MKF3461 Chap.3 Communication Process and Response Models
Communication Process and Response Models
Communication models make the hidden assumptions of a message visible. A source encodes meaning into signs, a receiver interprets those signs through experience and context, noise can intervene, and feedback gives incomplete evidence of reception. Response models add a second question: what kind of change must happen before action is plausible?
This chapter uses those relationships as diagnostic tools rather than treating audiences as passive recipients who always move through a fixed sequence.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Source, encoding, message and channel
- 02
Decoding through audience knowledge and context
- 03
Noise before, during and after exposure
- 04
Feedback as partial evidence of reception
- 05
Cognitive, affective and behavioural response
- 06
Involvement and alternative response sequences
Worked example · free
Locate a decoding failure
- 2Separate the intended meaning from the meaning the audience actually decoded.
- 2Identify the contextual knowledge and emotional condition that altered interpretation.
- 2Use feedback as evidence of a problem without assuming visible comments represent the whole audience.
- 2Revise the source cues and execution, then test whether the new message produces the intended understanding.
Key terms
- Encoding
- Translation of an intended meaning into words, images, sounds, symbols or other message cues.
- Decoding
- The receiver's interpretation of message cues through existing knowledge, motives and context.
- Communication noise
- Interference that disrupts exposure, attention, interpretation or accurate transmission of meaning.
- Feedback
- Observable audience information returned to the communicator after contact with a message.
- Cognitive response
- A change involving awareness, knowledge, beliefs or thoughts about the communication object.
- Affective response
- A change involving evaluation, preference, liking, emotion or attitude.
- Field of experience
- The knowledge, language, culture and prior encounters through which a source or receiver constructs and interprets meaning.
- Central processing
- Careful consideration of message arguments when the audience has sufficient motivation and ability to evaluate them.
Communication Process and Response Models FAQ
Is feedback proof that the audience understood the message?
Not necessarily. A click, comment or enquiry is observable, but its meaning depends on context and measurement. Feedback may come from a vocal minority, reflect confusion or capture only one stage of response. Combine it with evidence that directly tests interpretation when understanding matters.
Do audiences always think, feel and then act?
Response stages are useful for planning, but one sequence does not fit every condition. Involvement, prior experience, category risk and situational pressure can change the route. The planner should justify which intermediate response is necessary rather than mechanically applying a hierarchy.
What is the difference between noise and disagreement?
Noise interferes with transmission, attention or interpretation. Disagreement can occur after the audience accurately understands the claim but rejects it. The remedies differ: clearer delivery may reduce noise, while disagreement may require stronger evidence, a more credible source or a different value proposition.
How can I diagnose the next response stage?
Begin with evidence about the audience's current state rather than with the desired final behaviour. If awareness is already high but belief is weak, more broad exposure may address the wrong stage. State the missing cognitive, affective or behavioural response, explain why it constrains later action and choose a measure that can observe that intermediate change.
Why can two audiences decode the same message differently?
Decoding uses prior knowledge, motives, identity, culture and the immediate contact context. The communicator controls message cues but not the full interpretive frame. Comparing audience readings in pretesting can reveal unintended meanings, while a single favourable interpretation from the team cannot establish that the priority audience will make the same inference.
Assessment move
Draw the communication process with space under every arrow for a failure condition. Add physical interruption, competing messages, low attention, unfamiliar symbols, cultural context, source distrust and selective feedback. Use a current advertisement and write the intended meaning without quoting its slogan, then ask how two different audiences could decode it.
Practise distinguishing exposure from understanding, understanding from acceptance and acceptance from action. When using a response model, state why the proposed intermediate stage matters in that category. For example, a complex service may require comprehension and reassurance before action, while a low involvement purchase may depend more on availability and recognition.
In an assessment paragraph, move from evidence to process: identify the observed response, locate the likely communication stage, explain the mechanism and recommend a test. This prevents vague conclusions such as the campaign failed because the message did not resonate.
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