Abstract
The study was carried out to investigate the influence of media on the selection and maintenance of clothing by adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State. Ten research questions were answered while ten null hypotheses were formulated and tested in line with the specific purposes of the study. The study employed ex-post facto research design. The population for the study was 15,929 secondary school students. Multi-stage sampling techniques was adopted in sampling 400 adolescents comprising of 165 male and 235 females students in senior secondary schools (SS1) in Enugu State. The instrument used for data collection for the study was a structured 100-item questionnaire. The instrument was subjected to face-validation by three experts in the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha reliability method in which an overall reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained for the entire instrument. The instrument (questionnaire) was administered on the respondents by the researcher in person with the help of four research- assistants to ensure effective administration. Out of the 400 copies of the questionnaire administered, 374 copies were completely filled and returned representing 93.5% return rate. The data collected from the study were analysed using mean to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance. Based on the data collected and analysed, the study found that media such as the internet, television, movies, fashion magazines and newspapers has considerable influence on clothing selection and maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State. The study also found that there is no significant (p < 0.05) difference in the mean ratings of male and female students on the influence of media on clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study among others recommended that Home Economics subjects such as Clothing & Textiles and Home Management should be made a core subject at the senior secondary school. This will enable students to have an in-depth knowledge on clothing selection and maintenance. The government and its relevant agencies should put a bench mark on fashion and media houses on the calibre of celebrities used for adverts because of the prominent roles they play in consumers planning, choice and purchasing of clothing materials.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Clothing is exclusively a characteristic and feature of nearly all human societies. The human race wears articles of clothing such as dress, garment or attire on the body. Clothing is anything placed on the body to cover nakedness. Johnson and Foster (1990) defined clothing as anything placed on the body to adorn, protect or communicate intent. Anyakoha (2015) conceptualized clothing as any article or items placed on the body in order to protect, beautify or adorn it. Clothing includes a variety of items and applications such as gowns, shirts, trousers, skirts and under wears, accessories such as jewellery, watches, belts, ties, hairdo, make-ups, shoes, umbrellas, handbags, and walking sticks among others. (Bradley, 2011) asserts that clothing provides a window into different cultures, because it usually attests to the salient ideas, concepts and categories fundamental to that culture.
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Clothing alongside with food and shelter has been regarded a primary need of human beings. Clothing is also a part of human behaviour that helps people to modify their appearance through the form of hair arrangement, body shaping, and alterations like the use of tattoos, breast and hip enlargement (Kaiser.1990). Clothing are worn for various reasons, which include; protection, adornment, modesty, social identification, gender differentiation, social and religious status, communication of intents among others. Clothing helps to protect the body from unfavourable weather conditions such as cold, rain, heat of the sun and rough harmattan because it can regulate temperature in the cold or heat. Furthermore, it can provide a hygienic carrier keeping toxins away from the body and limiting the transmission of microbes to the body and also provides protection from harmful ultra violet radiation. Clothing is worn by different categories of people: men and women, children, adults, teenagers and adolescence. Different clothes are worn for different occasions such as
sportswear, casual wear, office wear, house wear, party wear and school uniform among others. School uniforms are mostly worn for identification in primary and secondary schools.
Secondary school is the next level of education after the primary school. According to the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004), secondary education is the education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary education. The secondary schools in Nigeria are categories under senior and junior secondary schools. Senior secondary school education is made up of three years duration of learning due to the new 9-3-4 system of education (NERDC, 2008). Some secondary schools comprise of boys & girls from different cultural, religious and socio-economic background. This study will however focus on boys and girls in senior secondary schools because boys and girls differ on how they react to an environment depending on their mood. In Nigeria, secondary school age range is on the average of 12 to 18 years. This age group is usually referred to as adolescence.
