An informational occasion is an event that has the ability to interest the reader (viewer or listener) with its extravagance or significance. Also, this concept in the course of oral communication can be the subject of discussion of a particular event.
An informational occasion is created within the framework of political technology for introducing into the public environment the information that may affect public opinion on specific issues.
Before “reaching out” to the listener or reader, an event that may be recognized as an informational reason is obliged, first of all, to interest media representatives. That is why the information occasion can be attributed to a two-stage communication model.
There are three main factors that make it possible to distinguish such an event from others:
- the more an event is personalized, the higher its probability among other analogues to be used as news;
- the elite or the first persons of society always become the subject of discussion in the news;
- A large amount of the negative set out in the event also increases the likelihood of its turning into news.
An information occasion is created using certain specific tools. One example of creating such events is any election. However, their scale must be taken into account here. With a small scale, the creation of a motive is greatly complicated. Media representatives are well aware that this period is the time to make money. In addition, a particular media outlet may be controlled by an opponent. It’s a completely different issue if the news item is some kind of exhibition organized by a candidate for deputy. It is impossible to ignore such an event - you can criticize it or respond neutrally about it, but you cannot completely miss it.
As already mentioned above, the two-stage communication model is determined by the information occasion. Moreover, the first generalized term was discovered by the American P. Lazarsfeld, studying the impact of the media on readers, listeners or viewers, in the 40s of the twentieth century.
The proposed theory was based on the results of surveys that showed that after the transmission of a certain message, the population spoke more actively about it two weeks after its broadcast than immediately after the notification. In the process of further research, the reason for the situation arose. The fact is that after receiving the message, people started discussing it with the so-called “opinion leaders”, i.e. people with a certain authority in their circles. At the same time, an increase is observed not only in coverage, but also in the degree of influence of the message on the audience.
In this way, the two-stage communication model emerged from the one-stage one. The one-stage model is characterized only by the transfer of information, and the two-stage model is characterized by the transmission of the influence exerted.
The following studies conducted in Germany showed the important role of opinion leaders in the active use of the media. Often they are active public figures. Reliance on such people by the media contributes to the further development of existing communication and social networks, which is much more effective and cheaper than creating new communication channels.
A particularly important role is given to the two-stage communication model when the consumer and the buyer are not the same person. To increase the effectiveness of advertising, informational reasons should be created that can influence the decision to purchase, and not the buyer himself.