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Application of
Application of the AIDA model the AIDA
Measuring the effectiveness of television model
programs in encouraging teenagers to
use public libraries 635
Mitra Pashootanizadeh and Saideh Khalilian
Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Received 14 April 2018
Revised 7 June 2018
University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran 4 August 2018
Accepted 5 August 2018

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to measure how effective television programs are in persuading
teenagers to use public libraries.
Design/methodology/approach – This study is a descriptive survey. The statistical population includes
all members of public libraries in the City of Isfahan aged between 12 and 16 years (N = 920). Using Cochran’s
formula, the sample size was determined to be 270 individuals. The data were collected by a researcher-made
questionnaire survey instrument whose validity was confirmed by Library and Information Science experts.
Furthermore, the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed via “Cronbach’s alpha” in the pilot test with
0.73. Having a return rate of 85.93 per cent, the authors were able to analyze 232 sets of responses.
Findings – Based on the authors’ findings, television programs are only able to satisfy the first stage of the
model (i.e. Attention). So, its role in encouraging teenagers to use public libraries is not significant. Among the
items of the model, “Desirability and interest in the program” and “Persuading teenagers to use public
libraries” were found to be the most and least effective items, respectively, with average responses of 8.42 and
5.13. Moreover, television shows categorized as kids/teenagers were most likely to attract the target audience
to libraries.
Originality/value – There is no any similar study in this scope, especially in the Middle East, where watching
the television remains a mainstream activity for teenagers. It is for the first time that AIDA model is used for
measuring the effectiveness of television programs in persuading teenagers to use public libraries in Iran.

