Identifying and Meeting the Needs of Extension’s Target Audiences

Upfront discussions about expectations could potentially offset or defuse future problems.

This new 4-page article provides an overview of the concept of target audiences as relating to Extension education and briefly presents concepts of audience analysis and educational content selection. In contrast to the general population, a target audience is comprised of people who can take some explicit action to help solve an identified problem addressed by an Extension program. Sometimes they are also those most affected by that problem. An understanding of the concept of target audiences paired with intentional selection of appropriate educational activities and content can support an impactful Extension program. Written by Laura A. Warner, Glenn D. Israel, and John M. Diaz, this article is a publication of the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc336