Communication Channel Preference And Its Relationship With Accessibility To Information

ABSTRACT

The study aimed at researching into communication channel preferences and how

it relates to accessibility to information, The study was carried out in the Ho district

of the Volta Region of Ghana,

Data was collected from four communities in the Ho district. These are: Tanyigbe,

Hodzo-Ve, Dave and Gbleve. Volta Community Water and Sanitation Program

(VCWSP) ranked Tanyigbe community highest in terms of socio-economic status.

Hodzo-Ve, Dave and Gbleve communities had the same lower level of ranking with

respect to socio-economic status. The above four communities were purposively

selected.

The oldest males and females in every fifth house in all the selected communities

were interviewed. Fifty-nine males and sixty-one females were interviewed. In all,

one hundred and twenty beneficiaries were interviewed in the selected

communities.

With respect to the extension agents, the following were interviewed: The regional

extension supervisor of VCWSP, the Ho district extension supervisor of VCWSP,

the regional software officer of VCWSP and the regional gender officer of VCWSP.

The prior state of beneficiaries was marked by water and sanitation practices,

which created conducive conditions for the health problems and hazards facing

them. In response to this situation, innovation information packages were

developed by the VCWSP in collaboration with beneficiary communities and

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disseminated to them. The aim of the innovation information transfer was to change

the knowledge and practices of beneficiaries from the prior state to the desired

state.

Based on the channels used by the source for information dissemination and the

preferred channels of the beneficiaries, three categories of beneficiaries exposed to

innovation information emerged. These are:

A: Beneficiaries who preferred a particular channel and it was used by the

source for information delivery to them.

B: Beneficiaries who preferred a particular channel but it was not used by the

source for information delivery to them.

C: Beneficiaries to whom the source used a particular channel for information

delivery but it was not their preference.

For those in category “A” where preferred channels are used, accessibility to

innovation information is high. For those in categories “B” and “C” where preferred

channels are not used and the channels used are not preferred respectively,

accessibility to information was lower compared with the cases where preferred

channels are used.

It follows that the higher the extent to which preferred channels of beneficiaries are

used, the higher the accessibility to information. Where preferred channels of

beneficiaries are used, limitations imposed on beneficiaries due to their peculiar

circumstances are taken into consideration. Issues relating to opportunity to

interacting with and accessing information are considered. It is for these reasons

that throughout the various stages of the innovation decision process, the selfemployed,

those employed by others and the unemployed indicated that their

channel preferences would enable them undertake their economic activities more

effectively. This is reflected in the self-employed having higher frequency of

acquisition of information from the source compared with the other types of

employment.

However, due to the utility of the information to solve problems confronting

beneficiaries in their prior state, even where channels used were not convenient to

them, they exposed themselves to the information. This was likely due to the fact

that they were in dire need of information to solve water and sanitation problems

confronting them.

All the categories of beneficiaries exposed to innovation information from the

source indicated that there had been a change in knowledge with respect to their

prior state and are practicing the suggested changes. These occurred in spite of

the fact that the channels used by the source were not the preferred channels of

beneficiaries to various extents resulting in different levels of accessibility to

information. This is due to the fact that all beneficiaries exposed themselves to the

innovation information whether channels used by the source were preferred or not

preferred. Beneficiaries exposed themselves to innovation information because it

was congenial with their beliefs and more importantly their critical need situation.

In conclusion, in development communication, relevant information is best

communicated to and with the ultimate users of the information through the use of

appropriate channels in order to influence their behaviour in the desired direction.

Behaviour modification can be achieved faster when the communication channels

preferred by the target beneficiaries are used in the information exchange process

since this ensures maximum information accessibility.