Keywords Public libraries, Reading, teenagers, Library use, AIDA model, Television programs
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
In the twenty-first century, human beings are exposed to information explosions. The young
adult generation has been born in this era and the identification of their information needs
and developing information formats which match their needs are the responsibility of the
school and public librarians. Libraries play a significant role, especially school libraries that
have a close relationship with adolescents and young people and can contribute to the
growth of their personality.
The Library and Information Center is an important component of any educational
institution, which is the hub of teaching, and learning activities where students, researchers
and teachers can explore the vast resources of information (Sinha, 2004). But based on the
results of numerous studies and statistics available from the Iranian Department of Information and Learning Science
Education in 2008, it was found that the libraries and per capita of existing school books are Vol. 119 No. 11, 2018
pp. 635-651
of inferior quality in comparison with international and national standards (Kiani and © Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
Pakdam, 2009). DOI 10.1108/ILS-04-2018-0028
ILS Also, Eftekhari et al. (2015) concluded in their research that most of the schools’ libraries
119,11 in Iran were unable to perform their actual tasks. Some of these problems include the lack of
facilities and equipment, lack of a physical environment for study, the inadequacy of the
number of books in libraries, inattention of students’ information needs, lack of books and
libraries in the educational system. In such a situation, public libraries must play a pivotal
role in developing a knowledge-based community so that they should support and provide
636 information and knowledge to all types of individuals in the community (Jose Suaiden, 2003;
Mahat, 2002). It is thus evident that these libraries in Iran should provide special services for
students to decrease the impact of shortages in school libraries.
According to a report by the Iran Public Libraries Foundations, there were 3,170 public
libraries in the country in 2014, which shows an increase of 7.3 per cent from the previous
year. However, analyses reveal that, despite large investments, libraries continue to
experience sharp decreases in the number of users and book lending (Kohi Rostami, 2015).
Therefore, it is necessary to identify the factors that prevent individuals from joining public
libraries, as large investments are at stake if they fail to attract new members and, in turn,
maintain the few they already have. Reading habits tend to form during the early years of
one’s life, i.e. childhood and adolescence. The latter group seems more likely to rely on other
sources of information (e.g. the internet) if they cannot satisfy their special needs.
Young adults, as defined by the Young Adult Library Services Association (Join et al.,
2006), are individuals aged between 12 and 18 years. In this publication, the terms young
adult (YA), teens, teenagers, adolescents, youth and students will be used to describe this
group of library users aged between 12 and 18 years, who represent almost one-quarter of
the users of public libraries (Jones, 2002). Majority of library users in Iran are aged between
10 and 20 years, and as age increases, the use of libraries decreases (Zare et al., 2015).
The need for young adult services in libraries is greater than ever (Join et al., 2006). Teens
have unique needs that are quite different from those of adults and children. The library has
an obligation to address those unique needs. The developmental needs of teens are different
than that of children (Ludwig, 2011) and the very purpose of public libraries is to help teens
thrive and develop into caring, competent adults (Jones, 2002; Ludwig, 2011). Therefore, in
addition to providing the resources and services required by adolescents, public libraries
should have ways of communicating with this target group to attract them and promote
reading habits thereby creating loyal library patrons for the future.
The implication of marketing concept in non-business areas, namely, social marketing, is
rapidly growing and has had considerable effect on consumption patterns. Social marketing
seeks to utilize tools, techniques and concepts derived from commercial marketing to pursue
social goals (Andreasen, 2006). Today, all organizations are not only seeking more profit and
personal interests but also have a superior goal and that is to put influence on individuals’
actions and behavior (Peattie and Peattie, 2009). One of these tools for attracting people and
especially teens to public libraries may be the TV. It is often called “king” of the media
(Rawal, 2013).
Watching TV or movies is one of the best leisure-time for the teens. TV is a great way to
capture the attention of teens (Taney, 2003). It is one of the mass media technologies.
Although the mass media has a greater influence on people of all ages, teenagers are more
exposed to mass media than any other age group. Teenagers’ views on things, attitudes and
opinions change a lot too. The mass media imposes a model of style, behavior, attitude and
fashion (Jevtic, 2013). Television, as a mass medium, has a tremendous influence on modern
society and plays a dominant role. Today people spend most of their time watching a variety
of television programs (Guru et al., 2013).
 Sepasgar Shahri (2009) believed that the most negative influence of TV on Iranian Application of
children is the reduction of their reading time. Findings by Monjezi (2014) revealed that, the AIDA
excluding The Holy Quran and other religious books, citizens of Isfahan aged between 18
and 64 years read an average of nine minutes per day. Television is likely to be blamed for
model
this outcome. Unlike many countries in the world, Iranians can watch TV without charge.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is an Iranian official media corporation,
which is administered by a budget allocated by the government. As a result, many
individuals spend a considerable amount of time in front of the television. Findings of Kabir 637
et al. (2013) showed that the amount of time watching TV by an Iranian student is 2.6 hours
per day. Besides, 52 per cent of female folk (15-25 years age group) in Iran watch satellite
programs for more than 5 hours daily (Nosratinezhad et al., 2014).
Thus, in this paper, we are trying to focus on the impact of television programs
on teenagers and the critical situation of library membership in Iran and aim to measure
how television programs influence teenagers to use public libraries. These researchers have
not taken into consideration the satellite programs created abroad, as the people in Iran
are not permitted to access them. This research is carried out using the AIDA model. One of
the most popular “hierarchy of effects” models is the AIDA model which describes four
stages that the program or advertising drives the consumer into, starting with attention,
interest, desire and finally action. In these kinds of models, each step represents a necessary
but insufficient condition for the sequence of stages (Ghirvu, 2013). Determining how
efficient a program or an advertisement is can be difficult, but some models like AIDA make
it possible. Ultimately, our purpose is to find out how effective television programs are in
persuading teenagers to use public libraries, and their role is in the process. Thus, the
following questions are proposed:
Q1. What types of television programs on the topic of libraries and reading are more
appealing to teenagers?
Q2. On which stage of the AIDA model are television programs more capable of
attracting teenagers to public libraries?
Q3. What are the strongest and weakest items of the AIDA model in attracting
teenagers to public libraries?

