Environmental Issues in Billboard Dynamics: Some Reflections on Location

Abstract

One of the new dynamics that have emerged in landscape urbanization in Lagos State include increasing manifestation of aesthetic ornamentation of public places through commercial billboards. As much as one may think that the billboard advertisement are thriving, given the multifarious presences of bills and signs of the telecommunications, beverages, and other multi-national companies all over the open spaces of Lagos, there are environmental problems attendant upon the billboards business. The study investigates these problems through survey. Research instrument used for this study was a questionnaire titled ‘Graphic Design Concept and Product Promotion Questionnaire’ (GDCPPQ). It was structured in the likeness of the Likert scale model, and was directed to elicit response from the product advertisers in Lagos State. The two objectives stated were to investigate the environmental problems confronting billboard advertisement and to find out if the location of billboards, which is the thrust of this paper, always influences sales of products. The two objectives were translated into one research question and one hypothesis. Method of data analysis involved percentage ranking and chi square statistics respectively. The study revealed that these environmental problems affect billboard business at varying degrees and that, location has little or nothing to do with the sales of products. The advertisers only have to increase the intensity of their design concepts and product integrity as ways of commanding maximum viewing and selling frequencies from their customers.

Key words: Billboard, public, urban aesthetics, commercial messages, sustainable economy.