Influence of Pop-Up News Headlines in Internet-Enabled Devices on the Readership of the Stories among Youths in Owerri Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

This research examined the influence of pop-up news headlines on the readership of the stories that they introduce among youths in Owerri metropolis. The objectives were to, among others, examine whether pop-up news headlines influence the readership of the stories among youths in Owerri metropolis, and identify what factor that is most responsible for determining the influence of pop-up news headlines on the readership of the stories among youths in Owerri metropolis. The uses and gratification theory was used to anchor the study, and the survey design was adopted. Data were gathered from 380 young users of internet-enabled devices in the Owerri metropolis. Findings indicate that pop-up news headlines are a common feature in online news distribution, as 100% of the respondents admitted to having seen pop-up news headlines on their internet-enabled devices; while pop-up news headlines influence readership of the stories among a majority (53%) of the young people, the said influence is limited as a result of several factors. Based on the findings, it was recommended that, among others, news organisations can increase the influence of the popup news headlines by introducing cash or point tokens for those who read the stories.