Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis in San Diego County: Understanding the Target

Audience and Building Credibility

Addressing San Diego County's urgent need for low-cost housing demands knowing our

audience and establishing trust. We aim to assist many affected by the housing issue - we're

talking about families with low income, young individuals starting their careers, students, and

older adults, too. Recognizing the diverse population we're looking to serve, emphasizes the

complexity of the housing problem. It pushes us to design a plan that adequately speaks to, and

effectively helps, each unique group.

Gass and Seiter's (2016) "Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining" offers a

useful idea: social proof. This is how group norms and actions from friends affect what we do

and believe. Our campaign could use social proof to share success stories of folks helped by

affordable homes and community programs. These stories are strong proof that give hope and

show that proposed solutions work. By underlining real successful cases, the campaign can give

our audience faith and prompt together action to tackle the housing problem.

From our textbooks, credibility is important. It means being trusted and showing

know-how in the housing mess. Partnering with good community groups, housing champions,

and school experts can make the campaign look better. With the help of these partners, the

campaign can reach more people with its message. Also, giving the right facts, plans based on

data, and true stories can curb doubt and build more trust with the audience. Being open and real

are important parts of credibility, and the campaign needs to focus on clear talking and being

responsible from start to finish.

 We need to know who we're trying to reach and what they're thinking. Important too is

figuring out what might keep them from joining in. For instance, lots of folks, especially those

not making much money, have trouble finding a good, budget-friendly place to live. This is

because of money problems and not enough choices. Moreover, doubting the ideas and not

trusting the local government and programs can stop people from participating and slow down

our efforts to fix the housing problem. Some people come and go, like students and rookies in

the working world. This makes spreading the word tricky — we need special plans to really get

these groups involved.

Let's end this with a simple idea. Let's fix the housing problem in San Diego. We need to

know our people and build trust. We can use ideas like social proof and credibility from Gass and

Seiter's (2016) book. This helps us to change ideas, engage the community and act together. This

can make housing more fair and lasting. By working together and talking strategically, we can

rally support, raise awareness, and find great solutions to the main social problem in our area

today.
 Reference Page

Gass, R. H., & Seiter, J. (2016). Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining (6th

Edition).

Voice of San Diego. (n.d.). San Diego County Housing Crisis: Causes and Solutions.

Retrieved from

https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/san-diego-county-housing-crisis-causes-

and-solutions/

Psychology Today. (2019). The Impact of Unaffordable Housing on Mental Health.

Retrieved from

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-trauma/201902/the-impact-u

naffordable-housing-mental-health

National Low Income Housing Coalition. (n.d.). How to Advocate for Affordable Housing

in Your Community. Retrieved from

https://nlihc.org/resource/how-advocate-affordable-housing-your-community