The impact of culture on information behaviour: A case study of the polio eradication campaigns in Nigeria

Human beings actively seek information to utilise it for various reasons, especially to increase their knowledge and understanding for effective decision making and during problem-solving. However, individuals and societies are likely to have their specific patterns of information behaviours (IB), which is widely determined by their specific values and cultures. Although, various studies have generated extensive literature differentiating IB based on individuals, professional group or culture group, most of the literature simply report the differences without pointing out the underlying factors causing these differences. By considering IB evolutionarily, and linking it to all the factors of culture, such as language, tradition and religion, this study focused on the way people in Nigeria relates with the polio eradication campaign. It was found that cultural orientation greatly impacted on the way people across Nigeria relates with the polio campaign as a consequence of IB of the people within the north and south of Nigeria. The findings revealed that information interpretations, as well as the understanding derived from information, are not completely based on cognition but in the current socio-cultural interpretation of that information.