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Study on the Influence of Media on Youth - Executive Summary

Objectives

This study on the influence of the media on youth is the second study of its kind commissioned by the Commission on Youth. The first study was conducted in 1991. The major objectives of this study are:

  • to map out youth's consumption and preference of the various media types and to correlate the findings with those of the 1991 survey;
  • to ascertain youth's perception on the latest media types;
  • to correlate youth's media exposure with their values and social attitudes; and
  • to formulate recommendations.

Research Methodology

  • The study was based on a cross-sectional household survey on a sample of 1,208 Hong Kong young people aged between 12 and 24. A structured questionnaire was designed for data collection and data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The survey took place from 16 May 1998 to 15 July 1998. The response rate was 75.6%.

Major Findings of the Survey

Media consumption pattern

  • Respondents said their average leisure time per weekday was 3.9 hours, a considerable percentage of which was spent on media activities. Most of them spent 2-3 hours watching television each day. Some spent about 2 hours on the computer while others spent a few hours on electronic games, listening to pop music and the radio, or about 45 minutes reading newspapers. They watched VCDs, LDs and DVDs regularly, and would read a few magazines and extra-curricular books a month. Occasionally, they went to the cinema and read comic books.
  • There are differences in media consumption patterns between different age and gender groups. Male respondents in general had a preference for electronic games, comic books and newspapers while female respondents, for magazines and going to the cinema. Younger respondents tended to spend more time on watching television and read more extra-curricular books while the older ones would spend more time on the computer, listening to the radio, watching VCD programmes, reading newspapers and going to the cinema.
  • The most up to date media types are well-received by respondents. Respondents watched VCD, LDs and DVD most frequently (70.7%), followed by playing electronic games (65.4%) and using the computer (64.1%).
  • Youth's preferences for media contents are quite similar. Entertainment programmes involving comedy, action, adventure and fighting were their all time favourites. Information programmes such as news and sports came second while educational programmes came last. The order of preference is indicative that respondents generally perceived the mass media as a means for entertainment, rather than for information or self-enrichment. Notwithstanding an increase in media forms and frequencies of exposure, youths have continued to focus on entertainemnt.

Media evaluation

  • Ranking of different media: Television was considered by most respondents as a comprehensive medium which was entertaining, informative, educational, credible and meeting youth's taste. Newspapers came second, being considered credible, educational and informative. Extra-curricular books were generally considered educational and credible. Electronic games, pop music and comics were regarded as entertaining and meeting the youth's taste.
  • Advice on use of media: Most respondents seldom or never sought other people's advice on choosing media programmes. It would seem that respondents were relatively independent in their choices of the media. While they would seek advice on certain media types such as films (50%), electronic games (41%) and pop music (41%), they would seldom or never consult others on the choice of newspaper (24%) or magazines (23%).
  • Source of advice: Peers (i.e., friends, classmates, and colleagues) are found to be the major source of advice for nearly all types of media (ranging from 62-93%), except newspapers, although slightly more respondents would seek advice from their families (43%). The mass media was powerful in influencing youth's choice of pop music (11%) and movies (12%). School teachers only influence students' choice of informative and educational materials, such as extra-curricular books (29%), newspapers (10%) and multi-media computers (4%).
  • Evaluation of electronic games: Most respondents clearly knew the advantages (92%) and disadvantages (94%) associated with playing electronic games. Among them, 59% considered that playing electronic games was both a good and a bad thing, 19% considered it slightly bad, while 17% considered it to be a good thing. Heavy users and male respondents tended to consider playing electronic games a good thing. In contrast, females, the less educated and those who had never played electronic games predominantly considered it bad for young people. In general, the better educated group (post-secondary) tended to adopt a more balanced viewpoint, and 65.9% of them regarded it as both a good and a bad thing.