Adolescence is the age between childhood and adulthood. According to Santrock (2007), adolescence is a transitional period in the human life linking childhood and adulthood. World Health Organization (2013) identified adolescence as the period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood, from ages 10 to
19. It represents one of the critical transitions in an individual’s life span and is characterized by a tremendous pace in growth and change that is second only to that of infancy. The Adolescence is characterised by intensive biological, cognitive and socio-economic changes. Rumsey (2002) opines that the physical and psychological changes in puberty increase the strength of the focus on the body. It is also a period in which the anxieties on the body images are most distinct (Stice & Shaw, 2002). At this stage, career interest, dating and identity exploration are often pronounced and at early adolescence they are often characterised by self-consciousness of intense introspection and the search of an identity. The people in this developmental age are called adolescents. Adolescents, both boys and girls, try new
hairstyles and different ways of dressing. They begin to develop images about what their bodies look like and the anxiety on the body looks become strong. In these endeavours, clothing is used as a means of declaring independence by adolescents. The researcher observed that adolescents between the age ranges of 12-18 always try to dress to conform to their peer group standard which often does not always meet the family standard, and this usually brings conflict between adolescents and other members of the family especially the parents. They often reject clothes bought by their parents especially if they feel it does not conform to their peers’ standard and what they have seen models put on. The concern regarding physical appearance and independence becomes even greater when adolescents receive messages from mass media about specific standards of physical appearance attributed to men and women (Mishra, Dayal & Mishra, 2012). Hence, the media can have a very powerful influence on the clothing selection practices of adolescence.
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are used for mass communication and the organisations which control these technologies. Livesey (2011) defined mass media as channels of communication that involve transmitting information in some way, shape or form to large numbers of the people. Types of media include electronic or broad cast and print media. Electronic media is the kind of media which requires the user to utilize an electric connection to access it. It includes television, radio, and new-age media such as the Internet, computers, telephones etc. Print media encompasses mass communication through printed material. It includes newspapers, magazines, booklets and brochures, house magazines, periodicals or newsletters, direct mailers, handbills or flyers, billboards, press releases, and books. Electronic media exert a powerful influence on the users as they affect the eyes, ears and the mind simultaneously. They play a significant role in shaping public perception on a variety of important issues both through the information that is dispersed and through the interpretation it places upon this information. Television and
movies combine relative images with sound to form persuasive messages and colourful images to influence and persuade consumers. Influence is a power affecting a person, thing or course of events, especially one that operates without any direct or apparent effort. Television has a key role in clothing advertisement and thus a major media that has the highest influence on adolescents because most families especially in Enugu state have satellite television at home. The internet is a type of electronic media that uses visual, sound and colourful graphic and comics to influence consumer’s buying practices. While fashion magazines and newspapers are only visual media that make use of size, positioning, attractive caption to create awareness of the latest fashion in vogue. Generally, the media exert enormous influence over the issues of men, women, children and adolescents particularly among teenagers on the way they dress, talk, behave and think. Many fashion industries advertise their clothing business through the internet, television, movies, fashion magazines and newspapers. New fashion styles gain popularity through media adverts.
Advertisement is a form of marketing communication used to promote or sell something, usually a business product such as article of clothing or service such as laundry services. The purpose of clothing advertisement is to convince customers that a company’s services or products are the best, announce new products, reinforce the sales people’s individual messages, and draw customers. Furthermore fashion industry bombard the public clothing article by using celebrities who are regarded as models in the society of whom adolescents imitate. Schlecht (2003) defined celebrities as people who enjoy public recognition by a large share of a certain group of people. Celebrities could be from the entertainment industry, sports world, business sector, politics and fashion shows and other areas. Celebrities are often involved in advertising campaigns such as television or print adverts to advertise specific or general products. For example, when celebrities share their favourite products or wear clothes by specific brands or designers they influence consumers
to buy the products. The media make use of fashion programmes such as sale promotion. Sales promotions includes: free gifts, perfect images of models and super stars, celebrities, persistent repetition of images, colourful pictures and photographs, spontaneous adverts, eye catching messages, elaborate designs, powerful images, animation and graphics in clothing adverts.
