Information Use and Decision Making by Market Women in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the use of information assists market women in making informed decisions. It is well documented in literature that businesses that boom in the 21^st century are businesses that are information driven. However, it’s not clear if market women do make information a priority to make business decisions. A survey research design was used with disproportionate stratified sampling technique. Four hundred market women  in Alade market Lagos participated in the study. A self developed questionnaire  Out of 400 copies of questionnaire distributed, 300 (75%) of them were returned. The findings indicated that there was  a significant relationship between information utilization by market women and their  decision making practices. The use of  newspapers,  information about distributors, radio and television were among the key sources women consulted in order to make their decisions concerning their businesses. The study recommended that information professionals and the Ministry of Commerce should work together to conduct and sponsor research on trends in the market and  make them available to market women in formats such as daily and business newspapers.

Keywords: Information sources, Information use, Decision making, Market women