FICS Theses and Dissertations

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https://repository.upou.edu.ph/handle/20.500.13073/2
Theses and dissertations by graduate students from the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies.

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    Beyond Procedural Compliance: Lived Experiences of Health Communication Transparency among Filipino over-the-counter Vitamin Consumers
    ( 2026) Macaya, Dan Patrick T.
    This study explored the lived experiences of Filipino consumers as they purchased over-the-counter (OTC) vitamins and encountered advertising qualifiers and disclaimers. Employing a Husserlian descriptive phenomenological design and the analytical procedures outlined by Giorgi (2009), the research centered on how consumers experienced, perceived and made meaning of the regulatory mechanismsintended to promote transparency in health-related advertising. Data were gathered through short, informal, post-purchase interviews conducted in a drugstore in Metro Manila with nineteen (19) adult Filipino consumers. Four themes emerged from the analysis: (1) The Routinized Lifeworld of Vitamin Consumption, describing how vitamin purchasing was experienced as habitual, family-oriented, and mediated by trusted interpersonal authority; (2) Peripheral Perception of Advertising Qualifiers, revealing that disclaimers were consistently encountered as background elements rendered invisible by their size, placement, and peripheral position; (3) Experiential Constructions of Trust, Transparency, and Sincerity, demonstrating that respondents grounded their trust in embodied experience and social relationships rather than in regulatory text; and (4) Between Compliance and Comprehension, describing the essential structure of the phenomenon as an ethical gap in which disclaimers were formally present but experientially absent. The results suggest possible implications for understanding the divergence between regulatory assumptions about disclaimer effectiveness and the lived experiences of consumers in Metro Manila, where disclaimers appeared to function as background elements rather than meaningful communicative tools. These findings point to a possible gap between regulatory transparency and communicative transparency, with serious consequences for development communication, ethical health advertising, and Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). These findings suggest possibilities for regulatory bodies, advertisers, and development communication scholars to consider communication practices that may be more responsive to consumers’ lived experiences and actual information needs.
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    Interrogating Agricultural e-Extension: A Phenomenological Study of the Lives Experiences of Agricultural Extension Workers in the Visayas during a Crisis or Public Emergency
    ( 2026) Bastian-Ocheda, Liezel Margie Lou S.
    The sociological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced government and private agencies to cease operations, including agricultural extension practices. On the other hand, as the catalyst, capacity-builder, and knowledge bank of the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), under the Department of Agriculture (DA), launched the e-Extension in the late 2000s, which is an electronic delivery of extension services through its e-Learning and e-Farming components. Set in the Western Visayas Region, Philippines, this research aims to interrogate the e-Extension through the lived experiences of the Agricultural Extension Workers (AEWs) during crises or public emergencies. The qualitative research study was rooted in an interpretivist design using thematic analysis to interpret the lived experience of twelve (12) AEWs, which was determined using specific criteria. It revealed that AEWs perceived e-Extension as “extension beyond boundaries,” social media, particularly Messenger, as alert systems, and mobile phones as an extension delivery tool. Participants defined e-Extension as not confined to a single technology outlet. While embracing “communicating at a distance”, AEWs present themselves as soldiers of agriculture who surmount the boundless space of the crisis. The definition of e-Extension widened beyond its mandated program. The program became incorporated into everyday work, signifying a structural reconfiguration of agricultural services that was embedded during and beyond the crisis.
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    Barangay-Level Communication Strategies and their Roles in Shaping Household Disaster Preparedness in Quezon City, Philippines
    (2026, 2026) Non, John Marlon
    This study examines the role of communication strategies in shaping household disaster preparedness through a case study of a selected highly urbanized and disaster-prone barangay in Quezon City, Philippines. Grounded on the Risk Perception and Communication Model (RPCM), the study involving 15 participants analyzed qualitatively how socio-demographic, environmental, and contextual factors influence household preparedness; how disaster-related messages are communicated; and how different communication strategies contributed to households’ disaster awareness, knowledge, skills, and preparedness actions. Findings reveal that household preparedness is significantly influenced by economic capacity, household composition, prior disaster experiences, and access to communication resources. Communication strategies function in complementary roles: barangay-based and interpersonal channels provide localized and trusted information, while social media and mobile communication enable rapid and wide dissemination. However, effectiveness varies due to disparities in access, timeliness of response, and socio-economic constraints. Preparedness is further reinforced by community support systems, local leadership, and repeated exposure to hazards such as flooding and typhoons. The study concludes that disaster communication must be context-specific, inclusive, and multi-channel. It highlights the need for an integrated communication framework that combines digital platforms, interpersonal engagement, and community-based approaches to ensure that information is accessible, credible, and actionable. The findings provide practical implications for local government units and disaster risk reduction practitioners in designing responsive communication strategies that strengthen household preparedness and community resilience in urban settings.
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    Communicating and Building Trust in the Profession: A Critical-Semiotic Inquiry of a Legal Aid Clinic
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2025) Padua, Patrianne M.
    This study investigated how communication practices, space, and visual cues mediate or discourage the indigent clients’ trust in the Legal Aid Clinic. It draws upon Critical Tradition which theorizes communication according to Craig (1999) as a “reflective challenge of unjust discourse” and Semiotic Tradition which theorizes communication as meaningful signs and symbols that can be interpreted in various ways (Craig, 1999). This study used multimodal analysis. Reflective essays of the student law practitioners were subjected to thematic analysis, while the Legal Aid Clinic to socio-spatial analysis, and the observations during the legal consultations to critical semiotic analysis. The communication practices that emerged which may engender or discourage trust were affiliative humor, persuasive communication, mitigative communication, plain language communication, affective communication, adaptive dual-channel communication. Furthermore, the semiotic resources of legal aid clinic spatial (architectural design and layout), visual, (organizational shirt, posted materials), gestural (non-verbal cues such as side eying, and eye contact). This study also found out that legal trust is multilayered and multidimensional. It is relational, procedural, and symbolic. Moreover, types of legal trust surfaced: unequivocal trust, provisional trust, involuntary trust, and pseudo or fake trust.
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    Lingkod Bayang Makakalikasan: Examining the Determinants of Employees' Intention to Engage in Green Behavior in a Public Organization
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2026) Abinal, Jonathan Q.
    How do employees in a public organization intend to practice the principle of Lingkod Bayang Makakalikasan? Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior developed by Icek Ajzen, this study examines the determinants of employees’ intention to engage in Employee Green Behavior (EGB) in a public organization in the Philippines. It explores how attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence intention, and how socio-demographic characteristics and environmental knowledge shape these constructs. EGB includes workplace practices such as energy conservation, waste reduction, and participation in sustainability initiatives. Using a quantitative survey design, data were collected from 285 employee-respondents and analyzed using statistical techniques. Results show that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly influence intentions to engage in green behavior. Environmental knowledge indirectly strengthens intention by influencing attitudes and perceived control, while socio-demographic factors show limited direct effects. The findings highlight the importance of fostering supportive norms, positive attitudes, and a strong sense of behavioral control to institutionalize sustainable practices in the public sector.