These fashion programmes appeal and influences adolescents to buy expensive dresses, shoes, and jewelleries. Many adolescents try to behave like models viewed on internet, television and movies. Some make hair-do of favourite celebrities, demand for designers clothes. Many adolescents specifically boys change the legs of their slacks to be a peg or a wider style, sag knickers and wear jackets that are tight, while girls adjust skirt length, wear revelling blouse such as spaghetti straps tops, skimpy skirts, topless dresses, miniskirts, transparent clothing and hair styles and among others (White, 1994). Adolescents of nowadays do not appreciate the normal wears because they want to go modern; the effect of westernization to the rich dressing of our culture. The role played by clothing in identification of tribe, religion and culture have faded because they are giving way to westernization. Today some boys plait and perm their hair, wear ear-rings while the girls wear miniskirts, strapless blouses, tight-fitting gowns hence gender differentiation is becoming difficult at times. Then one begins to wonder with the trends of things where the society and its culture are going with such clothing. These forms of dressing are regarded as immodest dressing and are not culturally accepted in some societies. Such clothes when worn by the females can be major cause of rape, sexually immorality, child pregnancy and moral decadence among adolescents in Enugu state. Hence, Okafor (2007) opined that people copy, select and choose clothing styles they like from television stations, fashion catalogues, magazines, newspapers, journals and film shows as well as through fashion shows and demonstrations.
Clothing selection involves making a decision of what type or style of clothing to buy. Clothing selection of any individual includes all the procedure involved in planning, shopping and wearing of clothes (Anyakoha & Eluwa, 1991). Clothing selection is not a random or totally an individual affair but a social activity and also the act of making choice. It also involves making a decision out of many available options to an individual. Clow and Baack (2007) postulates six steps a buyer goes through when making a purchase: awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and finally purchasing. Individuals select clothing that will reflect much about the person, such as one’s image, personality, values, attitudes, beliefs or moods. Clayton (1994) reasoned that clothing which makes an individual feel good wand flatter his or her appearance is the best clothing choice because the clothes one wears determines the influence he makes on the individual; this is called first impression. Larbs (1995) asserted that one never gets a chance to make a good first impression. Therefore, improper dressing leads to not only negative impression and value judgement on the receiver, by the observer, but also negative response and feedback. Adolescents express need for conformity with their peer group and independence by choosing clothing that is worn by others in the group without considering the fit, colour, occasion, durability, safety and weather condition of the clothes.
Wrong selection of clothes can lead to denial of attention or rejection in interpersonal relationships as well as humiliation, sexual harassment, rape, chronic diseases and death (Offor, 2002). The selection of clothes and accessories is both an art and a science and in other to improve one’s taste in clothing selection, one will find that a study of the principles of design (line, shape, space, texture and colour) will help (Anyakoha, 2015). Hence, adolescents need to be properly guided on clothing selection and care otherwise the time, energy and money spend on their clothing will amount to futile effort. This is because if clothing is to perform its useful and social functions, it has to be properly selected for specific
purposes and function, irrespective of the age of the wearer. Moreover, in selecting clothing, it is important to decide how to use, wear, care and maintain it.
Clothing maintenance involves taking proper care of clothes through good laundering and mending techniques. According to Mba (2001), laundering is the washing of clothes to make them clean, fresh, and new to last longer after use. Laundry of clothes is done to make clothes new and attractive. During laundry, stains are removed, clothes are stiffened, pressed or ironed to give it a smooth appearance and to help them last longer. Clothing suffers both assaults from both within and without. Since the human body sheds skin cells and body oils and exudes sweats, urine and faeces on the clothing, they, therefore need to be properly laundered. Lyle and Brinkley (1997) states that care label on a garment tell you what kind of laundering and cleaning care the garment requires. Care of clothes are the procedures through which clothes receives attention for durability. Clayton (1994) states that care of clothes on a regular basis helps to keep them in ready to wear condition thereby saving money by prolonging the utility and enjoyment of the clothes. This should also be a priority of secondary school adolescents in Enugu state.
