Audience Involvement with Yellow Card, an Entertainment-Education Initiative Promoting Safe-Sex Behavior Among African Youth

This 392-page dissertation shares findings from a qualitative study conducted among 56 Nigerians between the ages of 16 and 25 who watched Yellow Card, an entertainment-education film produced in Zimbabwe by Media for Development International (MFDI). Focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and questionnaires were used to study how audiences experienced the film from their personal, cultural, and socio-economic context, and how they engaged with the film's characters. The purpose of the study was to provide an in-depth, qualitative analysis of audience involvement in an entertainment-education initiative, to study the role of perceived similarity and parasocial interaction (PSI) in realising the effects of an initiative and how quickly these can occur, and to provide insight on cultural negotiation and the possibility of sharing texts within sub-Saharan Africa. According to the research, results showed that audiences were attracted to the characters and perceived the characters to be similar to themselves, even though they were from different cultures. Both attraction and perceived similarity facilitated intense parasocial involvement that led to both a desire to continue the perceived relationships, and high motivation to practice responsible sex - the central message of the film.

The author explains that PSI has typically been viewed as a process in which audience members feel like they get to know radio or television persona over time. Thought to be a precursor to successful modeling in social programming, PSI refers to the development of relationships in which audience members feel like they know media persona in the same way they know their friends.

According to the author, this study found evidence of intense audience involvement. The audience engaged in PSI by discussing the characters and plot, thereby becoming emotionally involved with the characters and engaging in cognitive processing where they critiqued the conduct of the characters. They also related the text to their personal experiences and problems and reconstructed the story, suggesting plot changes. The data showed that participants engaged in intense involvement quickly and that it was intensified through increased exposure. It also revealed that females could potentially engage in PSI faster and more profoundly than males.

The research suggests that perceived similarity is a significant finding because it underscores the importance of designing campaigns with a high level of social and cultural consideration. Two primary factors appear to have facilitated perceived similarity with Yellow Card. First, producers interviewed Zimbabwean youth and held 26 discussion groups to find out about adolescent life and choices. From this formative research, Yellow Card writers and producers designed messages relevant to young Africans and incorporated them into the script. This formative research was consistent with the entertainment-education strategy in that it contributed to ground-up development by listening to audience members before the scripts were produced. Secondly, the author states that the film met a crucial need for culturally- and age-relevant texts, a rarity for Africans who seldom see people like themselves in high-quality films. The findings reinforce the need for formative research in entertainment-education initiatives, especially when they involve cross-cultural efforts. The study also reinforces the importance of understanding cultural nuances in designing entertainment-education initiatives and the necessity of factoring in context when evaluating them.

According to the author, this study is one of the first to show that PSI is not dependent on length of viewing, validating the use of film and other limited exposure media in entertainment-education - especially when incorporating follow-up strategies. She offers the following additional lessons from this research about audience involvement in entertainment-education. In her assessment, practitioners must:

• realise that audiences are motivated by factors other than information; therefore, they must produce texts that prompt both affective and cognitive processes which facilitate involvement;
• produce texts which are culturally appropriate, with attractive characters with whom audiences will want to be involved and whom they will consider emulating;
• anticipate that audiences will experience stories through their own personal, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts, reducing the possibility of unintended effects;
• build in follow-up strategies which will facilitate ongoing PSI and reinforce educational messages; and
• build research into every aspect of entertainment-education initiatives.

The author suggests that academics must:

• realise the role of attraction and perceived similarity in facilitating PSI;
• consider that PSI has many dimensions which need further examination;
• conduct further studies to understand the extent to which cognitive and critical processes are related;
• conduct further studies to understand the extent to which affective and referential processes are related;
• realise that PSI can develop quickly with little exposure and is strengthened by further exposure;
• recognise and continue to explore the role of PSI;
• further test the role of PSI in entertainment-education initiatives; and
• conduct more studies on the effectiveness of film and other limited exposure media

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