Urban Consumers' Educative Value Attached on Quality and Safety of Milk from Different Media Channels in Nairobi Kenya

Abstract

Agricultural advisory services inform urban consumers about milk safety and quality information through diverse media channels. Communication about milk is vital in educating consumers to make informed, healthy food choices. However, knowledge gaps exist on whether the dominant message theme by media targets educating consumers. This study sought to fill these knowledge gap. Thematic content analysis of newspaper articles was used (n=215) and researcher-administered questionnaires (n=131) was used in Nairobi city. The respondents involved in the study were 131.The frequencies of text data were determined, and the dominant message themes were identified using Chi-square test statistics. The respondents rated media sources for educative value, on a Likert scale (1 to 5). Results revealed that the dominant print media message themes were innovations for enhancing good quality milk (36.7%), causes of poor-quality milk (43.7%), benefits of quality milk (10.7%), and risks of poor-quality milk (8.8%). The relative consumer trust for information disseminated by agricultural advisors through different media channels was in the order of television (20.2%), radio (19.5%), product advertisement (16.7%), social media (13.5%), newspapers (12.4%), public extension (7.5%), research by university (6.8%), and lastly extension magazines (3.4%). Consumers placed greater trust on messages disseminated through television, which in their perception was of greater educative value to them.