Innovative Communication in the Fight Against Drug Abuse

This audience reception study examines the meaning made by selected University students in Zimbabwe after watching the innovative and educational film titled 4KUS: A Captivating Journey into Ambition, Friendship and the Perils of Addiction, published on YouTube. The study, grounded in reception theory, draws empirical data from in-depth interviews with sampled students from different universities in Zimbabwe. Data indicates that drug and substance abuse by youths is inspired by the socio-economic hardships they face. While this is the case, audiences of the film were of the notion that it helped inculcate attitudes and opinions that are against drug and substance abuse. Therefore, this innovative and educational film poses as a strategic communication tool bent on supporting efforts by the Zimbabwean government in discouraging drug and substance abuse. Innovative media products are thus better positioned to influence youths opinions and attitudes against drug and substance abuse when compared to traditional media in Zimbabwe.