Enugu state is located in the Southern Eastern region of Nigeria. Enugu state is also made up of six (6) education zones namely; Agbani, Awgu, Enugu, Nsukka, Obollo-Afor and Udi. It is an Igbo speaking state, consisting of seventeen local government areas and is habited by people of different age groups and sexes. Enugu state is known to be a capital city since the time of Eastern region and it has made some advances in science, technology and education. This has led to high rate of business activities such as boutiques, media and electronic houses. This in turn has influenced the way youths and adolescents behave, talk and dress more especially in the adolescents dressing.
Adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu are among the consumers of various media like internet, Television, newspaper, etc. They follow up the adverts and promotions placed by clothing industries and businesses. The knowledge and experience they gain from the clothing and models they view in the media may lead to wearing different forms and styles of clothing, this can lead to many negative practices and vices as observed in the communities within the state. However, the question still is : How, do the media influence the clothing selection and maintenance of secondary school students in Enugu state. The thrust of this study is to investigate how the media influence the adolescents in their clothing selection and maintenance.
Statement of problem
Adolescents need to be properly guided on clothing selection and care otherwise the time, energy and money spent on their clothing will amount to futile effort. Usually adolescents need new clothing to replace old ones. This is as a result of the rapid physiological changes in their body. Adolescents use clothing as a means of declaring independence and they often reject clothes bought by their parents. To cope with this challenge, they select and copy dress styles they like from other people. They spend so much time watching television and movies, reading fashion magazines and newspapers and browsing the internet for latest styles to buy and wear without considering their care and maintenance.
The media, (both electronic and print media) is the major avenue through which fashion industries display their latest fashion styles to the public through advertisement on the internet, television, movies, fashion magazines and newspapers. Only the fashion industries who reach an agreement with the various media are allowed to advertise their fashion goods. Hence, there is an intense competition among them and to this end they use intensified adverts and sales promotion such as low price, free delivery, use of celebrities and coupons.
Also the high rate of fashion programmes such as celebrities brand name, persistent repetition of images, colourful pictures and photographs, spontaneous adverts, eye catching messages, elaborate designs, powerful images, animation and graphics in clothing adverts are used to attract the adolescents and other customers. This has made many adolescents to try to behave like models viewed on the internet, television and movies. Some make hair-do of favourite celebrities, demand for designer’s clothes, desire to enrol for beauty pageant, cat walk like model, and desire to look attractive like football super stars.
Many adolescents (boys and girls) reject clothes bought by their parents and select clothing without considering the weather, fit of the garment, the activities to use the clothes, the durability of clothes, clothes for different occasion and culture of the society. Adolescent girls often wear revealing clothes such as spaghetti straps, see-through gowns and miniskirts in order to show off beautiful parts of their body like straight legs, large hips and bust. They often make irrational demand for designers’ dresses, shoes, handbags and other clothing accessories. Moreover adolescent boys perm and plait their hair, and sags their trousers too because they want to imitate or model favourite celebrities they see on the media. These have lead to conflicts in some homes and too many expenses on adolescents clothing. Some adolescents do not only go to wear both immodest and anti-cultural dresses but spend so much money on clothing without recourse to the maintenance of the clothing they buy and wear. Considering this general concern and worry on adolescents unrestricted clothing demands, and lack of clothing care culture, it has therefore become imperative to investigate the influence of the media on clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state, Nigeria.
Purpose of the study
The major purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of media on the selection and maintenance of clothing by adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state. Specifically, the study investigated the influence of:
1. Internet on the clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state
(electronic media).
2. Television on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state
(electronic media).
3. Movies on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state
(electronic media).
4. Fashion magazines on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in
Enugu state (print media).
5. Newspapers on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state
(print media).
6. The internet on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state (electronic media).
7. Television on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state (electronic media).
8. Movies on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state
(electronic media).
9. Fashion magazine on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in
Enugu state (print media).
10. Newspapers on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state (print media).
Significance of the study
The findings of this study when implemented will be of immense benefit to Educational Administrators, Home Economics teachers, Curriculum Planners and Educational Researchers, adolescents, parents and the society.
The finding of this study will be of immense benefit to educational administrators in the ministry of education. This is because the information that will be generated from the study will guide them to organize seminars and workshops to enlighten teachers (especially Home Economics teachers) on the influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine & newspaper) media on the clothing selection and maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools. The findings of the study will assist the administrators to mount enlightenment campaigns for people, especially the adolescents to be selecting and maintaining their clothing based on media influences.
