SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION OF DENTAL HEALTH IN CROSS RIVER STATE- NIGERIA

Abstract

Abstract

This work investigated the extent social media advertising promotes dental health in Cross River State, Nigeria. Social media advertising has been used in some developed countries as a social marketing tool in changing negative dental health behaviour amongst people. The pragmatic research philosophy was used in a descriptive research method. The target population were dental professionals and dental patients in Calabar Municipality, Yakurr and Ogoja Local Government Areas of Cross River State, Nigeria. The Pearson product- moment correlation coefficient was used for the analysis with SPSS version 21. The study results revealed that Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram have significant relationship with promotion of positive dental health behavior in the study areas. The researchers then recommended that social marketers and dental health professionals should take advantage of the mass use of these social media platforms in the country to inform and educate the public on sound dental health habits.

Keywords: Social Media Advertising, Dental Health Attitude, Facebook, Youtube, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram.