Media consumption in an evolving digital world: millennials and digital natives’ consumption habits and implications for legacy media in Kenya

Technology has led to a paradigm shift for industries and consumers alike, altering the way that businesses operate. Traditional media business models have thus been rendered less competitive by the emergence of the digital platforms that are targetcasting and delivering content to niche audience segments. The competition for audience from these emergent digital platforms has not only occasioned a decline in revenues for the legacy media but also audience fragmentation. The biggest puzzle for media executives today is the bulging youth population that is characterised by unique and fluid consumption and lifestyle characteristics. Digital-native content producers have leveraged these unique and fluid consumption behaviours of the millennials and Generation Z (Gen Zs) to stake a claim in advertising. They have done this by targeting the young demographic with targetcast content that is cheap to produce but of interest to niche audiences, which are then clipped away from legacy media. Targetcast content and the audiences it attracts appeal to advertisers because of the ability to deliver a more predictable audience, with a higher percentage of likely product buyers. There are three key factors underlying the reason why this clipping off of young audiences is so financially devastating to legacy media in terms of advertising: 1) First and foremost, advertisers want to reach young audiences (18-34, most and 18-49 second best) because young people do not have established brand preferences and therefore are more susceptible than older people to advertising; 2) young people in those age groups are more desirable to advertisers because they spend a higher percentage of their income, than older people, on consumer goods, particularly if they have children in their households; and 3) because almost any audience clipped off by narrowcasting is a “higher quality” audience for most advertisers than a general legacy media audience. Because of this, advertising revenue has become so fragmented that as legacy media’s main source of revenue, it no longer guarantees viability. So even as media consumption in East Africa has increased and the advertising market expanded, audience fragmentation and proliferation of media outlets has considerably reduced the advertising dollars that go to media houses. Further, the industry continues to be constrained by considerable challenges, such as limited sources of commercial advertising and content monetisation as well as low disposable income among the target population. These factors exacerbate the scarcity of sustainable advertising revenues

Heavy Sexual Content Versus Safer Sex Content: A Content Analysis Of The Entertainment Education Drama Shuga

Extremely popular with Kenyan youth, the entertainment-education drama Shuga was designed with specific goals of promoting condom use, single versus multiple sexual partners, and destigmatization of HIV. Almost as soon as it aired, however, it generated controversy due to its extensive sexual themes and relatively explicit portrayal of sexual issues. To determine how safer sex, antistigma messages, and overall sexual content were integrated into Shuga, we conducted a content analysis. Results indicated that condom use and HIV destigmatization messages were frequently and clearly communicated. Negative consequences for risky sexual behavior were communicated over the course of the entire series. Messages about multiple concurrent partnerships were not evident. In addition, in terms of scenes per hour of programming, Shuga had 10.3 times the amount of sexual content overall, 8.2 times the amount of sexual talk, 17.8 times the amount of sexual behavior, and 9.4 times the amount of sexual intercourse as found in previous analysis of U.S. entertainment programming. Research is needed to determine how these factors may interact to influence adolescent viewers of entertainment education dramas

Liberian pastors’ communication about sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS

In what little literature exists on local churches and HIV/AIDS, attention is rarely paid to the specific messages that churches preach, or the context within which those messages are disseminated. This article presents results of in-depth interviews with leaders of 8 churches in Yekepa, Liberia, regarding content and context of messages they disseminate to their congregations about sex and HIV./AIDS. Content of messages was nearly consistent across denominations. However, three tensions were identified within pastoral communication of these topics: the need to discuss sexual issues versus societal taboos against speaking about those issues from the pulpit; traditional versus current cultural norms; and the ideal of abstinence and fidelity versus the real sexual behavior of congregants. Pastors differed in their response to these dilemmas; Only the Lutheran church appeared to be openly addressing HIV and sexuality in public communication. Other churches addressed these issues, if at all, in private counseling forums

The Relationship Between Nairobi Adolescents’ Media Use And Their Sexual Beliefs And Attitudes

Adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk for contracting HIV. Although media campaigns have educated the population as a whole, few studies are available about the time sub-Saharan African youth spend listening to and viewing sexual messages via the entertainment and informational media. The goals of this project were: 1) to investigate what programming Nairobi adolescents access; and 2) to investigate the association between frequency of access and level of focus on physical relationships with adolescents’ perceptions of descriptive norms of peer sexual behaviour, and their attitudes regarding men as sex driven, women as sex objects, and dating as a sport. A total of 464 students from 6 Nairobi secondary schools were surveyed. When students’ favourite musicians had a strong focus on physical relationships in their songs, those students estimated the prevalence of risky sexual behaviours among their peers higher. These students also endorsed gender stereotypical and casual attitudes about sex. Large amounts of time spend on the Internet was predictive of all sexual attitude variables. Students whose favourite TV programmes had a strong focus on physical relationships also estimated prevalence of peer sexual behaviour as high

Online audiences and gatekeeping: user comments and their infuence on editorial processes in newsrooms in Kenya

In Kenyan newsrooms, there has been a debate about whether to keep the comment section on news websites in the aftermath of Social Media Networks, which allow the media to still collect user opinion without the risk of unregulated third-party comments. This paper sought to establish the nature and influence user comments have on editorial processes as well as explain what value media houses that have retained the comment section are receiving. To investigate this, the researchers adopted mixed methods research approach (quantitative and qualitative) and concurrent mixed methods research designs. The targeted population was journalists working in media houses that operate in print, broadcast, and digital news website in Nairobi County

Kenyan patients’ attitudes regarding doctor ethnicity and doctor–patient ethnic discordance

Objective This study explored Kenyan patients’ perspectives on the role of ethnicity in the doctor–patient relationship. Methods 221 participants completed questionnaires on ethnicity in doctor–patient relationships; eight focus groups were held with low- and middle-income urban and rural women. Results About half of participants expressed no preference for doctor ethnicity. Participants rated demographic factors as less important than factors related to the doctor\u27s qualifications, communication skills, and cost of service. Those who did indicate a preference were more likely to prefer Indian doctors for eye problems and Europeans for major surgery, cancer, and heart problems. With less severe medical issues participants were more likely to prefer a doctor who was ethnically concordant with them. Reasons for this centered around communication issues. In contrast, several focus group participants did not want to be treated by doctors from their own ethnic group because of concerns about confidentiality. Conclusion Additional research is needed on negative implications of patient–provider concordance. Practice implications Medical service providers must be aware of concerns about ethnic concordance. Alternatively medical centers that deal with sensitive medical information need to consider hiring staff who are not of the majority ethnic group in their region

Couples\u27 communication on sexual and relational issues among the Akamba in Kenya

A large portion of HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa occurs among married couples, yet the majority of research on safer-sex communication has focused on communication between couples in casual relationships. This paper explores how committed Kamba couples in Machakos District, Kenya, communicate about sensitive relational issues. The findings from focus group discussions with five groups of males and five groups of females are presented. The couples freely shared their thoughts about daily and economic issues and certain aspects of family planning and sexuality. Methods for raising sensitive issues with partners included monitoring the spouse’s mood, gradual or indirect revelation, mentioning topics during sex, and use of third-party intermediaries. Interference by extended family members, especially husbands’ mothers, and male authoritarian roles emerged as hindrances to effective communication between couples. The implications for HIV prevention regarding gender differences and the role of families in couples’ communication are discussed