AIDA model
In line with the transformation of technology, social institutes need to apply modern and
effective methods to survive. Service marketing is one of these methods. Marketers are
continuously searching new ways to communicate better with the public and to understand
the consumers’ purchasing behavior. They tried to define and explain the consumer’s
purchase process by using different models and applying various strategies for improving
brand communication. One of the paths followed was the use of a hierarchy of effects models
(Ghirvu, 2013).
The AIDA model has been widely used in marketing activities such as promotions,
advertising, sponsorship and business. In 1898, E. St. Elmo Lewis proposed a theory of
communication called the AIDA model, the acronym that refers to Attention, Interest, Desire
and Action. This theory is developed based on a study of the life insurance industry that
describes the four cognitive phases experienced by an individual upon receipt of a new idea
or a new product purchased (Michaelson and Stacks, 2011). The AIDA model is a marketing
basic movement in organizing advertisement that results from customers’ perception. AIDA
is an abbreviation that is used in marketing and advertisement; it describes a general list of
ILS incidents, which are possible when a customer is involved in a certain advertisement (Li and
119,11 Yu, 2013). Although the model was introduced centuries ago and has gone through a variety
of modifications, the basic principle of this model remains intact and is still relevant (Hassan
et al., 2015). According to the needs of AIDA model, the aim of marketing is to attract
potential consumers’ attention, to increase the consumers’ interest and desire to do the last
act (Hadiyati, 2016). Here below, we explain the four stages of AIDA:
638 ATTENTION: The advertiser has to promote the product in such a way so that the
customer becomes aware of it and its specific services involved. The purchase
process begins from the moment when a consumer does not know about a certain
brand, so he/she first has to find out about the existence of the product or service.
This first step in cognitive hierarchy focuses on ways to attract and retain the
consumer attention. (Bogost, 2007).
INTERESTt: A marketer has to think of a media of information to draw the attention of
the consumers, and covey the benefits of the product. Some bad media of information are
careless in taking this important step, yet consumers are willing to provide their time to
read the message in detail. Building readers’ interest by providing a solution or hope to a
certain problem is one way to draw the attention of the consumers. The best way to build
the readers’ awareness is by explaining the feature and benefit to better their interest.
DESIRE: A marketer has to be smart and sharp in seducing the customer to purchase a
product. This step is vital for a marketer that he/she can provide a correct solution to
their consumer. In this manner, people have had their motivation to own a product and a
marketer has succeeded in creating the needs of the consumer. Nevertheless, hesitation
will occur with some consumers, as they doubt whether the said product or service can
provide the required outcome as has been promised (Hadiyati, 2016).
ACTION: Action represents the final step of the process. Taking action is actually
creating the next step in purchasing and using the selected product or service. In this
stage, marketers must focus on determining the consumer to finalize the entire
cognitive process with an actual acquisition, with the concrete action of buying and
using the product or service (Ghirvu, 2013).

