Fisheries Extension Education (2+1)

4.3.7 Audience response

4.3.7 Audience respons

- Terminal element in the communication process.

- Response by an audience to a message received is in the form of

some kind of action of some degree, mentally or physically.

- Until the desired action results, extension communication does v

not achieve its purpose.

- The possible types of responses by the audience for the receipt of

useful messages are as follows.

a. Understanding Vs Knowledge :

- Understanding refers to gain the ability to attach meaning to the

facts and seeing the relationship of facts to each other and to the

problem.

- Knowledge is just knowing about facts.

- When there is failure to promote understanding, the desired

Response may not be attained hence communication must

promote understanding.

b. Acceptance Vs rejection:

- Higher order of understanding leads to acceptance.

- Mental acceptance is required before resulting to action. Mental acceptance / rejection determine what the receivers would do when they are free to act on their decision.

c. Remembering Vs forgetting :

When opportunity for action is not immediately available or delayed, forgetting of what had been learnt would occur. This emphasizes the timing of communication programmes (ie) right message to right people at right time.

d. Mental Vs physical action:

- Change of mind always precedes physical action as mind controls overt behaviour.

- Physical action is the ultimate objective.

e. Right Vs wrong :

- If the response of the audience is in line with the objective, it is assumed to be the right action and the vice-versa.

- But due to noise and a variety of other reasons, people often fail

to behave precisely according to instructions even when they

understand and accept the instructions.

Feedback in communication:

- Feedback means carrying some significant responses of the audience back to the communicator.

- Extension communicate will be incomplete without feedback communiation.

- It is a continous process.

- It is also called as return process.

- It tells us how the message has been received and interpreted.

Barriers to communication

- Barriers are the obstacles that hinder the communication process from achieving its purpose.

- Objectives of communication cannot be fulfilled if barriers are present.

- There are many types of barrriers:

a. Physical barriers – noise, invisibility, physical problems

b. Psychological barriers – anxiety , boredom, nervousness, day dreaming 

c. Language barriers – grammatical mistakes, verbatism, unknown languages

d. Others – cultural discrepancy, misleading experience,unhealthy environment, etc.,