Audience Theory
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All products have an audience
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They also sometimes have niche audiences and can
also have mass audiences.
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The producer’s texts need to know the importance
of their audience when making products.
The first audience theory- Frankfurt school
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A group of media theorists in 1920’s and 30’s.
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They produced the “Effects” model which
considers society to be composed of isolated individuals who were susceptible
to media messages.
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Hyper dermic needle theory which suggests that
media can be injected into the minds of a passive audience which will believe
everything they are told.
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Linear communication
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Injected into the mid of the audience by a
medium that meant that they instinctively believed what they were being
told.
The second audience theory- The two step
flow
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Developed by Lazarsfeld and Katz in the 1940’s
and 50’s
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Two steps
·
First step – opinion leaders get information
from a media source.
·
Second step- opinion leaders then pass the
information along with their interpretation, to others (friends, family etc) ]
·
More likely to be influenced by other people
than the mass media
·
People’s choice(book) 1940’s by Lazersfeld ,
Personal Influence by Katz
·
Audience no longer passive in the communication
process
·
2012- survey on twitter showed that people are
getting the news from opinion leaders rather than the bigger news corporation.
Which leaves the audience of the opinion leaders only ever receiving a twisted
version or subjective version of the truth.
·
More likely to buy a product if its recommended
by friends or people who provide a trusted opinion.
·
Strengths – audeinces are active and seen as a
part of society
·
Weaknesses- more than two steps in the flow of
communication
·
During the 1960’s, as the first generation grow
up with television become grown ups, its become increasingly apparent to media
theorists that audiences made choices about what they did when consuming texts
·
Far from being passive mass , audiences were
made up of individuals, who actively consumed texts for different reasons and in
different ways.
·
This later became the “uses and gratifications
theory”
Bulmer
and Katz 1974 – uses and gratifications theory
·
1. Diversion- escape from reality
·
2. Personal relationships – using the media for
personal interaction
·
3. Personal identity – Finding yourself
reflected in texts
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4. Surveillance – information that could be
useful for living
·
Instant messaging- relaxation, entertainment,
inclusion, fashion, escape and affection. Affection and sociability are for
heavy users whereas to do it for fashion is more predominant for light users.
·
Online gaming- success, social interaction
accomplishment
David Moorely
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The nationwide audience 1980’s
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Dominant reading- the reader shares the same
opinion
·
Negotiated reading- the reader partially shares
the same opinion
·
Oppositional reading- the reader completely
disagrees with the opinion