Literature review
Plenty of literature, especially from the USA, can be identified on the subject of attracting teens/
young adults to make greater use of libraries, but school libraries, not public libraries, and the
link to television watching seems almost non-existent. Thus, in this section, we briefly review
previous works focusing on the causes leading to public library usage or lack thereof. A large
number of qualitative and quantitative factors, such as the larger presence of engaging media
and easier access to information, may lead to lower interest in public libraries. Moreover, Sin
and Kim (2008) identify a number of other influential factors including information processing
methods, information needs, information search, social networks, motivation to attend libraries
and accessibility as well as environmental factors such as one’s distance from the library.
D’Elia (1980) used a hierarchical model to evaluate five variables:
(1) individual characteristics;
(2) awareness of library services;
(3) perceived accessibility of the library;
(4) perceived ease of use of the library; and
(5) use of other nonpublic libraries.
According to the results, the identified variables influence public library usage. Satisfaction Application of
with public library services was found to be a significant driver of public library usage (Joy the AIDA
and Idow, 2014). Lack of adequate facilities, inadequate/outdated information resources,
internet/information and communications technology services in public libraries is among
model
the other major factors that can enhance member satisfaction and increase public library
attendance. A host of other less significant factors have also been identified, including
limited working hours, unappealing locale, lack of coffee shops, lack of entertainment,
buying rather than borrowing books, access to internet at home, lack of interest in reading,
639
being unaware of the available books and lack of perceived library usefulness (Ahmadi
Fassih, 2006; Lubanz, 1971; Omid khoda and Sepehr, 2009; Readingworldwide, 2012).
Also, the barriers to public library use by young adults vary that include the following: a
negative attitude to young people’s presence in libraries; the need for library staff to be more
user-friendly and open in providing support to children and young people (Jones et al., 2006);
school information environment; frequency of school library usage, race/ethnicity; home
computer availability for schoolwork, leisure and internet access (Sin, 2012); huge amount of
homework; and lack of time (Tabatabaei Shahrabad et al., 2016). Luo and Weak (2013) found
that lack of awareness of available services was a barrier to library use for young adults. The
study by Agosto et al. (2015) shows young adults’ public library use indicate that young adults
use public libraries for different reasons and extent and they use libraries for social interaction
more than for information access. While, in Clark and Hawkins (2010), the most common
reasons for using public libraries cited by students aged 8 to 16 years from 112 schools in
England were the existence of interesting materials, friendly space and presence of computers.
According to the search results, no research has been found regarding the use of the
AIDA model in attracting users to libraries, but several studies existed in other
organizations and institutions. We mention some of them below (Table I):
Literature reviews showed there are not any researches about applying AIDA model in
libraries. Though in some papers the causes of reduction public library users have been
identified. So that effective tools (like TV) should be adopted to attract users, especially
teenagers, to public libraries. In this way, some models like AIDA can be used to measure
the role and effectiveness of each tool.

Researcher Year Title of the Study Results

Hassan 2015 Strategic Use of Social Media for AIDA model can indeed be applied in
and et al Small Business Based on the strategizing the use of social media for
AIDA Model marketing purposes. The proposed strategy
serves as a guideline for small business
entrepreneurs on how to strategically use
social media for marketing
Ghirvu 2013 The AIDA Model for Findings describe the consumer’s purchase
Advergames process by interpreting the AIDA Model in
the context of online advergames
Rawal 2013 AIDA Marketing Communication This paper measures how AIDA can aid in
Model: Stimulating a purchase creating a purchase if properly
decision in the minds of the implemented through televis ion as an
consumers through a linear advertising media
progression of steps Table I.
Lin and 2006 Internet blogs as a tourism These ads resulted in attracting the Summary of related
Haung marketing medium: A case study attention (44.5%), creating interest (10%), literature about
creating desire (39.2%) and acting (6.3%) AIDA model
ILS Research methods
119,11 The current research is a “descriptive survey” in terms of collecting data, as it was
conducted through a survey. To collect the required data for the study, the authors used a
researcher-made questionnaire that included four parts:
(1) Part 1: to identify the library user demographic characteristics, with five
questions.
640 (2) Part 2: to identify the extent of the public library and TV use, with two questions.
(3) Part 3: to identify the most influential television shows with the subject of books
and reading, with ten TV shows in the four genres:
 kids/teenagers (TV programs for kids and teenagers);
 soaps (also known as soap operas which are fictional dramas about people’s
daily lives);
 talk shows or chat shows (programs hosted by a TV personality featuring
guests who talk about their lives); and
 news (a show that reports daily events as they unfold) (ESOLCourses).

