Abstract:
The study was carried out to investigate the influence of media on the selection and maintenance of clothing by adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State. Ten research questions were answered while ten null hypotheses were formulated and tested in line with the specific purposes of the study. The study employed ex-post facto research design. The population for the study was 15,929 secondary school students. Multi-stage sampling techniques was adopted in sampling 400 adolescents comprising of 165 male and 235 females students in senior secondary schools (SS1) in Enugu State. The instrument used for data collection for the study was a structured 100-item questionnaire. The instrument was subjected to face-validation by three experts in the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha reliability method in which an overall reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained for the entire instrument. The instrument (questionnaire) was administered on the respondents by the researcher in person with the help of four research-assistants to ensure effective administration. Out of the 400 copies of the questionnaire administered, 374 copies were completely filled and returned representing 93.5% return rate. The data collected from the study were analysed using mean to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance. Based on the data collected and analysed, the study found that media such as the internet, television, movies, fashion magazines and newspapers has considerable influence on clothing selection and maintenance of adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State. The study also found that there is no significant (p < 0.05) difference in the mean ratings of male and female students on the influence of media on clothing selection and maintenance by adolescents in secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study among others recommended that Home Economics subjects such as Clothing & Textiles and Home Management should be made a core subject at the senior secondary school. This will enable students to have an in-depth knowledge on clothing selection and maintenance. The government and its relevant agencies should put a bench mark on fashion and media houses on the calibre of celebrities used for adverts because of the prominent roles they play in consumers planning, choice and purchasing of clothing materials.
