This document discusses different types of audiences for communication. It defines audience as those who receive messages through interpersonal, group, organization or public communication. Audiences can be individuals, communities, groups/organizations or media audiences. Media audiences are large and diverse, while groups/organizations share common goals and norms. The document also examines theories on how audiences interact with media, and different channels used for communication, including mass media, telecommunications and new media like social media.

1. CLIENTELE AND AUDIENCES
IN COMMUNICATION
LESSON 12

2. knowing your intended audience is
essential for all effective communication. In
this lesson, we will discuss the needs and
characteristics of the different audiences of
communication.

3. Audiences of communication
In communication, audience is an umbrella term that
pertains to the receiver of the message in an
interpersonal, group, organization, and public setting.
They are also the readers, listeners, viewers, users and
consumers of the different forms of media, such as
newspapers, television, radio, and new media. Audience
is a group of individuals consuming a particular form of
communication.

4. The audiences of communication
may be classified as:

5. Individuals
Interpersonal communication is the level of
communication most associated with this type of
audience. It is through the individuals that
communication is most influential in changing
opinions, in dealing with resistance and
indifference to issues, and in maintaining
in social situations (Marsen, 2006).

6. Communities
effective communication with communities requires
taking consideration size, collective backgrounds and
experiences, and the main issues that impact their daily

7. Groups and Organizations
when groups and organization are formed, a new
identity is formed irrespective of the identities or
personal characteristics of each individuals member
(Marsen, 2006).

8. Communities have the following characteristics:
 Interdependence. Communicating with groups means
being aware that each member is an integral part of the
whole and that it needs each other to maintain its
existence and achieve its goals.

9.  Interaction. Members of a group or organization
communicate in a purposeful manner to achieve a goal.
Communication plays a role in problem solving, role-
playing, team building, and trust building.
 Synergy. Working in a group or organization allows its
members to synergize, meaning to cooperate with one
another so that their collective efforts could lead to
better results than when working as individuals.

10.  Common Goals. Members of a group or organization
share a common objectives or goals.
 Shared Norms. This pertains to a group’s or
organization’s culture that they develop through the
course of time as members start working together. In
communicating with them, it is important to have prior
knowledge of the characteristics, background, values,
norms that they observe in order to achieve effective
communication.

11. Media Audiences
Media audiences are the readers, listeners, viewers,
users, and consumers of media such as newspapers,
television, radio, and new media.

12. Media audiences have the following characteristics:
 Large and vast. As they are numerous and are not within
within a fixed location, which also means that direct
feedback is not possible.
 Measurable. As they can be researched and analyzed
through statistical measurement like rating and audience
share.

13.  Fragmented and diverse. Fragmental because from a
large audience, they are also categorized by media
companies into consumers of different medium,
products, and services; and diverse because they are
not limited to particular communities or groups and
they differ in age, gender, ethnic and religious
background, etc.

14.  Unseen. As message are delivered to viewers or
readers in the privacy of their own home and in their
own private time. There is also no specific identifying
characteristics for the media audience except for
general categorization like age, gender, income, and
statutes, among others.

15. Mass vs. Niche
We can further categorize media audiences into mass and
niche audience. In the past, mass media used to target only
large group of people-men, women, children and adults-
called the mass audience. They consume popular media
products, such as soap operas, comedy programs, news
programs and Hollywood series.

16. Theories on media audiences
There are many debate on the influences and effect of
mass media to its audiences. It has been exists since the
introduction of the earliest forms of media technologies.

17.  Hypodermic Needle Theory. Also known as the Magic
Bullet Theory, the Hypodermic Needle Theory
media audiences as passive.
 Two-Step Flow Model. For more than a decade, the
hypodermic needle theory held sway in the
of the relationship between media and its audiences.

18.  Uses and Gratifications Theory. During the 1970s,
communication theorists Jay Blumber, Michael
Gurevitch, and Elihu Katz argued against the concept
a passive audience and asserted that audiences are
active and are in control of their media use.

19. Blumber and Katz identified these needs as the
following:
Diversion – audiences consume media to escape
from routine and problems
Personal Relationships – audiences use media
information to foster relationships.
Personal Identity – Media is used for self-
understanding and value reinforcement.
Surveillance – Media is also used for gathering
information.

20.  Reception Model. Compared to previous theories about
media audiences, the reception model goes deeper in its
explanation of how we consume media content.

21. The audience’s interpretation is termed as decoding and is
classified into three:
 Dominant Reading – in which the audience is able to interpret
the message of the media as it was intended to be interpreted.
 Negotiated Reading – is produced when the audiences try no
interpret the message according to their social position.
 Oppositional Reading – is produced by an audience whose
social position puts them in direct conflict with the preferred
reading.

22. Online Audience

23. The online audience is composed of the active users of the
internet. They are also referred to as netizen.
The Internet audiences are characterized by the following:
Dispersed. Weaver (1993) notes that the internet can reach
various audiences the general public as in the case of
online news: a significant segment of society as in the case
of those interested only in business or sport; or relatively
small, special interest groups as in the case of art hobbyists
forming online communities.

24. Interactive. Internet has made the relationship between
receiver and sender more interactive as opposed to the
one-way and linear delivery of message from mass
media to its audience.

25.  A certain degree of technological knowledge. Internet
users are expected to possess a certain degree of
knowledge in order to navigate websites.
 High consumption practices. According to
Abrahamson (1998), while there are types of people
using the Internet similar to that of the mass, this
audience has very high consumption practices and
looks for very specific and valuable information to
or satisfy their goals and needs.

26. Audience Analysis and Audience
Research

27. Audience analysis is an audience-centered approach which
involves identifying the target audience, assessing their needs
and objectives, and planning of subgroups within the audience.
The most common method of audience research is the survey,
wherein a group of people is selected and asked the same
question.

28. Communication Media Channels

29. As emerging technologies provide communication
practitioners and audiences with a wider range of source
selection and channels of information, individuals are
selecting a media repertoire to suit their communication
needs and achieve their communication goals.
We will discuss three in this lesson: mass media,
telecommunications, and new media (to which social media
is categorized)

30. Mass Media

31. Mass media in the form of broadcast (radio and
television) and print remains the most popular
communication channel for reaching large audiences due
to its accessibility and wide coverage.
• Print. Print media includes newspaper, magazines,
brochures, pamphlets, catalogs, journals, and the like.

32. • Television. The advantage of television when compared
to the two medium is its audio-visual capacity.
• Telecommunication. Involves the convergence of
different technologies to transmit information either
over a physical medium (cables) or in the form of
electromagnetic waves.
• Radio. Even before television captured the minds of
the Filipinos, radio was the number one source of
information and entertainment.

33. New Media

34. As part of the telecommunications network, the
Internet is the most important piece of the convergence
puzzle. It is the vehicle that can incorporate all other
forms of media.

35. The rise of Internet has led to a form of technology
known as new media, which is:
 Digital. In nature, as opposed to the analog
beginnings of broadcast media (now also shifting into
digital transmission).
 Networked and Dense. As this is connected to and by
various links (websites and webpages) and platforms.

36.  Compressible. In terms of data storage (such as CD-
ROMs and DVDs).
 Interactive. As it utilizes print, video, and audio
capabilities (as in the case of computer games).

37. Social Media

38. Social media is considered a subset of new media that
allows for the creation and exchange of user-generated
content. It is dependent on mobile and web-based
technologies to create highly interactive platforms
through which individuals and communities share, co-
create, discuss, and modify information.

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