Problem and Audience Analysis

You cannot begin the message design portion of your communication campaign without a complete and thorough problem statement and audience analysis.  The paper should be based on the proposal you submitted and should be responsive to the feedback you received on it.

Your paper should be typed, double-spaced with normal margins (1) and normal font size (12pt). The typical length is 5 pages plus appendix. Cite at least three scholarly sources. Use APA for all the citations and quotations. Do NOT use more than three direct quotations. Paraphrase paraphrase paraphrase!

This paper should include 3 parts:

1. A problem analysis

Using library and internet research as well as scholarly and newsworthy sources, become knowledgeable about the problem.  Cite as many or as few popular sources as you need, but on top of the news articles, the websites, the blogs, you need to cite three SCHOLARLY sources. Use citations carefully and liberally.

• What is the nature of the problem and what are its consequences?
• • What issues compose the problem? That is, how can the problem be broken down into manageable parts?
  • What do experts say about the problem?
  • What does research show about its severity and incidence (and for whom)?
  • What is the significance of this problem? Of all problems, why be concerned with this one?
• What are the specific goals of the campaign? What will it try to achieve?
  • What will the campaign try to accomplish?
    • Change, reinforcement, shaping, reframe?
    • Alter awareness, emotion, attitude, knowledge, behavioral intention, or behavior?
  • Why this specific goal rather than some other goal? (use arguments and evidence, not just statements)

Example  Arguments you can make to justify a campus campaign to encouraging freshman to exercise

2. An audience analysis

In the audience analysis section of your paper, summarize key findings from the 8 (or 12) interviews in your team, compare doers and non-doers on their beliefs, address the most prevalent reasons and counter-arguments mentioned by your interviewees, and comment on the campaign media outlets youve chosen based on interviewees responses.

• Who is the target of the campaign?
  • Why this audience?
• What are the characteristics of the target audience?
  • What prior attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and values do they have?
  • Why do they participate /not participate in the recommended behavior?
  • How do doers and non-doers differ?
  • What are the most prominent counter-argument to the position you are advocating?
• Media habits
  • What media outlets your audience members tend to use on daily basis.
  • What media outlets are you going to use for your campaign?

 3. Recommendation to the designer.

At the end of this paper, you need to make two recommendations to the designer. Tell the designer:

1. Which media outlets they should use for your campaign in order to reach your target audience
2. Which message theme / belief(s) they should focus on. ( Leave the creative work to the designer though. Dont tell them what story to tell, which image to use, what promotional strategies to use. Your responsibility is just to pick out the most promising message theme for your campaign.)

• References
• Appendix

Interview transcripts from ALL your team members