Indian Journal of Marketing

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Profile Centric Community Awareness and Engagement for Adolescent Girls : An Empirical Study on Early Marriage in India


Affiliations
1 Project Consultant and Doctoral Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
2 Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
3 Associate Professor, Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
4 Professor, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
5 Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Early marriage is a pernicious practice traditionally observed even today in several countries, with a fifth of the global female population getting married by 18 years of age. The custom has far-reaching adverse effects on the girls’ physical, mental, and socioeconomic welfare and their future progeny. Therefore, it is critical to disseminate the right messages to the communities of girl children to deter them from letting their daughters marry early. A study was carried out in 2019 that involved the design, execution, and evaluation of a volunteer-driven technology-enabled communication intervention to emphasize the importance of education in securing a girl’s future and to discourage girl child marriage. Seven hundred and eight-six residents of the sub-district of Todaraisingh in Tonk, Rajasthan, participated in the study. A strong positive cognizance of the personalized communication was empirically confirmed. Furthermore, a high influence of cognitive response and sympathy towards the communication was found on the evaluative judgment of the participants that strongly influenced the intention to spread positive word of mouth and behavioral intention.

Keywords

Child Marriage, Communication Efficacy, Rajasthan, Behavioral Intention.

Paper Submission Date : November 28, 2020 ; Paper Sent Back for Revision : February 10, 2021 ; Paper Acceptance Date : June 19, 2021 ; Paper Published Online : September 20, 2021.

User
Subscription Login to verify subscription
Notifications
Font Size

  • Aggarwal, V. S., & Shefali. (2019). Influence of family communication patterns in family purchase decision making. Indian Journal of Marketing, 49(8), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2019/v49/i8/146170

  • Banerjee, K. (1998). Marriage change in rural India, 1921–1981. The History of the Family, 3(1), 63–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1081-602X(99)80235-8

  • Bessa, T. (2019). Informed powerlessness: Child marriage interventions and third world girlhood discourses. Third World Quarterly, 40(11), 1941–1956. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1626229

  • Blum, R. W., Li, M., Pasha, O., Rao, C., & Natiq, K. (2019). Coming of age in the shadow of the Taliban: Education, child marriage, and the future of Afghanistan from the perspectives of adolescents and their parents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64(3),370–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.09.014

  • Brahma, J., Pavarala, V., & Belavadi, V. (2019). Driving social change through forum theatre: A study of Jana Sanskriti in West Bengal, India. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 29(2), 164–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365X19864477

  • Burke, M. C., & Edell, J. A. (1986). Ad reactions over time: Capturing changes in the real world. Journal of Consumer Research, 13(1), 114–118. https://doi.org/10.1086/209051

  • Castilla, C. (2018). Political role models and child marriage in India. Review of Development Economics, 22(4), 1409–1431. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12513

  • Chae, S., & Ngo, T. (2017). The global state of evidence on interventions to prevent child marriage. Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center Research Brief (Issue 1). http://dx.doi.org/10.31899/pgy8.1034

  • Chari, A. V., Heath, R., Maertens, A., & Fatima, F. (2017). The causal effect of maternal age at marriage on child wellbeing : Evidence from India. Journal of Development Economics, 127, 42–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.02.002

  • Chatterjee, S., & Kundu, A. (2020). Sub-conscious decision mapping and network framework for retail market consumption. Indian Journal of Marketing, 50(2), 35–51. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2020/v50/i2/150440

  • Dorius, S. F., & Firebaugh, G. (2010). Trends in global gender inequality. Social Forces, 88(5), 1941–1968. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2010.0040

  • Escalas, J. E., & Barbara, B. S. (2003). Sympathy and empathy: Emotional responses to advertising dramas. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(4), 566–578.

  • Gaffney-Rhys, R. (2011). International law as an instrument to combat child marriage. The International Journal of Human Rights, 15(3), 359–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642980903315398

  • Godha, D., Gage, A. J., Hotchkiss, D. R., & Cappa, C. (2016). Predicting maternal health care use by age at marriage in multiple countries. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(5), 504–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.01.001

  • Grose, R. G., Chen, J. S., Roof, K. A., Rachel, S., & Yount, K. M. (2020). Sexual and reproductive health outcomes of violence against women and girls in lower-income countries: A review of reviews. Journal of Sex Research, 58(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2019.1707466

  • Islam, G. M., Igarashi, I., & Kawabuchi, K. (2018). Inequality and mother’s age as determinants of breastfeeding continuation in Bangladesh. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 246(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1620/tjem.246.15