Media and young respondents' idols, values, pornographic contents and language abilities

  • Idols: 49% of the respondents said they had idols. Most of these respondents were females. On the other hand, less than 30% of the working youths had idols. Among the idols, 70% were pop singers and actors. Another 8.9% were sports stars, also closely related to mass media. The common reasons cited for choosing idols were'outstanding performance' (46%),'handsome or beautiful appearance' (42%) and'charm' (32%). The younger the respondents, the more likely they would be attracted by the idols' external appearance. The older and higher educated respondents tended to have more regard for their idols' expressed views, behaviours, character and contribution to the society.
  • Idols and media consumption: Generally speaking, those who had idols devoted more time to media activities such as reading entertainment magazine followed by watching television, listening to pop music, watching movies and reading comic books.
  • Value system: Local young people tended to agree with traditional values. Most of them agreed with statements like'life is meaningful' (82%),'money is not all powerful' (63%),'those who give more would gain more' (77%) and'I hate people smoking' (65%).
  • Media consumption and life values: It appears that there was a positive correlation between the time spent on the computer and the radio and the respective respondents' identification with traditional values. On the other hand, there appeared to be a negative correlation for respondents who spent more time on comic books, movies, pop music and VCDs such that these group of respondents tended to disagree with traditional value. Likewise, there was also a positive correlation between high exposures to newspapers and TV and the respondents' sense of national identity, and a negative correlation for respondents with high exposure to comic books and magazines.
  • Contact with pornographic materials: 75% of respondents said that they had not taken any initiative to view/read pornographic materials, but 23% of them answered in the affirmative. Further analyses showed that whether the exposure of these respondents to pornographic materials was directly related to influences from their peers.
  • Contacts with pornographic materials and respondents' personal values: Analyses also showed that those who had contacts with pornographic materials were less ready to agree with traditional values, and statements such as'those who give more would gain more' and'money is not all powerful'; and were more tolerant of deviant behaviour such as smoking, being befriended with triad members and pre-marital sex.
  • Control of pornographic materials: 77% of the respondents said that the Government should strengthen control on pornographic materials. 7.2% of the respondents expressed an opposite view. Females, younger respondents and the less educated tended to agree with more regulation by the authority.
  • Media usage and language examination performance: Those who performed poorly in language examinations tended to spend a lot of time on electronic games, watching television, listening to pop music, and reading magazine and comic books. Not surprisingly, the time spent on the printed media have a strong positive correlation with the respondents' performance in language examinations. On the other hand, a large proportion of those who have performed poorly in language examinations did not read newspaper and extra-curricular books at all.

Comparison with the 1991 survey results

  • Values and social attitudes: There are no significant differences in the value systems of the respondents in the 1991 and 1998 surveys. However, a notable change was detected in the respondents' perception on the opportunities for personal development. The 1991 respondents tended to be more optimistic about their future, compared with their 1998 counterparts.
  • Media evaluation: Television was still regarded as the medium which provided them the most information and entertainment. Electronic games and magazines had replaced films and comic books in terms of entertainment value. In terms of taste, pop music and magazines had become more popular than movies and comic books among youths nowadays.
  • Idol: In 1991, about one-third of the respondents admitted that they had idols. The proportion had risen in 1998 and nearly half of the respondents admitted that they had idols. A higher proportion of the 1998 respondents had named singers and actors as their idols. A common finding in both surveys was that younger respondents were more likely to have idols.

Recommendations

  • Ask the media to take up more social responsibility for educating the young people.
    Given the large amount of time young people spend on media activities, the media can be an important vehicle for delivering educational materials to the young people. We recommend that the media be asked to take up more social responsibility for educating the young people.
  • Provide guidance to parents
    Given that young people's choice of newspapers and magazines is influenced by their families and that the family can shape young people's television viewing habits, parents can assume a more proactive role to help their children to be selective in the use of the media. We recommend that more guidance be provided for parents to enable them to help their children to select media programmes wisely.
  • Work with the media to improve young people's language standard
    Given the large amount of time young people are spending on media activities, we recommend that educators should explore ways to improve young people's language standards in consultation with the media.
  • Promote a diversity of positive role models
    Most young people's idols are popular singers and movie stars. We recommend that the media should promote a diversity of positive role models for the young people.
  • Educate the youth through entertainment
    Given young people's preference for media materials which are considered to be entertaining, we recommend that educational programmes for young people should be structured to provide education and information through entertainment.
  • Provide more media education programmes
    Many overseas countries offer various forms of media education programmes through schools and non-government organisations. We recommend that schools and NGOs in Hong Kong do the same with the object of enabling young people to appreciate, appraise and choose programmes and materials offered by the mass media, rather than to consume them passively.