Slides for brief response to Mike Schaefer's 2021 keynote on audience segmentation in which I agree with Mike but also argue for the importance of setting communication goals before segmenting.

1. Know Pick
Your Audience
(Based on your goals)
John C. Besley
Ellis N. Brandt Professor
Communication Arts and Sciences
Michigan State University
This material is based upon
work supported by the National
Science Foundation (NSF, Grant
AISL 1421214-1421723. Any
opinions, findings, conclusions,
or recommendations expressed
in this material are those of the
authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the NSF.
Nuclear Regulator Commission, Congressional Hearing, John Foshaay, ED xCCSU 2015, via Flickr Creative Commons

2. What I mean by goals
Behaviors
For scientists …
• Change to research questions or approaches
For non-scientists …
• Career choice
• Personal choice (eco-, wellness behaviors)
• Civic choice (voting, support for funding)
• “Consider” evidence in decision-making
Pseudo-Behaviors
For scientists …
• Accepts civic decisions as legitimate/acceptable
For non-scientists …
• Sees science as a as a legitimate way to
help make civic, and personal decisions
Office of Naval Research, via Flickr Creative Commons
U.S. Office of Naval Research asks for funds

3. What I mean by goals What I don’t mean
Behaviors
As a scientist …
• Change to research questions or approaches
As a non-scientist …
• Career choice
• Personal choice (eco-, wellness behaviors)
• Civic choice (voting, support for funding)
• “Consider” evidence in decision-making
Pseudo-Behaviors
As a scientist …
• Accepts civic decisions as legitimate/acceptable
As a non-scientist …
• Sees science as a as a legitimate way to
help make civic, and personal decisions
Communication Objectives (BFFs)*
•Knowledge (correct factual/procedural beliefs)
•Evaluative beliefs about issues (risks/benefits),
people (trustworthiness, norms), or oneself
(self-efficacy/behavioral control)
•Feeling/Affect/Emotion (awe, interest, anger)
•Framing (win vs. loss, health or eco issue?)
•Psychological processes (avoiding motivated
reasoning, ensuring cognitive processing)
Tactics
• Who, says what … through what channel,
with what format, and in what style
(choices about messages, source, jargon,
location, timing dialogue that fosters
cognitive engagement, narratives, tone)
*Recalling that you, as a science communicator, should be a target audience for your own communication activities.

4. What do I want to know
about my audience?*
*Recalling that you, as a science communicator, should be a target audience for your own communication activities.
What are their (your) goals?
What do they (you) believe?
What do they (you) feel?
How do they (you) frame?
What tactics could I
ethically use to try to
reshape these BFFs

5. What behavior do you
want to change? Who does
the behavior? How does this
group segment?
When in the process
should I segment?
Factors associated with
behavior and open to change?
Factors that make
interventions likely to work?