1. Comprehension. Does the target audience fully understand and interpret the materials in the way you intend? Some questions that assess comprehension include:
a. In your opinion, what is the message of this (television spot, radio spot, print piece)?
b. Are there any words that you would change to make it easier for others to understand? Which are they?
c. Please explain this message to your neighbor in your own words (have the respondents do so).
d. (Indicate a particular image). Can you tell me what this is and why it might be in this picture?
2. Attractiveness. Taste obviously varies a great deal and is related to cultural factors as well as the changing times. While you
are testing a rough cut of material, you should strive to make this as close as possible to the finished piece. If it is a radio
spot, have someone with a good voice do the recording. If it is a story-board for a video, or a “home video” version of the
script, still strive to be as professional as possible to prevent the low production value from distracting the audience. For
print, you can probably produce a near-finished piece with today’s simple graphics programs. Some questions that assess
attractiveness include:
a. What do you like the most about this piece?
b. What do you dislike?
c. How would you change this piece?
d. What do you think others in this community would say about this piece?
3. Acceptance. This factor has more to do with norms, attitudes, and beliefs of the target audience. Can they believe the information? Is it congruent with the community’s norm? Does it require a major change of opinion to act on the information?
Some questions that assess acceptance include:
a. Is there anything about this piece that you find objectionable?
b. How about others in this community, what would they say?
c. Do you know any people like this, or have you seen a situation like this?
d. (Indicate a particular aspect of the piece). Is this believable to you?
e. Can you think of anyone else, such as a religious leader or important community leader, who we should show this to
before distributing it widely?
4. Involvement. The target audience should be able to recognize themselves in the materials. Based on the elaboration likelihood model, if the target audience is already concerned about the issue, then it might not be necessary to match up the
imagery with their stylistic preferences. But, if you need to first focus their attention on the fact that this information is
meant for them, then featuring spokespersons and images that the target audience would like to see, is important. Some
questions that assess involvement include:
a. (If using non-celebrities). Whom does this piece represent? Are these people like yourselves?
b. (If using celebrities). Who is this? What do you feel having (Name) speak to you about __________?
c. Do you feel that this piece is speaking to you? Why or why not?
d. If this isn’t meant for you, who do you think it is speaking to?
5. Inducement to action. All materials need a “call for action.” Because we have tried to identify a behavior, attitude, or
change that we think is feasible for the target audience to embrace, now is the last chance to test whether this piece will
prompt them to make it. Even if we are just trying to raise awareness of a problem, we want to prompt the audience to seek
more information, or tell others about what they have learned. Some questions that assess call to action include:
a. What does this piece ask you to do?
b. How do you feel about doing this?
c. Would you need to do something else before you could do this?
d. How would you explain this to a friend?
e. How would they respond to this piece?