These TV shows were created by IRIB and depict the most relevant programs
which are directly or indirectly devoted to books, reading and libraries. As these
programs are not international and the readers are not familiar with them, any
relevant mention would be useless. So, we have reported the types of these
programs in general, not by its specific name.
(4) Part 4: This section was designed to test the hypotheses that had been formed based
on the AIDA model. One of the most popular “hierarchy of effects” models is the
AIDA (Ghirvu, 2013). We used it because determining how efficient a program or an
advertisement is can be difficult and some models like AIDA make it possible. This
part contained 12 questions. The questions from 1 to 3 measured the first stage (i.e.
attention). Questions from 4 to 6 were devoted to the second stage (i.e. interest), and 7
to 9, for the third stage (i.e. desire). Eventually, the last one (i.e. action) had been
supported by the questions from 10 to 12.

Respondents’ opinions about each item were collected in a five-point Likert scale with
anchor points 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.
For preparing the research tool, different Iranian AIDA questionnaires were studied. After
that, the items were designed based on our research objectives. Before finalizing the
questionnaire, its content validity was okayed after the faculty members of Library and
Information Science (LIS) at the University of Isfahan reviewed it. Further, the reliability of the
questionnaire was confirmed via “Cronbach’s alpha” in the pilot test with 0.73 (Appendix).
The research was conducted on children aged between 12 and 16 years who were library
members of the Iran Public Libraries Foundation in the City of Isfahan. The relevant study
has to hold on those who watched TV programs about books, reading and libraries. We
chose library users because the possibility of watching this kind of television programs in
this group is more than non-users. These individuals are the clients of public libraries
against all the barriers mentioned before. So, they are more interested in the topic of the
book and likely the TV programs are related to it. One reason for choosing them as a
statistical society was that the researchers could find a better consideration of the real role of
TV, compared to other factors and as a powerful media, in persuading teenagers to use
public libraries. Another reason for this selection is the importance of maintaining existing
customers. Griffin and Herres (2002) said that maintaining existing customers led to a
reduction of costs more than five times as much as attracting new customers. As a result, Application of
these researchers prefer to study the TV influences on current users of the library to the AIDA
measure the strength and weakness of it for enticing patrons. Besides most likely for those
model
who do not use the library, the AIDA model would not work, as the TV programs do not
have the power to attract them.
A total of 920 individuals who met the inclusion criteria were members of the public
libraries in Isfahan. As each library had a different number of users, sample participants 641
were chosen by stratified random sampling. Also, according to Cochran’s sampling size
formula, the sample size was calculated (270 persons). The users which do not have the
experience of watching television programs about books and reading were omitted from the
research. The return rate of the questionnaires was 85.93 per cent and 232 questionnaires
were analyzed. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 21 and the charts were drawn
using Microsoft Excel 2013.

Research findings
Descriptive findings of the research
Table II shows the demographic distribution of the respondents in terms of gender, age,
average grade point (GPA) and parents’ education. Of the 232 completed copies of the

Variable Frequency (%)

Gender
Girl 134 57.8
Boy 98 42.2
Age
12-13 33 14.2
13-14 80 34.5
14-15 72 31
15-16 42 20.3
GPA
20-19 119 51.3
18.99-18 73 31.5
17.99-17 23 9.9
16.99-16 13 5.6
Less than 16 4 1.7
Father’s education
Analphabetic-primary study 31 13.36
Middle study 56 24.14
Associated 53 22.84
Bachelor 42 18.10
Master 25 10.78
PhD 13 5.60
Mother’s education
Analphabetic-primary study 38 16.38
Middle study 81 34.91
Associated 29 12.5 Table II.
Bachelor 49 21.12 Socio-demographic
Master 10 4.31 characteristics of the
PhD 9 3.88 respondents
ILS questionnaire by the respondents, 57.8 per cent were girls, while 42.2 per cent were boys.
119,11 Generally, the surveyed respondents had high GPAs. Furthermore, a greater percentage of
the respondents were 13-14 years of age. Also, most respondents had fathers with associate
degree and mothers with high school diploma education.
As depicted in diagram 1, in 24 hours, 21 participants (9.05 per cent) spend less than one
hour a day watching TV. Thirty-four participants (14.65 per cent) watch less than two hours
642 of TV every day. The figure rises to 52 (22.41 per cent) for those who spend two to three
hours in front of the TV. The majority of the participants (n = 69; 29.74 per cent) watch TV
for three to four hours every day followed by the next group (17.67 per cent) who watch four
to five hours of TV every day. Finally, 15 individuals in the study (6.47 per cent) allocate
more than five hours to TV every day (Figure 1).
In terms of monthly public library usage, 53 participants (22.84 per cent) make at most
one visit to the library. The majority of the participants (n = 106; 45.68 per cent) attend the
library two or three times a month. Thirty-five individuals (15.09 per cent) have four to five
visits. Twenty-four people make six or seven trips to the library during a month, while only
14 individuals (6.03 per cent) visit the library more than seven times a month (Figure 2).

