The impact of Pictorial presentation in Lifestyle and Pulse magazines on personal values of University of Nairobi students

Abstract

This study assessed the impact of photographic presentations in lifestyle magazines on Kenyan youth and their appreciation of societal values. This study looked at pertinent issues in relation to print and visual media including Television and internet. The study establishes the background to the study by placing the issues regarding the impact of media on the youth. Further, the study examines the theoretical framework that informs this study. The study will adopt the social learning theory and the uses and gratification theory to guide it. These theories explain the process of learning through social interaction with media and how people use media to satisfy certain individual needs. These theories aptly explained the impact of photographic presentations on the study sample.

The study then examines related literature to capture studies and issues related to the topic. Firstly the review examines issues in personal values. Then the review examines issues related to visual representations in media and the effect of media on the youth as they occur in print and other media accessible to the youth. This study carried out a quantitative study that was descriptive in nature. It adopted a quantitative design due to the nature of the data that was used.

The data was largely opinions drawn from interviews with respondents. The study site will be University of Nairobi. Random sampling was used to identify the sample universities and snowballing was used to identify the specific respondents for the study. A pre-study survey was carried out to identify willing participants for the study. The study finds that photographic presentations in lifestyle magazines do indeed influence the behavior and character of its audience and this is manifested in their perception of societal and individual values.