The findings of this study will also be useful to home economics teachers in particular. This is because the information that will be gained from the seminars and workshop organised based on the findings of the study would enlighten them and their students during classroom teachings on the influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine & newspaper) media on the selection and maintenance of clothing by adolescents..
The study will also be of benefit to adolescent students because it will help them to understand the importance of making wise decision in terms of clothing choice as well as the need to dress properly since one is addressed the way he/she is dressed. The enlightenment will also help them to understand that most of the images advertised and seen on the media are not always realistic and ideal for them. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from this study will help the students to choose Home Economics subjects like Clothing & Textiles and
Home Management as a subject in the senior secondary level. This will enhance their knowledge more on influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine & newspaper) media on clothing selection and maintenance.
The change in the clothing lifestyle of adolescents brought about by the enlightenment will help to curb indecent dressing, rape, immorality and decadence among adolescents which has been a major challenge in the society today. These changes will reflect in the society because the social menace brought about by indecent dressing will stop, thereby, restoring the rich culture and values of the society. The adolescents will also gain more knowledge on the influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine & newspaper) media on clothing selection and maintenance.
Curriculum planners will also benefit from the findings of this study if adopted. This is because the findings will afford them the opportunity to know the influence of media on clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools. The information will help them in developing or bringing innovation in the curriculum that will help to enlighten students on the influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine & newspaper) media on the clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools. The findings would greatly assist the curriculum review and update, especially with regards to clothing selection and maintenance.
Educational Researchers will also benefit from the findings of this study when published. This is because the information will provide empirical data on the influence of media on clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools. The information will also serve as a guide to researchers in their future research studies on the influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine &
newspaper) on clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools in
Enugu state.
Government will also benefit from the findings of this study if adopted. The information on influence of electronic (internet, television, movies) and print (fashion magazine & newspaper) on clothing selection and maintenance will guide the government to initiate policies that will help in regulating what the media (satellite TV, movie, fashion and entertainment industry) display to the public. Also, it will help the government to introduce measures that will penalize adverts and shows that can negatively influence the clothing choice and lifestyles of adolescents. Furthermore, the study will help government to ensure that fashion industries in Nigeria produce garments that are morally acceptable in the society. Government through the findings of this study will also ensure that care labels are attached to garments to enable adolescents to take proper care of their clothing.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study.
1. What influence does the internet have on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
2. What influence does television have on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
3. What influence does movies have on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
4. What influence does fashion magazine have on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
5. What influence does newspapers have on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
6. What influence does the internet have on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
7. What influence does television have on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
8. What influence does movie have on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary school in Enugu state?
9. What influence does fashion magazines have on clothing maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
10. What influence does newspapers have on clothing selection of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses formulated for this study were tested at 0.05 level of significance:
Ho1 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of the internet on their clothing selection.
Ho2 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of television on their clothing selection.
Ho3 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of movies on their clothing selection.
Ho4 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of fashion magazine on their clothing selection.
Ho5 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of newspaper on clothing their selection.
Ho6 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of internet on their clothing maintenance.
Ho7 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of television on their clothing maintenance.
Ho8 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of movies on their clothing maintenance.
Ho9 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents
in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of fashion magazine on their clothing maintenance.
Ho10 There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu state on the influence of newspaper on their clothing maintenance.
Scope of the study
The study was delimited to investigating the influence of media on the selection and maintenance of clothing by adolescents in secondary schools in the six education zones in Enugu State. The study focused on the influence of five media: television, movies, internet, fashion magazines and newspaper on clothing selection and maintenance of adolescents (boys & girls) in secondary schools in Enugu state. The students used for the study were between the ages of 13-18 years.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON THE SELECTION AND MAINTENANCE OF CLOTHING BY ADOLESCENTS IN SECONDARY SCOOLS IN ENUGU STATE>
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