Analytical findings

Q1. What types of television programs on the topic of libraries and reading are more
appealing to teenagers?
The questionnaire divided all TV programs on the subject of book and reading on Iranian
television (10 programs at the time of this study) into four genres: kids/teenagers, soaps, talk
shows and news. Survey results can be seen in Table III.
The results in Table II indicate that kids/teenagers’ shows are the most effective in
attracting teenagers to books and reading while soaps are least effective.

Figure 1.
A statistical sample
of watching TV time
during a day

Figure 2.
A statistical sample
based on the use of
public libraries
during a month
 Q2. On which stage of the AIDA model are television programs more capable of Application of
attracting teenagers to public libraries? the AIDA
To explore each stage of the AIDA model and determine whether TV programs on books model
and reading are able to attract, create interest and desire, and ultimately get teenagers to
attend public libraries, a one-sample t-test is used, where the difference between the average
of the sample with a particular number (here the number 4 as the middle of the Likert scale)
is tested. One-sample t-test results on each stage of the AIDA model using the collected data 643
are shown in Table IV.
As evident in Table IV, the significance level for each stage of the AIDA model is smaller
than 0.005 and the average values are significant. According to the results, only the first
stage, i.e. “Attention”, is successful with an average value of 3.2 which is larger than 3.
Therefore, this stage has the best value. One can conclude that TV programs have only been
able to get teenagers’ attention while failing in the other stages of the model:
Q3. What are the strongest and weakest items of the AIDA model in attracting
teenagers to public libraries?
To determine the most and least effective items, Friedman’s test was used. Table V presents
the results.
Using Friedman’s test, the items of Attention, Desire, Interest and Action was ranked.
Looking at Table V, as the level of significance is smaller than 0.05, the four variables have a
significant difference. Moreover, as seen in Table IV, “Desirable and interesting programs”
and “Persuading the audience to use public libraries” ranked first and last, respectively.
This result was expected because the first stage (Attention) was the only successful one and

Table III.
Frequency average Frequency per cent average Frequency and
Kind of TV show Yes No Yes No frequency percentage
Kids/teenagers 119.3 112.7 51.4 48.6 of the appeal of TV
Soap 23 209 9.9 90.1 programs on book
Talk show 78.8 153.2 33.96 66.03 and reading among
News 61 171 26.3 73.7 teenagers

Variable Sig. (2- tailed) T Conclusion

Attention
Mean = 3.2069 0.004 3.7092 
Std. Deviation = 0.85271
Interest
Mean = 2.6494 0.000 5.5803 
Std. Deviation = 0.95908
\trDesire
Mean = 2.7198 0.000 4.528 
Std. Deviation = 0.93920 Table IV.
Action One- sample t-test
Mean = 2.6422 0.036 5.578  results on each stage
Std. Deviation = 1.29703 of the AIDA model
ILS Variable Steps Mean Rank Ranks Chi-Square Sig
119,11
Attention Creativity in the programs on books and 8.38 2 413.729481 0.000
reading
Desirable and interesting programs on 8.42 1
books and reading
Meeting the audiences’ expectations about 8.15 3
644 books and reading
Interest Remembering the content of the programs 7.47 4
on books and reading
Interesting programs on books and reading 6.12 6
The desire to watch TV programs on books 6.22 5
and reading again.
Desire Creating a positive mental image in the 5.55 10
audience
Gaining the audience’s confidence in books 5.58 9
and reading
Matching the books programs with 5.32 11
audience’s needs and interests
Action Enticing the audience to attend public 5.76 7
libraries
Recommending reading and using library to 5.90 7
friends and family
Table V. Persuading the audience to use public 5.13 12
Item rankings using libraries as an alternative to other sources
Friedman’s test of information

