Radio Theatre for Development (RTFD) As A Communication Tool for Nurturing Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) Among The Daystar University Youth

Abstract

Radio Theatre for Development (RTFD) is an effective communication tool that has been used in the past to address other social issues, such as family planning uptake, gender inequity, and governance, among many other social issues. Although RTFD has been used to address other social issues, there is little evidence of its use to nurture and develop Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) to address youth unemployment in Kenya. This study sought to determine the potential of RTFD in developing and nurturing EI among the Daystar youth to address the high youth unemployment rate in Kenya. The main objectives of the study were to determine how the RTFD messaging can affect the Daystar youth’s attitude, appeal to the Daystar youth’s subjective norms, and influence the Daystar youth’s Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) towards developing EI. The theory that guided this study was the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), as the key elements of attitude, subjective norms, and PBC informed the objectives of the study. The study was conducted online as the RTFD messaging was uploaded on the Rumble website for the Daystar experimental group’s access. The questionnaire for this study was also administered online using Google Forms. The study population was Daystar University students in their final year of undergraduate studies. The sample size for this study was 276 respondents divided into two groups: one represented the experimental group, while the other represented the control group. The study used the experimental research design, which falls under the quantitative research design, which was used to identify the causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables within a population. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis, and an independent samples t-test was used to illustrate the data, summing up observations and drawing suitable conclusions. The major findings obtained from the data analysis revealed that the RTFD messaging did not alter the attitudes and subjective norms of the sample population, but the messaging statistically altered the PBC of the Daystar youth. This study recommends that the Kenyan government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, should adopt RTFD as a communication tool that could strengthen entrepreneurship education and training. This would be necessary in helping the youth gain entrepreneurial skills to create job opportunities that could help reduce the rate of unemployment in the country.