  • John, N. A., Edmeades, J., & Murithi, L. (2019). Child marriage and psychological well-being in Niger and Ethiopia. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1029. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7314-z

  • Kalamar, A. M., Lee-Rife, S., & Hindin, M. J. (2016). Interventions to prevent child marriage among young people in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review of the published and gray literature. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(3), S16–S21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.01519) Kleven, H., & Landais, C. (2017). Gender inequality and economic development: Fertility, education and norms. Economica, 84(334), 180–209. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecca.12230

  • Kohno, A., Dahlui, M., NikFarid, N. D., Ali, S. H., & Nakayama, T. (2019). In-depth examination of issues surrounding the reasons for child marriage in Kelantan, Malaysia: A qualitative study. BMJ Open, 9(9), e027377. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027377

  • Krugman, H. E. (1982). Why three exposures may be enough. Journal of Adverting Research, 12(6), 11–15.

  • Male, C., & Wodon, Q. (2018). Girls’ education and child marriage in West and Central Africa: Trends, impacts, costs, and solutions. Forum for Social Economics, 47(2), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/07360932.2018.1451771

  • Malhotra, A., Warner, A., McGonagle, A., & Lee-Rife, S. (2011). Solutions to end child marriage : What the evidence shows. International Center for Research on Women. http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/Solutions-to-End-Child-Marriage.pdf

  • Maxham III, J. G., & Netemeyer, R. G. (2002). Modeling customer perceptions of complaint handling over time: The effects of perceived justice on satisfaction and intent. Journal of Retailing, 78(4), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(02)00100-8

  • Maxham III, J. G., & Netemeyer, R. G. (2003). Firms reap what they sow: The effects of shared values and perceived organizational justice on customers’ evaluations of complaint handling. Journal of Marketing, 67(1), 46–62.

  • Mlambo, V. H., Hlongwa, M. V., & Msthali, L. (2019). The implications of child marriages and their developmental effects on young girls/women in sub-Saharan Africa. African Renaissance, 16(2), 75–99.

  • Modak, P. (2019). Determinants of girl-child marriage in high prevalence states in India. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 20(7), 374–394. https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol20/iss7/24

  • Mulenga, J. M., Mulenga, M. C., Bwalya, B. B., & Ngongola - Reinke, C. (2018). Too young to be a wife! Analysis of the factors influencing child marriages and its influence on the preferred number of children among women in Zambia. African Population Studies, 32(2), 4319–4330. https://doi.org/10.11564/32-2-1210

  • Murukutla, N., Turk, T., Prasad, C. V. S., Saradhi, R., Kaur, J., Gupta, S., ... & Wakefield, M. (2012). Results of a national mass media campaign in India to warn against the dangers of smokeless tobacco consumption. Tobacco Control, 21(1), 12–17.

  • Nandi, S., Bhat, S., & Wolfs, B. (2019). Effectiveness of Indian advertisements in breaking stereotypes : A comparative analysis using the hierarchy of effects model. Indian Journal of Marketing, 49(3), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2019/v49/i3/142143

  • Nguyen, P. H., Scott, S., Neupane, S., Tran, L. M., & Menon, P. (2019). Social, biological, and programmatic factors linking adolescent pregnancy and early childhood undernutrition : A path analysis of India’s 2016 National Family and Health Survey. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 3(7), 463–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30110-5

  • Nour, N. M. (2006). Health consequences of child marriage in Africa. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12(11), 1644–1649. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1211.060510

  • Onagoruwa, A., & Wodon, Q. (2018). Measuring the impact of child marriage on total fertility : A study for fifteen countries. Journal of Biosocial Science, 50(5), 626–639. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021932017000542

  • Paul, P. (2019a). Child marriage and its association with morbidity and mortality of children under 5 years old: Evidence from India. Journal of Public Health, 28, 331–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-019-01038-8

  • Paul, P. (2019b). Effects of education and poverty on the prevalence of girl child marriage in India: A district–level analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 16–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.033

  • Paul, P., Chouhan, P., & Zaveri, A. (2019). Impact of child marriage on nutritional status and anaemia of children under 5 years of age : Empirical evidence from India. Public Health, 177, 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.08.008

  • Pham, M. T., & Avnet, T. (2004). Ideals and oughts and the reliance on affect versus substance in persuasion. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(4), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1086/380285

  • Santhya, K. G., Ram, U., Acharya, R., Jejeebhoy, S. J., Ram, F., & Singh A. (2010). Associations between early marriage and young women’s marital and reproductive health outcomes : Evidence from India. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 36(3), 132–139. https://doi.org/10.1363/ipsrh.36.132.10

