From On Air - Fall 2003
Chasing Loma Luna
Measuring How Entertainment-Education
Works
As the radio actors and producers record
episodes of PCI’s highly anticipated Andean region radio
serial drama, Loma Luna, preparations are under way
for two research studies that are focused on evaluating the
impact of the show on its target audiences.
The Loma Luna series is produced
by PCI in partnership with Calandria, a Peru-based NGO, and
aims to improve, among other things, its listeners’
knowledge and attitudes towards reproductive and sexual health
issues, including HIV/AIDS prevention. Such an ambitious undertaking
requires carefully planned scientific monitoring to ensure
its success.
The first study is an 18-month long effort being conducted
by a research unit from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
(CHU) in Lima, Peru. It focuses on measuring the effectiveness
of Loma Luna in achieving its goals.
“This study is made with three sets
of data collected before, in the middle of, and after the
broadcast of the series,” explains Arisingh Dutt, PCI’s
Deputy Director for International Programs. “The target
audience is comprised of listeners 15 to 44 years old. The
initial data gathering is the baseline study which aims to
ascertain the current behaviors and attitudes towards issues
that the drama will address. We check for things like their
prevailing attitudes towards condom use and their knowledge
of how HIV is transmitted. This gives us the benchmark with
which we can compare the data gathered in the succeeding phases.”
In the second phase, data is gathered again
in the middle of the broadcast of the series to detect any
changes in the attitudes of the audience as a result of listening
to several episodes of the serial drama.
“At this stage, if we find out that
there has been no improvement on, let’s say, the listeners’
knowledge of how HIV is transmitted, we then work on emphasizing
that in the series,” says Mr. Dutt, “so that when
we gather data again at the third phase after the broadcast,
we hope to have achieved a significant impact on the listeners.”
True enough, the original storyline, which
was designed during a scriptwriting workshop last year where
participants were exposed to the PCI methodology, incorporated
modifications after the field tests revealed the need for
such a change.
Meanwhile, another study is being conducted
in Ecuador to see how potential listeners there would respond
to Loma Luna, a Peruvian production.
Loma Luna is designed to be broadcast
throughout the Spanish-speaking Andean region which is comprised
of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Although there is
no significant language barrier, there are regional differences
in pronunciation of words as well as shifts in cultural preferences
and practices that may affect the effectiveness of a foreign
soap opera.
To find out how well Loma Luna
would work across borders, PCI partnered with CIESPAL (International
Center for Advanced Studies of Communication for Latin America)
to test five episodes of the serial drama on focus groups
in three Ecuadorian locations.
The study will address areas such as level
of interest in the story, opinions about the Loma Luna
characters, degree of comprehension of the language, and preferred
duration and scheduling of the show. The participants will
also be asked for suggestions for story plots, characters
and situations.
Results of these two studies will undoubtedly be invaluable
in designing more effective and cross-cultural entertainment-education
programs.
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