Audience research
Part of Audience research for corporate communications that starts with populations, not channels
Defining a corporate communications target audience in England: population rules, four roles and silent exclusions
Define who a corporate communication affects in England: one population rule per group, four research roles, Acas consultation, data minimisation and access.
A corporate communications target audience should be defined by its relationship to a decision, not by a mailing list or a channel. The worked example is a fictional England-operating company that is considering revised weekday hours at one customer-support site. Employees, customers, suppliers and neighbours could each be affected in a different way. The strategy framework shows where this step sits.
What to take away
- Define each audience by its relationship to the decision, not by a list or channel.
- Separate the buyer, participant, approver and recipient roles. One person may hold several.
- Consulting staff is a separate process from research interviews, and some decisions carry a legal duty to consult.
- Collect only the personal data the research purpose needs.
- Test every recruitment route for silent exclusions, and plan alternative formats.
Write one population rule per group
Begin with the event: the proposed hours change. Then state eligibility so that another researcher could apply the same rule. The audience research guide covers the wider method.
| Group | Eligible when | Not eligible when |
|---|---|---|
| Employees | Work location, rota or support duty could change, including people absent during recruitment | Their role is unaffected by the site's hours |
| Customers | They used that site in a fixed service period | They only use a different site |
| Suppliers | A contracted hand-off depends on the present hours | The contract shows no dependency |
| Neighbours | They live or work close enough to be affected by site activity | No site activity changes |
| Investors, journalists, regulators | An authorised owner confirms why they are relevant | Added only to make the map look complete |
Do not add every stakeholder by habit. A journalist is an independent media contact, not a customer or a guaranteed route to the public. A regulator is a recipient only where the organisation's sector and the facts create that route.
Separate four easily confused roles
The buyer commissions research. The participant supplies evidence. The approver decides what the organisation may say. The recipient later receives an approved message. One person can fill several roles, but the record should not assume they do.
The distinction matters for staff. The Acas consultation page states that employers should always consult workers and their representatives when making decisions, and that in some situations they must consult by law. Collective consultation applies where an employer plans to make 20 or more workers redundant.
A research interview must not be presented as meeting a legal duty to consult, so an employment specialist should decide which separate process applies.
Collect only the data the purpose needs
Specify the research purpose before choosing fields. Under the UK GDPR data minimisation principle, personal data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose. You should identify the minimum amount you need and hold no more.
A name, an exact job title or a protected characteristic should therefore have a recorded need. Do not collect it because a form offers the box. The data protection article covers the wider duties.
Test for silent exclusions
Ask who cannot use the proposed recruitment route. A QR code in a staff room misses remote and absent workers. An online customer form may miss people who rely on the telephone or post. A community meeting at the site can exclude people because of timing, travel, language or access.
Under the Equality Act 2010, service providers and public bodies are required to make reasonable adjustments so that information is accessible to everyone. The GOV.UK accessible formats guide was written for government communicators, so use it as a prompt rather than as a rule for private firms. Deaf and disabled people should be involved in developing and reviewing a strategy for accessible formats.
Offer alternative formats at the invitation stage and log each request. Do not guess a format from a disability label. Write in plain language and avoid acronyms and jargon.
Decide what a response can prove
A purposive interview sample can expose a misunderstanding or an unforeseen access need. It cannot estimate how common anything is across the eligible group. A survey supports an estimate only when its frame, invitations, field dates, response pattern and uncertainty are documented. Silence is not agreement.
Write a counter-signal before recruiting. If customers in the eligible frame use a different site, the population definition may be wrong. If a supplier contract shows no dependency, remove that supplier group. If an investor-relations owner finds no relevance, drop investors.
- Write one population rule per group, with an exclusion test.
- Log the recruitment route for each group and who it could miss.
- Record the research purpose before any personal data is collected.
- Offer alternative formats and keep a log of requests.
- Proceed only when each materially affected group has a route to take part, or the gap is recorded.
Stop when the organisation cannot explain why it collects a group's data, when managers could identify critical employee comments, or when access needs are unmet. Use the risk scenarios article to rehearse these stops. A named research lead, employment reviewer, privacy reviewer and accessibility specialist should approve their parts, as set out in the team roles guide, before any result is published.
Before you act
- Write one population rule per affected group.
- Record inclusion and exclusion tests for each group.
- State the research purpose before choosing personal data fields.
- Log requests for alternative formats and access routes.
- Document the frame, invitations, field dates and response pattern.
- Get research, employment, privacy and accessibility sign-off before publishing.
Common questions
How should a company decide which groups belong in the frame?
Start from the event, then write an eligibility rule another researcher could apply. Add employees whose work could change, current users of the affected site and suppliers with a dependent hand-off. Do not add stakeholders by habit.
Why keep research interviews apart from workplace consultation?
Consultation can be a legal duty, and a research interview does not meet it. Ask an employment specialist which separate process applies, and see the quality checklist for the sign-offs to hold.
What can an interview or survey sample prove?
A purposive interview sample can expose misunderstanding but cannot estimate prevalence. A survey supports an estimate only when its frame, invitations, field dates, response pattern and uncertainty are documented.
