Essentials for Successful Mass Communication

Mass communication is usually a one-way flow of information. The effectiveness of this communication primarily depends on the sender of the message. In order to make mass communication effective, the sender should fulfill the following perquisites.

• Appropriate Planning: Successful mass communication requires appropriate planning about what, who, whom to be communicated. This will guide the whole communication process.
• Clear Idea about the Message: Clear idea about the message is an essential requirement of any communication. But this is more important in mass communication due to its large number of audiences. If the sender lacks sufficient knowledge on the message, he is unlikely to communicate successfully.
• Understandability: Success of mass communication mostly depends on the receiver’s understanding. Hence, the message communication should be simple so that target audiences can understand it easily. Moreover, the message should be attractive to draw people’s attention to it.
• Use of Appropriate Channel: There are numerous channels of mass communication like radio, television, newspaper, magazine, etc. however not all the channels are suitable for every message. Therefore, an appropriate channel should be selected to convey the message to the intended audiences. While selecting the channel, the communicator must consider cost requirement, time involvement and level of education of the audience; distance, etc. for example, radio is suitable for advertising mini pack shampoo rather than English dailies.
• Authenticity of Facts: The facts or messages of mass communication must be accurate and authentic. Inaccurate or false information confuses the receivers and gives a negative impression about the sender.
• Consistency: Consistency between the message and actions of the sender greatly determines the success of mass communication. If audiences find any inconsistency between the message and real actions of the sender, they will lose confidence upon the sender.
• Arranging Feedback System: Arrange feedback system is another factor for enhancing the efficacy of mass communication. Feedback helps to know the receivers attitudes, feelings, responses and although the audiences of mass communication stay far away from the source of information, sender should seek feedback to make the communication effective.

From the above discussion, we can conclude that the preconditions of effective mass communication are related to the skills and knowledge of the sender; quality and authenticity of the message and appropriateness of the channel.