Read the passage and answer the questions:
A non-profit organisation wanted to promote and teach people of a village about the benefits of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS). They made colorful posters with graphics and pasted them near the Panchayat and Health Centre of the village. However, despite the posters displayed at multiple points in the entire village, they were unable to communicate or bring positive change in the attitude of the villagers. They changed their strategy and started using radio to educate the villagers. When one of the volunteers started to interact face-to-face with the villagers, she was surprised to see that most of the villagers were unaware of the benefits of ORS despite the efforts of the organisation. During the interaction, she found that disseminating information regarding ORS by meeting in person was more persuading. She reported this to her seniors and requested to change in the strategy to bring positive changes in the attitude of the villagers regarding the uses of ORS.
Which mode of spreading the message about benefits of ORS will be more effective for villagers?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Face-to-face interaction
Option (1) Face-to-face interaction — Correct. The mode of spreading the message plays a significant role in attitude change. Face-to-face transmission is usually more effective than indirect transmission. The volunteer found the same: meeting the villagers in person was more persuading than all the posters.
Option (2) Letters and Pamphlets — Incorrect. Letters and pamphlets are indirect transmission. Like the organisation’s posters, they carry the message without anyone to explain it or answer doubts.
Option (3) Indirect Transmission — Incorrect. This is the general name for the less effective mode: letters, pamphlets or mass media, set against face-to-face talk.
Option (4) Television and radio — Incorrect. These are mass media. A positive attitude towards ORS is created more effectively when workers and doctors talk to people directly than by describing its benefits on the radio, which the organisation had already tried.
Note: This case is built on the ORS example NCERT uses for the mode of spreading a message in attitude change, with its picture of face-to-face talk set against a radio broadcast (Fig. 6.3). Even a one-line example beside a figure can come back as a full case study; give the pictures and their examples the same attention as the main text.
NCERT (2025-26): “Message characteristics : … Finally, the mode of spreading the message plays a significant role. Face-to-face transmission of the message is usually more effective than indirect transmission, as for instance, through letters and pamphlets, or even through mass media. For example, a positive attitude towards Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) for young children is more effectively created if community social workers and doctors spread the message by talking to people directly, than by only describing the benefits of ORS on the radio (see Figure 6.3). These days transmission through visual media such as television and the Internet are similar to face-to-face interaction, but not a substitute for the latter.”
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