The Impact of Public Service Advertising: Social Development or Social Change through Development Communication: Strategic Communication through Corporate Lobbying: An Analysis of the Changing Dynamics from Print to Digital Media

Abstract

The term 'public service advertising', although familiar to all of us, has never been exposed to critical analysis in India till 2000 onwards as the growing popularity and inescapability of media messages through advertising has reached to a crescendo during the times of a transition from one-dimensional print media to digital media. And in this process of change-over, the intent of 'public service' which means to mobilize the public to take action for a common goal or objective, has got affected. Public service advertising with all ennobled and embellished connotations, catalyzing social change or transformation is nothing new. However, the problem arises when under the garb of 'public service' the centers of power, media elites or communication strategists, try to propagate their own world views through constantly bombarded different social media platforms, the grey areas of borderline between public service or public good and personal interest and personal benefit get obliterated. This research study will try to highlight the issues of propagandist intent of public service advertising and how the ideals of social change or social development through development communication strategies is taking a drastic turn towards forging a mass consensus on false assertion and fake identity. The article has used quantitative analysis methodology to analyze the various understanding of the concept of 'public service advertising' and for that matter, social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram are used as its variables for analysis. The sample size used for this study is 150 respondents. The study has concluded from the detailed analysis that the alarming scenario of diluting the phenomena of 'public good or public service' has created a huge propensity towards creating a hegemony, ie, self-glorification or self propaganda and the 'social development' intent of the social messages or public service messages is getting diluted because of the growth of strategic communication interfaces or equipped professional elites working as political actors.