  • Sekine, K., & Carter, D. J. (2019). The effect of child marriage on the utilization of maternal health care in Nepal: A cross-sectional analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2016. PLoS One, 14(9), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222643

  • Sekine, K., & Hodgkin, M. E. (2017). Effect of child marriage on girls’ school dropout in Nepal: Analysis of data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2014. PLoS One, 12(7), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180176

  • Srivastava, C., & Mahendar, G. (2018). Intention to adopt sustainable energy : Applying the theory of planned behaviour framework. Indian Journal of Marketing, 48(10), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2018/v48/i10/132325

  • Stafford, T. F., & Stafford, M. R. (2002). The advantages of atypical advertisements for stereotyped product categories. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 24(1), 25–37.

  • Stark, L. (2018). Poverty, consent, and choice in early marriage : Ethnographic perspectives from urban Tanzania. Marriage & Family Review, 54(6), 565–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2017.1403998

  • Stark, L., Asghar, K., Seff, I., Yu, G., Gessesse, T. T., Ward, L., Baysa, A. A., Neiman, A., & Falb, K. L. (2018). Preventing violence against refugee adolescent girls: Findings from a cluster randomised controlled trial in Ethiopia. BMJ Global Health, 3(5), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000825

  • Steinhaus, M., Hinson, L., Rizzo, A. T., & Gregowski, A. (2019). Measuring social norms related to child marriage among adult decision-makers of young girls in Phalombe and Thyolo, Malawi. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64(4), S37–S44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.12.019

  • Sunder, N. (2019). Marriage age, social status, and intergenerational effects in Uganda. Demography, 56(6), 2123–2146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00829-8

  • Tenkorang, E. Y. (2019). Explaining the links between child marriage and intimate partner violence: Evidence from Ghana. Child Abuse &Neglect, 89, 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.01.004

  • Trehan, K., & Gupta, A. (2015). Brands explore human relationships for consumer engagement : A critical analysis of television advertising in India. Indian Journal of Marketing, 45(12), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2015/v45/i12/84010 49) UNICEF. (2019). Child marriage. https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage

  • Walker, J. - A. (2012). Early marriage in Africa - trends, harmful effects and interventions. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 16(2), 231–240. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23318031

  • Wells, W. D., Leavitt, C., & McConville, M. (1971). A reaction profile for TV commercials. Journal of Advertising Research, 11(6), 11–18.

  • Wodon, Q. (2018). Education budget savings from ending child marriage and early childbirths: The case of Niger. Applied Economics Letters, 25(10), 649–652. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2016.1259743

  • Wodon, Q., Malé, C., & Onagoruwa, A. (2019). A simple approach to measuring the share of early childbirths likely due to child marriage in developing countries. Forum for Social Economics, 49(2), 166–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/07360932.2017.1311799

  • Yi, Y. (1990). Cognitive and affective priming effects of the context for print advertisements. Journal of Advertising, 19(2), 40–48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4188762


Abstract Views: 181

PDF Views: 1




  • Profile Centric Community Awareness and Engagement for Adolescent Girls : An Empirical Study on Early Marriage in India

Abstract Views: 181  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Charru Hasti
Project Consultant and Doctoral Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
Sonal Arora
Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
Amit Mehndiratta
Associate Professor, Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
Mahim Sagar
Professor, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India
Harish Chaudhry
Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India

Abstract


Early marriage is a pernicious practice traditionally observed even today in several countries, with a fifth of the global female population getting married by 18 years of age. The custom has far-reaching adverse effects on the girls’ physical, mental, and socioeconomic welfare and their future progeny. Therefore, it is critical to disseminate the right messages to the communities of girl children to deter them from letting their daughters marry early. A study was carried out in 2019 that involved the design, execution, and evaluation of a volunteer-driven technology-enabled communication intervention to emphasize the importance of education in securing a girl’s future and to discourage girl child marriage. Seven hundred and eight-six residents of the sub-district of Todaraisingh in Tonk, Rajasthan, participated in the study. A strong positive cognizance of the personalized communication was empirically confirmed. Furthermore, a high influence of cognitive response and sympathy towards the communication was found on the evaluative judgment of the participants that strongly influenced the intention to spread positive word of mouth and behavioral intention.

Keywords


Child Marriage, Communication Efficacy, Rajasthan, Behavioral Intention.

Paper Submission Date : November 28, 2020 ; Paper Sent Back for Revision : February 10, 2021 ; Paper Acceptance Date : June 19, 2021 ; Paper Published Online : September 20, 2021.


References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom%2F2021%2Fv51%2Fi9%2F166161