Akwa Ibom Residents’ Perception of Government Image Management and Reputation in Akwa Ibom State (Published)
The study investigated the image management strategy adopted by Akwa Ibom State government, examining the effectiveness of the strategy in image management of government reputation in Akwa Ibom State as well as ascertaining the contribution of the strategy to the reputation of the government in Akwa Ibom State, determine the perception of Akwa Ibom residents on government image management and reputation in Akwa Ibom State. Social construction of reality theory was the theoretical foundation for this study. The research design adopted for this study is the survey design. Using the Taro Yamane formula, the calculated sample size for the projected population of Uyo in 2023 (approximately 540,144) is 400. The major findings of the study were 125 (40%) respondents perceived that the corporate image of the Akwa Ibom State government as inclusive and people-centric. 63 (20%) respondents ticked that social media engagement was the image management strategies used by Akwa Ibom State government. 153 (37%) agreed that image management strategies contribute significantly to the reputation of AKSG, 94 (30%) could not say, while 66 (21%) said no, 16 (5%) said they were not aware at all. This study recommends that the government should endeavour to pay more attention to image management so as to keep its reputation in a positive light, take visible steps aimed at redeeming its image in the eyes of its citizens
Keywords: Akwa Ibom, Government, image, management and reputation, residents’ perception