| abstract |
Matching Media Channels to Target Audience Reaching Your Audience: Matching Media Channels to Target Audiences Organizational decision makers rely heavily upon public affairs officers to communicate policies and initiatives to organization members, and to communicate organizational messages to the greater community upon which the organization relies for support. However, public affairs officers often face a two-fold dilemma in their efforts to communicate their messages effectively. On occasion, leaders are not sensitive to the public affairs officers’ need to mix message channels in order to reach a target audience. Commanders’ insistence upon using a particular medium in spite of media consumers’ habits can impede the communication process. Also, while as a rule public affairs practitioners are aware of the need to target specific audiences through market research, they often lack the time and tools necessary to effectively accomplish such a study. It is the goal of this paper to demonstrate how various theories of mass communication and market segmentation can be practically applied in order to enhance the command communication process. Additionally the researchers hope to provide public affairs practitioners some practical tools that can easily be adapted to aid practitioners in selecting appropriate media channels to reach their target audiences. |