A Survey on the Effect of Television Advertisements of Tehran Province Water and Sewage Co. on Water Economization among the Citizens of Tehran

The present research is an attempt to study the effects of television advertisements, commissioned by Tehran Province Water
and Sewage Co. on encouraging the citizens of Tehran to economize on the consumption of drinking water. Furthermore, the
effects of television advertisements on promoting citizen knowledge of drinking water shortages in Tehran, the effects of how
this knowledge would influence their attitude towards the optimization of water consumption, and the effects of citizen
attitude towards their reactions in dealing with water shortages have been studied in an integrated form based on Fishbein &
Ajzen contentment pattern, and Knowledge – Attitude – Practice (KAP) communication pattern.
This research is a survey conducted through the use of questionnaires, and the 385 samples were chosen through a cluster
method from the six districts of Tehran Province Water and Sewage Co. The data produced by this research indicates that the
citizens of Tehran share a positive view of television advertisements, and the promotion of their knowledge has changed their
attitude into showing a more convenient behavior with regards to the drinking water supplies of the city of Tehran.
This research indicates that despite the positive attitude of the research samples toward television advertisements, the
principal hypothesis based on the direct relationship between television advertisements and the level of economization on
drinking water is not significant. The relationship between television advertisements and the level of citizen knowledge
regarding shortages of drinking water is not significant either. Despite the existing correlation between the variables of
knowledge, attitude, and behavior with the level of economization of water by the samples, these variables do not seem to be
effected by television advertisements. Besides the aforementioned hypotheses, the relationship between some other
independent variables and economization of water were studied and significant differences regarding the economization of
water, were only seen among the six districts of Tehran Province Water and Sewage Co. The data produced by this research
supports Fishbein & Ajzen theory and KAP communication pattern. The confirmation of the analytic pattern of the research
means that the knowledge of individuals could influence their attitude, and the attitude of the individuals could in turn result
in a concordant change of behavior.