included the strongest item (Desirable and interesting programs). In turn, the last rank item
existed in the “Action” stage, was the weakest one.

Discussion and conclusion

Different researches show that school libraries in Iran are far below IFLA standards in all
aspects (Ajhdeh and Sepehr, 2011; Bigdeli and Jamshidi, 2014; Biranvand et al., 2011;
Ghasemi et al., 2017; Ziaei and Motaghy dadgar, 2016). These libraries do not have the
potential to satisfy the information needs of teenagers or play any significant role in
encouraging them to read or make use of the library. Besides, given the fact that Iranians do
not allocate substantial time to reading or going to the library, social and cultural institutes
need to find effective means of attracting individuals (particularly children) to public
libraries.
Television is the most popular media for Iranian children (Khancheh Sepehr et al., 2013)
and one of their most important activity in leisure time is watching TV (Sepasgar Shahri,
2008). Majority of the young adults (99 per cent) have a television in their home (Sepasgar
Shahri, 2009). As a result, television is an extremely popular medium in Iran, especially for
young adults, whose role in promoting reading and using public libraries must be explored.
Teenagers are an important group of people who need to receive special attention in this
regard. Therefore, this paper aimed at exploring how effective TV programs are in
attracting young people aged 12 to 16 years to public libraries in Iran. In doing so, the AIDA
model, one of the most popular “hierarchy of effects” model, was applied.
As seen in Table III, among different programs on the topic of books and reading,
teenagers find kids/teenagers shows and talk shows most interesting. Findings of Sepasgar
Shahri (2009) revealed the same results about watching kids/teenagers programs. This may
be due to the fact that teenagers are easily affected by their peers. As a result, they tend to be Application of
influenced by famous individuals (especially younger ones) who encourage them to read the AIDA
more and attend public libraries. Ultimately, this is likely to persuade teenagers to read more
and make frequent trips to the library. Nevertheless, IRIB does not possess any specific
model
policy about kids/teenagers programs and most of its criteria are mental. Lack of expert
staff for producing such programs is evident (Mokhtarianpour and Samadi, 2017).
Obviously, this is the main reason why unattractive and inferior quality shows are produced
which subsequently limits the effects on young adults in Iran. On the other hand, under- 645
developing countries like Iran purchase shows and movies from other countries, which are
incompatible with the local culture and spirit, dub them into their national language, and
relay it on their TV (Saniyi, 2005). Thus, it seems relevant that IRIB has to invest in
educating and training professionals in this field so that they can produce interesting kids/
teenagers shows which, in turn, may change the behavior of the youth to make use of the
libraries.
As seen in Table IV, data on the four stages of the AIDA model showed that TV
programs are only able to attract viewers’ “attention” while failing in the remaining stages
of the model. Also, the average value of the first stage was only marginally larger than 3,
which demonstrates its relative lack of strength. “Desirability and interest in the program
concerning books and reading” was the strongest item, while “persuading teenagers to use
public libraries as an alternative to other sources of information” was the least effective.
This outcome is expected, as the latter item pertains to the “Action” stage of the model. As
Monjezi (2014) revealed, many Iranian people show disregard for the use of libraries as well
as the need to read books. Watching TV comes the first while reading is the third cultural
priority for Iranian teens (Sepasgar Shahri, 2009).
Watching TV and satellite programs and advertisements places a strong effect on kids/
teens behaviors and their pattern of consumption (Abdolmaleki and Sarukhani, 2016; Esmi,
Saadipour, and Asadzadeh, 2010; Hashemi, 2013; Jarlbro, 2001; Khancheh Sepehr et al., 2013;
Sepasgar Shahri, 2009; Thapa, 2014). TV programs with moral, community and social
messages can have a significant positive or negative impact on children’s behavior (Zaky,
2016). Therefore, library managers and authorities in Iran should collaborate effectively
with TV producers to change the attitude of the community regarding books and reading.
