Locker and Kaczmarek (p. 12) give us a model for message analysis in business settings that focuses on six aspects to think about when “encoding” or “decoding” a message:
(P)urpose
(A)udience
(I)nformation
(B)enefits
(O)bjections
(C)ontext
While this, like any other model, is only intended to provide a frame of reference for an analysis, and not a depiction of reality, it does focus on good things to think about composing texts in business settings.
Below are links to three business “texts,” each one written for a radically different purpose and in a different context for the others. As you review them, think about their intended (and perhaps even, unintended) audiences:
- Letter from James G. Robinson to Lindsay Lohan regarding the film, Georgia Rule.
- Owners’ manual for Sig Sauer Classic pistols.
- The new California Lottery website, including the short film, “Snowfall” (1:03).
Who are the primary audiences for these texts? What secondary audiences exist for them? Do they have initial audiences? Gatekeepers? Watchdogs? If so, who?
