Cultural Profile

When developing a campaign for Côte d'Ivoire, it is important to remember that there are numerous ethnic groups within the country. This will have a major effect on how the campaign should be framed and after implementation how well it is received. For the sake of the case study, the two largest ethnic groups, the Baule and Senufo, will be discussed using Kluckhohn's five value orientation categories.

1. Kluckhohn's first value orientation is man's relationship with nature. This category determines whether man lives in harmony with nature, seeks to control it, or remains passive to it. This category also determines whether nature answers to a higher power, or supranatrual force, or if everything is a natural force.

Both the Senufo and Baule groups respect nature and believe in a supranatural force over nature. Th use of nature spirits in the Baule religion indicates a respect for nature and a need to live in harmony with it. The religion of the Baule includes the worship of ancestors and of nature gods. Masks and other Baule sculpture are used to represent nature spirits and spousal spirits. The Baule believe in a creator, Alouroua, who is never given a physical presence in any of their traditional art. The Baule religion shows that people have a close association with nature.

The bush spirits of the Senufo would suggest their belief in the supranatural over nature as well as the importance of the bush in their existence. There is not one creator, but a dualistic deity, Maleeo and Kolotyolo. The former takes the form of the sacred drums that are used in trials of thieves and murderers. Within the Senufo culture there different societies. The Poro society serves the living world and the ancestors as well as maintaining a good relationship between the two. The Sandogo society is in charge of divination. This society consists mainly of females but there are a degree of men who come into the profession through matrilineal lines.

Both groups reliance on agriculture as a source of income would indicate a need for weather to be on their side. The forces of nature would be controlled by the creator god and by the nature spirits, which indicates that the Baule people are not subjugated to nature nor do they try to control it. They live in harmony with it. The higher god would indicate a supranatural force over nature.

2. Kluckhohn's second value orientation is the use of time. Here both groups emphasize the past. The use of ancestor worship exemplifies this value orientation.

The religion of the Baule includes the worship of ancestors and of nature gods. Masks and other Baule sculpture are used to represent these spirits. The presence of lineage elders and the oral history also indicate that the culture emphasizes the past. This is extremely important in public communication and the use of time-framed messages If there is a message that will only affect the long term future, neither group may be receptive or consider the message realistic.

3. Kluckhohn's third value orientation is the culture's innate predisposition, whether the culture believes that human nature is generally good or evil and if the culture is mutable or not.

The Baule generally believe that human nature is good. Their emphasis on the ancestor worship shows that they honor humans as worthy of worship. This is positive for public communication campaign looking to reach villages; the culture will be open to new information that comes to them.

The Senufo are not as mutable due to their strict organization of townspeople into groups and societies. They will prove to be more difficult to reach in a communication campaign; they won't be as receptive. In order to get them to respond it would be good to highlight the good versus evil theme in the information and to emphasize the change that is being made. It might be beneficial to discuss implications of the communication campaign with each of the societies.

4. Kluckhohn's fourth value orientation is the valued personality type. There are four subcategories that include: Being oriented, Being in becoming, Doing, and Activity. The first is defined by the individual's relationships, the second is similar to the first but with an added element of self-development; the third indicates the actions the self participates in; the fourth is the measurement of accomplishments the individual has.

Both groups are a "being oriented" society because of their emphasis on relationships and groups. They are immutable groups of people that are strictly in charge of things like gold casting, mask making, and wooden sculpture.

In a communication's campaign it will be vital to discover who group leaders and use those members and the different groups to disperse information. It will also be beneficial to use message that will discuss if and/or how this will change the lifestyle and dynamics of the targeted group. The entire group, not just its leaders, will want to know how it will affect the others as well as themselves. Perhaps using a roundtable discussion or a conferece with the communication team as well as the entire group would make everyone feel part of the process and would not cause as much argument.

5. The last value orientation is the relationship pattern of the culture. Here it is important to determine whether the relationships and/or families are seen on an individual, collateral, or linear level.

The Baule and Senufo function on a linear level where the family extends to distant relatives. The believe in kinship groups, which is one of the few things that has resisted modernization. Both place a great importance on lineage. This value orientation will affect and broaden the target audience of any communications campaign. It would be important to understand how the kinship groups in each village work and how they are related. It might even be beneficial, although time consuming, to look into the genealogy of each kinship group. To focus on one individual wouldn't be efficient to the campaign.

Overall Public Communication Effects:

An effective communication campaign will involve the use of each ethnic group's language. In reality it would be more beneficial to do a speaking campaign, discussing with target audiences the information and the implications this will have on the group as well as on the whole town. The emphasis each group has on the oral tradition might be more effective than the written word, although if the target audience is younger the written word might be usable. Using the market days as a venue for this would be important since that would signal a larger gathering of people. It is more important to fully assess how each society and kinship group in each ethnic group works and is interrelated. The difficulty with this is how much time this will take to understand and then to implement the plan. How receptive the elders are to new information may also become a complication or an asset in the campaign.