The Role of Mass Media to the Growth of SMES in Benin City
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the role of mass media on the growth of SME in Benin City
- To determine the nature of mass media in SMES
- To ascertain the negative and positive effect of mass media on SME in Benin City
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
UNDERSTANDING THE MASS MEDIA INDUSTRY
Mass media are public communication means characterised by their mass reach capacity. The most widespread forms of mass media are newspapers, magazines, television and radio, but the term also encompasses new information and communication technologies such as the Internet and telephone messaging. Although these new communication means offer many advantages (global outreach, easy and instant interactivity, multimedia features etc.), their use is still very limited in Africa where in 2006, 20%3 of the African population subscribed to a mobile service and only 3.6% of the population were Internet users. It is therefore the more traditional media and particularly broadcast media that offer the greatest potential to reach the poor and marginalized. The large gap between developed and developing countries in terms of access to mass media leaves a large proportion of the world’s population with limited or, in some cases, no access to mainstream information sources. Factors such as literacy, affordability, accessibility and language, lead to a divide between wealthy/urban and poor/rural populations. The graph below shows the strong coverage of radio in Africa in comparison to both television and newspapers highlighting the importance of broadcast media that cuts across literacy barriers and is easily accessible to poorer groups. In order to understand the functioning of the mass media industry, one needs to be aware of the players and their interrelationships. Commercial mass media rely on their audience, profile and size, to attract advertising revenues. Mass media monitoring companies are necessary to provide listener profiles, which the communication consultants and advertisers use to develop a marketing strategy. Advertising agencies are involved in the creative side of the advertising production. For the media content itself the mass media rely on qualified journalists and good journalism training institutions as well as production technology. In many cases programmes are bought in from production companies who are specialized in producing a certain type of programmes. The Government plays a role both as a regulator but also as a sender and receiver of information from the public. Lobbying groups also have dual roles as both advertisers and actors to influence the message coming through the mass media. A key systemic constraint to mass media working more effectively for the poor is the perception that the wealthy elite is the primary consumer of the products and services of mass media advertisers and thus the most, if not the only, viable audience segment. Commercial media and advertising models are often based on those from developed countries where the poor are a small minority. The poor in developing countries are a significant and important part of the market and the habit of targeting the wealthy minority needs to be challenged.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the role of mass media to the growth of SMES in Benin City.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information the role of mass media to the growth of SMES in Benin City. 200 staff of selected radio and TV stations in Benin City was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the role of mass media to the growth of SMES in Benin city. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of mass media to the growth of SMES in Benin city
Summary
This study was on the role of mass media to the growth of SMES in Benin city. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the role of mass media on the growth of SME in Benin City, to determine the nature of mass media in SMES, to ascertain the negative and positive effect of mass media on SME in Benin City. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected radio and TV stations in Benin City. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made editors, broadcasters, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Development media as can be observed from the theoretical foundation of this study admits that the media enjoy some freedoms as well as responsibilities for which it is obliged to accept and carry out positive development tasks through agenda setting. It is pertinent however to note that when the media coverage of SMEs is measured against the theoretical postulation of development media, the volume of coverage and the degree of prominence given to SMEs and related activities have been found to be too low as to engender economic development.
Recommendation
In order to enhance sales inquiries, improve customer loyalty etc. The growth of any commercial entity is highly dependent on the customer base. While management of both actual and potential customers poises a major challenge, the extensive use of mass media should be adopted to provide an integrated platform for customer profiling, feedback collection and customer communication interfaces.
Mass media and SME operators should create a platform they will have understanding to curtail the price of advertising goods
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