Study suggests up to 3 million young Kenyans read Shujaaz
27 January 2011
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Recently completed audience research suggests that 1.1 million 18-35 year olds in Kenya read the ShujaazFM comic, but the total readership is likely to be much higher.
The finding is based on results obtained by Synovate, a global market intelligence firm. In a nationwide telephone survey carried out in August 2010, 4,001 interviews were conducted with 18-35 year olds. The sample was corrected to reflect national demographics such as urban/rural, gender and age.
Because of Kenya's data protection regulations, the telephone survey could only reach people who were 18 years and above. To provide additional information on younger readers a complementary household survey was also carried out in five locations: for this a sample of 910 randomly selected respondents between the age of 13-24 years were interviewed in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Meru. Although these findings are not necessarily representative of the entire country they provide valuable additional information about ShujaazFM's readership.
The household survey revealed that 22% of the 13-18 year olds polled spontaneously mentioned ShujaazFM when asked which Kenyan comics or cartoons they knew. Of these, 94% said they read ShujaazFM and of these 95% could name at least one ShujaazFM character.
The study estimated that on average five people read each copy of ShujaazFM. At the time of the survey 600,000 copies were being distributed. Rob Burnet of ShujaazFM believes that very few of these copies are wasted - even if the initial recipient does not read it, copies are passed on and recycled at various points along the disposal chain and "even comics going to the dump are read by rag-pickers". Assuming each copy is read by 5 readers, that suggests a total readership of up to 3 million.
Two story lines were found to have particular impact on ShujaazFM readers: vaccinating chickens and soaking seeds prior to sowing, both included through support from RIU.
Other highlights from the research include:
The age distribution of ShujaazFM readers ranges 4 to 70 years. The bulk of the readers are between 10 and 33 years old, with a peak at 18-26 years.
Most readers get their copy from the Nation newspaper (51%), followed by a friend or family member (27%) and the M-Pesa agent (14%).
32% of readers reported that they discussed some of what they read in ShujaazFM with others: mostly friends (69%), followed by various family members (51%) and colleagues (21%). Male readers are more likely to discuss stories with others than female readers (35% versus 27%).
Commenting on the results, Rob Burnet, the social entrepreneur behind ShujaazFM, said:
27 January 2011
Tweet
Recently completed audience research suggests that 1.1 million 18-35 year olds in Kenya read the ShujaazFM comic, but the total readership is likely to be much higher.
The finding is based on results obtained by Synovate, a global market intelligence firm. In a nationwide telephone survey carried out in August 2010, 4,001 interviews were conducted with 18-35 year olds. The sample was corrected to reflect national demographics such as urban/rural, gender and age.
Because of Kenya's data protection regulations, the telephone survey could only reach people who were 18 years and above. To provide additional information on younger readers a complementary household survey was also carried out in five locations: for this a sample of 910 randomly selected respondents between the age of 13-24 years were interviewed in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Meru. Although these findings are not necessarily representative of the entire country they provide valuable additional information about ShujaazFM's readership.
The household survey revealed that 22% of the 13-18 year olds polled spontaneously mentioned ShujaazFM when asked which Kenyan comics or cartoons they knew. Of these, 94% said they read ShujaazFM and of these 95% could name at least one ShujaazFM character.
The study estimated that on average five people read each copy of ShujaazFM. At the time of the survey 600,000 copies were being distributed. Rob Burnet of ShujaazFM believes that very few of these copies are wasted - even if the initial recipient does not read it, copies are passed on and recycled at various points along the disposal chain and "even comics going to the dump are read by rag-pickers". Assuming each copy is read by 5 readers, that suggests a total readership of up to 3 million.
Two story lines were found to have particular impact on ShujaazFM readers: vaccinating chickens and soaking seeds prior to sowing, both included through support from RIU.
Other highlights from the research include:
The age distribution of ShujaazFM readers ranges 4 to 70 years. The bulk of the readers are between 10 and 33 years old, with a peak at 18-26 years.
Most readers get their copy from the Nation newspaper (51%), followed by a friend or family member (27%) and the M-Pesa agent (14%).
32% of readers reported that they discussed some of what they read in ShujaazFM with others: mostly friends (69%), followed by various family members (51%) and colleagues (21%). Male readers are more likely to discuss stories with others than female readers (35% versus 27%).
Commenting on the results, Rob Burnet, the social entrepreneur behind ShujaazFM, said:
"Obviously we are really excited by these findings, which go far beyond even our highest hopes. It shows that the medium is working. And it's a great pay-back to our first set of partners - including RIU, GTZ, Safaricom, Twaweza, Nation and others - who were willing to take a chance with us when we launched last year. We've learned a lot of lessons from this research, and we're growing stronger and bigger and better in 2011!"
| Interview with Rob Burnet from Well Told Story, Eric Muthoda and Paul Peter Kades from the ShujaazFM production crew. January 2010 (5:59) |  |