They should take measures that entice people to read more and attend public libraries. For
example, helpful books can be introduced on popular TV shows and encourage the audience
to borrow them from public libraries, or book reading programs can be held in public
libraries to encourage reading. Creating attractive relevant programs about books and
evaluating them is necessary. These programs should have the ability to persuade young
people to visit a local library and select a book to read it.
Different barriers to public library use were mentioned by researchers (Ahmadi Fassih,
2006; Lubanz, 1971; Omid khoda and Sepehr, 2009; Readingworldwide, 2012; Luo and
Weak,2013) and TV programs by considering “Desire” steps can solve many of these
problems. Our findings indicate that TV programs are only able to attract the audience’s
“Attention”. However, an average value of 3.2 is a sign of relatively weak performance. This
means TV programs have only been able to attract teenagers’ attention while failing in the
other stages of the model, like “Desire”. For conducting the “Desire” stage, “Interest” items
should be taken into consideration. Therefore, it is vitally important that deeper
investigations are carried out and better investments are made to employ experts so that all
the four stages of the AIDA model are successfully implemented and, during the “Action”
stage, use of public library rises. To achieve this goal, a number of Iranian stakeholders
including librarians, child psychologists, producers, investors, public library authorities and
ILS even the children and teenagers themselves need to be involved in the process of creating
119,11 TV shows that promote reading. These initiatives must be supported by the government, as
higher levels of reading in the society are almost guaranteed to help the government achieve
many of its goals.
The responses of our research population (library users) reveal that TV programs are
only able to attract the audience’s “Attention”. This shows that the TV plays a very limited
646 role in convincing people to make use of the library and other Individual or social
motivations are the reasons for using the library by this research society. This may call for
another in-depth study to identify the root causes as to why the Iranian television does a
meager job in attracting potential library users. But if the same research was being
conducted on non-users, TV programs could fail in all stages. As they may not be interested
in the book and reading, we cannot expect them to watch television programs which are
related to book reading and libraries. Thus, it should be examined in a different type of
research.
TV advertisement offers the best way to tell your story in an engaging, consumer-
friendly format (Rawal, 2013). The findings of this research can give the TV programmers,
in the field of book, a better understanding of how these programs work and motivate them
to enrich the TV shows in these fields. Finding by Sepasgar Shahri (2008) revealed that
young adults in Iran are interested in watching entertaining programs (91 per cent) more
than educational, scientific or other topics. This point can help to produce entertainment
programs about reading and libraries which have more chance to complete the AIDA model
successfully. Ghirvu (2013) confirmed this and said that “combining advertising purposes
with entertainment factors proved to be an efficient way of gaining consumers’ attention,
enhancing interest, creating desire and encouraging action, which are in fact the four stages
of the AIDA model”. Making creative TV programs need a lot of investment. So, when the
budget is reduced, the librarian should be aware that a satisfied user can attract others very
cheaper.
This study was conducted in Isfahan and on public library users. This may impact the
validity of the study and therefore the authors’ interpretations. A broader study which
includes library non-users and from a broader geographical area could possibly provide
different results. An even greater and more international sample could also be considered to
find out whether there are cultural differences or not.

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Further reading
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ILS Appendix. AIDA Questionnaire
119,11

650
 Application of
the AIDA
model

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Corresponding author
Mitra Pashootanizadeh can be contacted at: m.pashootanizade@edu.ui.ac.ir

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