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Knowledge Gap Theory
9
HOW
WHY
WHEn
Knowledge gap
Theory
Marissa Strang
Define
As information is disseminated through mass media channels, individuals with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have a greater ability to acquire new knowledge than their counterparts with lower SES, creating a "knowledge gap"
Background
History
- Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien (1970)
- Why?
- Communication skills
- Stored information
- Relevant social contact
- Selective exposure
- Media's target markets
- Revisited to find that motivation also played a factor in the knowledge gap.
in strategic
comm. campaigns...
WHAT
What should we consider?
considerations
3 considerations in a strat. comm campaign:
- Information relevance as it pertains to certain demographics
- "Public-affecting knowledge"
- Channels of message delivery - from a standpoint of concern
- Demographics
IQ
Public
Affecting knowledge
political campaigns
politically
- Mccann and Lawson, 2006, Political Research Quarterly (surveys)
- People with fewer resources are less informed about politics
- Uneven information distribution
- (Holbrook, 2006) High profile campaign events can reduce knowledge gaps (debates)
- Some voters are more easily informed than others
- Motivation
health campaigns
Health
- Guttman, 2004
- Health comm. interventions on a wide scale may reinforce social disparities
- Higher SES more likely to have increased knowledge and adopt recommended practices
- Depraving populations of practices
- American-Viet. men and cigarettes
- AIDS epidemic - less access and ability
1. are you unintentionally reinforcing socio-economic disparities?
2. how can you reach low-ses individuals?
IDEAS
references
Knowledge Gap: Increasing gap between higher and lower educated people. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Mass Media/knowledge_gap/
Tichenor, P.J., Donohue, G.A. and Olien, C.N. (1970). Mass Media Flow and Differential Growth in Knowledge, Public Opinion Quarterly 34: Colombia University Press.
Holbrook, T. (2002). Presidential Campaigns and the knowledge Gap, Political Communication. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/pdf/4148071.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A96a56375dda02f0281d78269abff7713
Mccann, J. A., Lawson, C. (2006). Presidential Campaigns and the Knowledge Gap in Three Transitional Democracies , Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/pdf/4148071.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A96a56375dda02f0281d78269abff7713.