Chapter 5: Audiences
5.3 Levels of Audience Information: Demographics, Experiences, and Attitudes
If you have heard discussions about target audience, they have likely been on the level of demographics: “This product is aimed at males between the ages of 18 and 35.” Demographic information generally includes gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, socio-economic status, and where they live, and could also include features such as religious affiliation or employment status. Discussions about target audiences tend to be on the level of demographics because it’s the easiest kind of information to gather about audiences. This doesn’t mean, however, that demographics are valuable or predictive: not all people in a demographic category think or act the same way.
You could also gather information about your audience’s life experiences: what has happened to them? If you want to understand bullies, for example, you might start by asking if they’ve been victims of bullying themselves. Do they belong to a tight-knit group, or are they socially isolated? How much time do they spend online? Are there caring and attentive parents in their lives? It is easy to see how these factors can have much more impact on someone’s behavior than their age or what state they live in.
A third level of information is attitudes and personality traits. Are members of your audience naturally empathetic, or are they insensitive to others? How much do they care about acceptance from their peers? Are they resentful and angry? If you want to truly understand your audience, this is the level that matters — but it’s also the information that is hardest to discover. These factors may or may not be tied to life experiences (a person may lack empathy because they have been victimized, or because their parents neglect them), and life experiences may or may not be tied to demographics — but beware of making assumptions about how strong those connections are.
In the American court system, the defense and prosecution in a case each have some control over who serves on the jury, which is why trials are preceded by jury selection. It’s a commonly misunderstood process, partly because “selection” makes it sound like the attorneys get to choose the jury members. It should really be called “de-selection,” since it’s a process of removing people who should not be on the jury due to bias or knowing someone involved in the case.
Jurors typically fill out a card asking for basic demographic information, and they are also interviewed to find out more about them. This process is based on the recognition that people do not vote solely based on their age, race, or gender: if you want to find out who is too biased to be a juror on a case, you need to talk to each potential juror, and ask questions such as “Have you ever been a victim of crime similar to what this case is about?” or “Do you feel there are too many frivolous lawsuits?” Asking about racial bias takes particular skill, since people often can’t recognize their own biases [See 5.1]. What you should not do, however, is assume that because a juror is Hispanic or Lutheran or belongs to a motorcycle club, you know exactly how they will vote.
BOX 5.3: How to Ask Jurors if They are Biased
The problem with asking jurors about prejudices is obvious: if you directly ask if they hold any racial biases, no one will say yes. Yet if you ask people if they know any racists, they usually say yes, which creates a mathematical impossibility — how can everyone know a racist if no one is one?
The problem is twofold. Social desirability means that people don’t like expressing anything they think will make them look bad in the eyes of others. You can tell jurors “there is no right or wrong answer,” but that doesn’t stop them from feeling that there is. And even if they realize that a certain answer will get them out of jury duty, they are extremely reluctant to admit to prejudices. Lack of awareness is also a problem. Research on implicit biases proves that people are not aware of all their own attitudes, and that their self-concept may not be accurate. Asking if they are biased is essentially asking “When you look in the mirror, do you see a fair person?” The legal system wants to eliminate juror bias as much as possible, so the question is: how do you ask about it?
Jury consultants have some ideas. They have found that jumping straight to asking jurors questions about their attitudes and the “can you be fair?” question is not fruitful. It is easier for people to talk about their experiences, so you can ask “Have you ever had a negative experience with someone of a different race?” If they have, ask follow-up questions to learn as much about that experience as possible: When did it happen? What were the consequences? How did it affect your life? Do you think about that incident often? Once they have told the full story, asking “Do you think that experience might affect your ability to be a neutral juror in this case?” may lead them to recognize issues they didn’t see before.
Another technique is the triangulation method: if a juror does say they know someone who expresses troublesome attitudes (say, their Uncle Thad), ask more about what Uncle Thad says, then follow up with, “What do you think about what Thad says?” The difference between “I can’t believe I’m related to that bigot” and “He may have a point” can tell you a lot.
Finally, there is a larger-scale version of the same technique, called “some people” questions. Instead of making a juror feel like they need to admit to unacceptable attitudes that only they hold, send the message that there are reasonable people who hold a variety of attitudes, then ask which camp they belong to. For example: “Some people think undocumented immigrants play an important role in our economy; other people think undocumented immigrants are hurting our economy. Which side do you agree with?”
For more, see this article about how to ask effective questions in jury selection.
