Islam and Myths about Family Planing: The Impact of Greenstar Media Advertisement Campaign on the Mindset of the Rural Dwellers of Pakistan

Abstract

Religious guidance in Islam is derived primarily from the Holy Qur’ān and Sunnah. For cases not discussed in the Holy Qur’ān, Muslims refer to ijtihad and ijma, that is, they strive to find solutions for the existing problems by reinterpreting Islamic decrees while utilizing the ultimate superintendent sources (Holy Qur’ān and Sunnah) and seek consensus. The study aims to investigate the effects of Greenstar media advertisement campaign on the mindset of the rural dwellers of Pakistan through selective exposure technique. Greenstar marketing tends to educate the rural populace about population control and guides them about different birth control methods, such as contraceptive pills. The researchers carried out a survey with a sample of 200 respondents, out of which 100 were male and 100 were female. Data was collected by providing two questionnaires to take sample from different age groups developed on a five point Likert scale. The results of the study highlighted that regardless of exposure to Greenstar media advertisement, rural men still showed a rigid attitude towards using these products (p value = 0.000). On the other hand, rural women considered local midwives more knowledgeable and expert about the matter at hand (p value = 0.002) and were reluctant towards using Greenstar products that were advertised on the mainstream media due to the pressure of their husbands (p value = 0.000).