the information available.
However, this research work is concerned with the fact that the information available to the teenager may hamper his ability to make appropriate choices, especially in a situation where advertisement are known for the significant promotion of high fat, high calorie foods (Tarevene, 2004). This situation certainly encourages preference for junk food, contributing to poor eating habits and consequently leading to ill-health. It is in view of the above that this research was conducted to investigate the influence of advertisement on the market share of processed foods, drinks and beverages among secondary school students in Kumasi.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In the past, parents gave their children food they believed was best for them. It was the type of food they ate when they were young. Today, with the advent of technology, teenager’s food habits are being influenced or changed because they are now exposed to all forms of advertisements. Processed foods, drinks and beverages which are the most advertised products have been brought into many homes, and many of these advertisement target children and youths (Ruskin, 2002). Besides, the lifestyle changes in developing countries tend to follow trends in the developed countries. The negative health effect of food advertisement which include obesity, diabetes, cancers, hypertension and coronary heart diseases which has been observed in developed countries among the youths are important signals that developing countries cannot afford to ignore (Brown, et al., 2005).
A personal interaction with some parents showed that parents were really not happy about the food habits of their children. According to them, their children spent more time eating junk foods such as snacks and drinks instead of the more nutritive foods or meals being prepared for them at home. It was particularly observed that teenagers consumed a lot of milo and cocacola. According to them, they preferred coca-cola among other soft drinks because they felt it sustained them for a longer time before they become hungry. This trend if left unchecked, will likely affect the nutritional status or food habit of any child. It is believed that this trend is most likely connected to the rate of advertisement these children are exposed to.
In addition, most of these advertisements are deceptive. This is because; they fail to provide adequate information required by the teenager to make appropriate decision, thereby misleading them into making wrong choices of the advertised beverages or products. The questions are; do teenagers know about the unfortunate consequences of these processed foods, drinks and beverages? Are they aware of the health hazards these products can bring upon them? These are some of the questions this research want to answer in order to help parents, guardians, and children to be careful about advertised beverage which may be dangerous to the health of their children. The problem statement of this study is whether advertisement has influenced teenagers on the choice of beverages, beverages and drinks.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The broad objective of this study is to examine the influence of advertisement on the market share of processed foods, beverages, and drinks among secondary school students in Kumasi. The specific objectives are to:
1. determine the relationship between socio- economic characteristic of the secondary school students in Kumasi and the effect of advertisement on their choices of processed foods, beverages and drinks.
2. assess the relationships between students’ perception and interpretation of advertisement of processed food, beverages, and drinks on choices made by secondary school students in Kumasi.
3. examine the relationship between perception and interpretation of beverages on the market share of these products by secondary school students’ in Kumasi.
1.4 Research Questions
1. What is the relationship between the socio- economic characteristic of the secondary school students in Kumasi and the effect of advertisement on the choice of processed foods, beverages, and drinks by secondary school students in Kumasi?
2. What is the relationship between students’ perception and interpretation of processed foods, beverages, and drinks on the choices made by secondary school students in Kumasi?
3. What is the relationship between students’ perception and interpretation of processed foods, beverages, and drinks on the market share of these products by secondary school students in Kumasi?
1.5 Research Null-Hypotheses
The following null-hypotheses were postulated for this study:
1. There is no significant relationship between the socio- economic characteristics of secondary school students in Kumasi and the effect of advertisement on their choices of beverages.
2. There is no significant relationship between students’ perception and interpretation of processed foods, beverages, and drinks on choices made.
3. There is no significant relationship between perception and interpretation of advertisement of advertisement of processed foods, beverages, and drinks and the market share of such products by secondary school students in Kumasi.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will help in assessing how far teenagers’ life-style and food habits among secondary school students in Kumasi are being affected by commercial messages. Parents will be able to advice their children appropriately on their eating habit to avoid processed foods, drinks and beverages that could be harmful to health. This will be achieved through seminars and published work from this research. The information will be extended to the society since the family is the bed rock of any society. This will be achieved through parents who will also help to tell others.
The companies that provide these food products will also be aware of the impact of the advertisement on the products. This will help them to adjust to the type of media that has impact on teenagers to enable them use the advertising media more often. This will be achieved through reading of the published article from the research. In addition, the current information in this study will be useful to home-economics department as they impact the knowledge to students.
1.8 Delimitation of the Study
The study was delimited to the influence of advertisement on the market share of beverages among secondary school students in Kumasi. It was further delimited to all secondary schools in Kumasi Local Government Area, because Kumasi Local Government Area predominantly, had many schools and also allowed for a wider representation of Federal, State and Private schools.
The subjects for this study focused on all secondary school students in the Kumasi Local Government Area, this was because many of the students fall into the group of teenagers or adolescents which was the focus of this research. The means of advertisement was also narrowed down to television and radio being commonly used and accessible to students.
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