Research and Planning - Audience Theory

Why do audiences choose to consume certain texts?

• Something that they relate to
• Something that they like

Harry Potter - Cinema

Primary Audience: age 8-16

Working/Middle class

Educated

Literate

Secondary Audience: Parents, All ages

Middle class

Income

Three theories 

• The effects model or hypodermic model
• Uses Gratification model
• reception theory

Effect model - consumption of media texts has effect or influence on the audience. Passive, Powerless to prevent influence, negative

Power lies with message of text e.g. Disney films

Hypodermic model - Message in media text interjected into audience by powerful syringe like media. Audience powerless to resist. Media works like drug, audience drugged, addicted, doped or duped e.g. Shrek

Effects model endence - Frankfurt school - theorised in 1920s and 30s mass media acted to restrict and control audience to the benefit of corporate capitalism and governments.

The Bobo doll experiment - Controversial piece of research that apparently proved that children copy violent behaviour.

Moral panic

Hypodermic needle theory - one example gets everyone talking about it.

Gratifications model

• Buy into it
• Unclear theres a link between consumption of violent and behaviour
• Uses of gratification is opposite of effect model
• Power lies with the audience not the producers
• What audience does with media texts , how they use them, free to reject, use or play with media meaning or how they see fit
• Audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs for Diversion, Escapism, Information, Pleasure, Comparing relationships and Lifestyles with ones own and Sexual stimulation.
• The audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as: Learning, Emotional satisfaction, Relaxation, Helping issues of Personal identity, Helping issues of Social identity, help with issues of Aggression and Violence.
• Suggests consumption of violent images can be helpful

Insidious - Hypodermic needle effect. Music- calm before the storm. Nuclear family going to stay at grandmas. Red tint on baby, Then low key after. Cutaways, Tags in the middle