Perceived Institutional Authority and Audience Acceptance of Radio Stations’ Conflict Resolution Programmes among Radio Listeners in Ibadan

Abstract

The growing adoption of radio as a tool for resolving interpersonal and community conflicts in Nigeria has led to questions about the legitimacy of the radio institutions and acceptance of the mediation outcomes. This study investigated perceived institutional authority and audience acceptance of radio stations' conflict resolution programmes among listeners in Ibadan, Nigeria. The objectives were to evaluate listeners' exposure to conflict resolution programmes, explore audience perception of institutional authority, determine their acceptance, and analyse the relationship between perceived institutional authority and audience acceptance. A mixed-method design was used, and 367 valid survey responses were gathered using multi-stage sampling, along with 12 participants who were purposively selected for in-depth interviews. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, simple linear regression and thematic analysis. The regression analysis used perceived institutional authority as the predictor variable and audience acceptance as the outcome variable. The study found that the respondents were moderately exposed to radio conflict resolution programmes. Lack of perceived institutional authority was low, and respondents considered radio stations as legitimate and credible mediators. Findings showed that perceived institutional authority was strongly positively and significantly related with audience acceptance (r = 0.71, p < 0.05) and accounted for 50% of the variance in audience acceptance. The study recommended that radio stations should enhance listener engagement through active follow-up mechanisms for mediated cases.