Ten Audience Analysis Exercises - EFL Classroom 2.0

3. Naming and Hardware. Consider the names that companies choose for computers,
monitors, and printers--names such as iMac, OptiPlex, CyberTron, Zip Drive, and
so forth. Or consider the names of the parts that compose a piece of hardware--for
example, motherboards, daughterboards, SCSI drives, IDE, USB and Pentium
chips. Why these names? Why the abbreviations? Are there prefixes and suffixes
that are used repeatedly? What are the companies going for? Are they trying to
sound cutting edge? Are they being purposefully unclear--or do they perhaps
imagine that the general public won't need to worry about what jargon like SCSI
means? In your paper, create a system of classification for hardware or choose a
specific category of hardware (hard drives, for instance) and explore the kinds of
names that are used (and those that aren't used) for the products.
4. Take a close look at an advertisement for a software product or the cover of a
software box. What is pictured? What is the relationship between the pictures in
the advertisement or on the box and what the product actually does? Are there
seemingly irrelevant things pictured? Are there relevant capabilities that aren't
included in the advertisement or on the box cover? Why have certain things been
included and others excluded? What does the manufacturer want potential
customers to think about the product? How close is the information that is
included in the advertisement or on the box to the realities of the product and
what it can do?
Write an analytical paper that explains how the advertisement or product cover
works. What group of potential customers is the software company attempting to
attract? What are these customers interested in based on the advertisement of box
cover? What issues are important to them? What conclusions can you draw about
the things that are NOT pictured? What groups of customers does the company
seem to be missing?
5. Consider references to computer technology in non-computer products--how are
businesses using the language of computer technology to attract customers? Think
about television commercials featuring a new car's on-board computer. The
commercials suggest that the computer can track even the most minor
malfunction in a car, and in expensive cars, these computers are tied to satellites
that can help a harried couple get to the hospital before their baby is born. Why
are these companies focusing on the computer technology? Why draw potential
customers' attention to the computer rather than to the cabin space, the anti-lock
brakes, or the warranty?
Find at least three advertisements that highlight computer technology as part of
their appeal to potential customers. Remember you're looking for advertisements
or commercials for non-computer products. Gather details on the things that the
three advertisements have in common. How do they discuss computer technology?
What details do they include? What features do they ignore as they focus on
computer technology? Who do they show using the products? What kind of
customers are they targeting? How do they imagine the discussion of computer
technology will interest these potential customers? Write an analytical paper that