Defining Audience Awareness for Information Systems Research

Abstract

Above all, information systems (IS) professionals must be effective communicators. After all, a core part of the job is to translate business needs into system requirements. Conveying information in the right form is essential. Effective IS professionals have refined social cognitive abilities. They consider their audience and tailor the content of their messages accordingly. This concept is called audience awareness. It is a manifestation of social cognition and a hallmark of strong communicators. Although the concept of audience awareness has been discussed in other contexts, it has never been used within the IS field. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a conceptual definition of audience awareness so that it can be used for IS personnel research. The definition is derived inductively using a content-analytical approach. The definition is further refined and validated using an expert panel. Implications and future research are also discussed.