Audience Theory

BY CERYS KIRBY-THIRLWELL

Three questions asked

Why do audiences choose to consume certain texts?

How do they consume these texts?

What happens when they consume texts?

There are three theories that we can apply to help us find a

better understanding of this and these are

The Effects Model/ The Hypodermic Model

The Uses and Gratification Model

Reception Theory

The Effects Model/The Hypodermic

Model

The Effects Model is the consumption of media texts has an effect or

influence on the audience, it is normally considered that the effect will
be negative.

Audiences and passive and powerless to prevent the influence.

The power lies within the message of text.

The Hypodermic Needle Theory means that the messages that are in
media texts and injected into the audience by a needle like media.

The audience is powerless to resist what they are being fed, this means
that the media works like a drug and the audience is drugged,
addicted or duped.

Evidence for the Effects Model

The main evidence for the Effects Model is the BoBo Doll
Experiment, this is a very controversial piece of research that
proves children copy violent behaviour. Conducted in 1961 by
Albert Bandura.

In this experiment children were made to watch a video of a adult

violently attacked a clown toy called a BoBo Doll. The children were
then taken to a room with attractive toys they werent aloud to
touch. The children were then lead to another room with BoBo Dolls.

88% of the children imitated the violent behaviour that they saw on
the tape they earlier viewed. 8 months later 40% of the children
reproduced the same violent behaviour.

Key examples of real life situations

that back this up

The film Childs Play 3 in the murder of James Bulger in 1993.

The game Manhunt in the murder of Stefan Pakeerah in 2004

by his friend Warren LeBlanc.

A film A clockwork orange in a number of rapes and violent

attacks.

The film Severance in the murder of Simon Everitt.

The Uses and Gratification Model

The Uses and Gratification Model is the opposite of the Effects Model
and means that the audience is active and uses the text rather than
being used by it.

The audience uses the text for its own gratification or pleasure.

Here, the power lies with the audience not the producers.

This theory emphasises what audiences do with media texts- How and
why the use them.

The audience is free to reject, use or play with media meaning as they
see fit.

Audiences use media texts to gratify there needs for:

Pleasure

Information

Diversion

Escapism

Sexual stimulation

Comparing relationships and lifestyles with ones own

The audience is in control and consumption of the media and helps them
with issues like:

Relaxation

Emotional satisfaction

Help with issues of personal identity

Learning

Help with issues of aggression and violence

Help with issues of aggression and violence

The theory suggests that the consumption of violent images can

be helpful rather than harmful. The theory suggests that
audiences act out of their violent impulses through the
consumption of media violence.

The audiences inclination towards violence is therefore

sublimated, and they are less likely to commit violent acts.

Reception theory

Reception theory is when producers or directors constructs a text

encoded with hidden message or meaning that the producers or
directors want to convey across to the audience.

Stuart Hall identified three types of audiences reading messages-

Dominant

Negotiated

Oppositional

Dominant, Negotiated and

Oppositional

Dominant is about what the audience wants to hear from people and
agreeing, but with limited knowledge on the subject. One example is
political speeches where politicians say what the public wants to hear,
such as improvements to the NHS.

Negotiated is when the audience agrees, disagrees or questions a

political speech or news broadcast due to previously held news.

Oppositional is when the audience recognises the dominant messages

but rejects it due to culture or political opinion. When the audience is in
this state you cant get a message through to them, as theyve already
made their mind up on this topic.