Communication could be
defined based on its perceived functions. Severin and Tankard (1980) highlight
some of the basic differences in the way communication has been perceived. They
grouped these into three major areas:
i. Definitions that stress
sharing
ii. Definitions that stress
intentional influence and
iii. Definitions that include any
kind of influence or response (with or without intent)
1. Definitions
that Stress Sharing
A number of scholars defined
communication in relation to its etymology hence, communication is seen as a
concept of sharing or making common. One of such definitions is Cheryl et al
(1982) which says that it is “the process of sharing thoughts, ideas and
feelings with each other in commonly understandable ways”. Similarly, Bennett (1976)
refers to communication as the process of sharing meaning through the use of
symbols.
2. Definitions
that Stress Intentional Influence
Another school of thought
suggests that communication is mainly dependent on persuasion. Horne et al
(1965) lend credence to this when they stated that “communication is the
process through which a person motivates and influences others to control and
modifying their behaviours”. Keegan (1980) refers to communication as “all
forms of information transfer and persuasion concerning a product”.
3. Definition
that include any kind of influence or response (with or without intent)
These definitions could also
be referred to as “all inclusive” definitions. As Lederman (1977) puts it:
Communication is a word used to refer to multitude of activities in which
people engage such as talking, touching, writing, looking etc”. Luthans (1985)
opines that “communication means the flow of material information, perception
and understanding between various parts and members of an organization”.
A second look at the
aforementioned functional definitions would show that each of them serves some
useful purposes despite their inherent weaknesses. For instance, the belief
that the essence of communication is based on persuasion may be true in some
cases but definitely not in every situation. When a piece of public service
announcement is made in the broadcast media or print media, the goal may not
necessarily be to persuade the public into believing the message but simply to
inform them. However, this does not mean that, we don’t have occasions when communication is designed
mainly to persuade the listeners or reading public. This is true of
advertisement and public relations activities.
Want To Increase Your ClickBank Banner Traffic And Commissions?
ReplyDeleteBannerizer makes it easy for you to promote ClickBank products by banners, simply visit Bannerizer, and get the banner codes for your picked ClickBank products or use the Universal ClickBank Banner Rotator to promote all of the ClickBank products.