2. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
3. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Understand how media producers define audiences for their products
Understand how media producers create products for specific audiences
Understand how media audiences respond to media products
Be able to develop responses to media products
4. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
You need to understand how your audience responds to the
product:
5. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
6. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
Audience theory provides a starting point for many Media
Studies tasks. Whether you are constructing a game or analysing
one, you will need to consider the destination of that media text
(i.e. its target audience) and how that audience (or any other)
will respond to that media text.
7. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
Audience theory provides a starting point for many Media
Studies tasks. Whether you are constructing a game or analysing
one, you will need to consider the destination of that media text
(i.e. its target audience) and how that audience (or any other)
will respond to that media text.
Remember that a media text in itself has no meaning until it is
read or decoded by an audience.
8. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
Audience theory provides a starting point for many Media
Studies tasks. Whether you are constructing a game or analysing
one, you will need to consider the destination of that media text
(i.e. its target audience) and how that audience (or any other)
will respond to that media text.
Remember that a media text in itself has no meaning until it is
read or decoded by an audience.
You’ve learned how audience is described and measured. Now
you need a working knowledge of the theories which attempt to
explain how an audience receives, reads and responds to a media
text.
9. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Model
10. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Model
The Inoculation Model
11. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Model
The Inoculation Model
The Two-Step Flow Model
12. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Model
The Inoculation Model
The Two-Step Flow Model
The Uses & Gratifications Theory
13. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Model
The Inoculation Model
The Two-Step Flow Model
The Uses & Gratifications Theory
The Reception Theory
14. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
The Hypodermic Needle
Model
15. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Hypodermic Needle Model
Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to
explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.
16. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Hypodermic Needle Model
Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to
explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.
17. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Hypodermic Needle Model
Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to
explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.
The audience receive an
intravenous injection of a
media text, either positive
or negative and are
stimulated into a response.
18. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Hypodermic Needle Model
Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to
explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.
The audience receive an
intravenous injection of a
media text, either positive
or negative and are
stimulated into a response.
This is a short-term effect
and the audience is seen as
passive and maleable.
19. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
The Inoculation Model
20. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Inoculation Model
This theory suggests that the long-term exposure to repeated
media messages makes audiences immune to them.
21. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Inoculation Model
This theory suggests that the long-term exposure to repeated
media messages makes audiences immune to them.
The audience is desensitised by the media text and can no longer
be shocked by it.
22. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Inoculation Model
This theory suggests that the long-term exposure to repeated
media messages makes audiences immune to them.
The audience is desensitised by the media text and can no longer
be shocked by it.
Someone sensitised is more likely to commit a violent act as it is
not seen as an extraordinary action. Again, the audience is seen
as passive.
23. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
The Two-Step Flow Model
24. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Two-Step Flow Model
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet conducted a
study in 1940 during the presidential election. They found that
50% of voters had made up their minds six months before the
election and did not change their minds despite the influence of
media debates and coverage.
25. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Two-Step Flow Model
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet conducted a
study in 1940 during the presidential election. They found that
50% of voters had made up their minds six months before the
election and did not change their minds despite the influence of
media debates and coverage.
In addition, it was found that
individual views were most affected
by opinion leaders who played a key
role in the communication process,
filtering the message.
26. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Two-Step Flow Model
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet conducted a
study in 1940 during the presidential election. They found that
50% of voters had made up their minds six months before the
election and did not change their minds despite the influence of
media debates and coverage.
In addition, it was found that
individual views were most affected
by opinion leaders who played a key
role in the communication process,
filtering the message.
27. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - The Two-Step Flow Model
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet conducted a
study in 1940 during the presidential election. They found that
50% of voters had made up their minds six months before the
election and did not change their minds despite the influence of
media debates and coverage.
In addition, it was found that
individual views were most affected
by opinion leaders who played a key
role in the communication process,
filtering the message.
The audience is semi-active.
28. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - Passive and Semi-Passive Models
29. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - Passive and Semi-Passive Models
The Hypodermic Model Two-Step Flow
30. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory - Passive and Semi-Passive Models
The Hypodermic Model Two-Step Flow
31. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Uses & Gratifications Theory
32. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
During the 1960s, as the first generation to grow up with
television became grown ups, it became increasingly apparent to
media theorists that audiences made choices about what they
did when consuming media texts.
33. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
During the 1960s, as the first generation to grow up with
television became grown ups, it became increasingly apparent to
media theorists that audiences made choices about what they
did when consuming media texts.
Far from being a passive mass, audiences were made up of
individuals who actively consumed media texts for different
reasons and in different ways.
34. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
During the 1960s, as the first generation to grow up with
television became grown ups, it became increasingly apparent to
media theorists that audiences made choices about what they
did when consuming media texts.
Far from being a passive mass, audiences were made up of
individuals who actively consumed media texts for different
reasons and in different ways.
Move away from what media does to people and think of what
people do with media.
35. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and
published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might
choose and use a media text for the following purposes:
36. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and
published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might
choose and use a media text for the following purposes:
Information
37. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and
published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might
choose and use a media text for the following purposes:
Information
Personal Identity
38. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and
published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might
choose and use a media text for the following purposes:
Information
Personal Identity
Integration and Social Interaction
39. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and
published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might
choose and use a media text for the following purposes:
Information
Personal Identity
Integration and Social Interaction
Entertainment
40. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Information
The need to be informed – press, broadcast and online news.
Seeking advice on practical matters – how to fix the toilet.
Satisfying curiosity and general interest – pub quiz.
Learning; self-education – formal learning e.g. An OU course
41. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Personal Identity
Comparing our own roles and values with similar roles and values
represented in the media – buying Loaded to be one of the lads or
referencing a soap opera to see how other teenagers behave in
relationships. Seeing yourself in the game.
42. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Integration and Social Interaction
The need for companionship and interaction with others:
Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
Having a substitute for real-life companionship
Enabling one to connect with family, friends and society
This can be through viewing fictional characters as friends, having
the radio on all day for company or social media like Facebook.
43. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Uses & Gratifications Theory
Entertainment
Fantasy, escaping, or being diverted, from problems
Relaxing
Filling time
Emotional release
44. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Reception Theory
45. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Active Models
Reception Theory
Extending the concept of an active audience still further, in the
1980s and 1990s a lot of work was done on the way individuals
received and interpreted a text, and how their individual
circumstances (gender, class, age, ethnicity) affected their
reading.
46. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Active Models
Reception Theory
47. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Active Models
Reception Theory
This theory points out that meaning of any media text is created
by the audience - not the producer. Meaning is encoded into
the media text but it is up to the audience what they take from
it depending how they decode the signs within the text.
Broadly speaking the audience can arrive at one of three
readings:
48. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Active Models
Reception Theory
The Preferred Reading - Audience understands and accepts the
ideology offered.
49. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Active Models
Reception Theory
The Preferred Reading - Audience understands and accepts the
ideology offered.
The Negotiated Reading - Audience understands the ideology
offered, accepts some aspects of it but rejects other aspects.
50. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
Audience Theory – Active Models
Reception Theory
The Preferred Reading - Audience understands and accepts the
ideology offered.
The Negotiated Reading - Audience understands the ideology
offered, accepts some aspects of it but rejects other aspects.
The Opositional Reading - Audience interprets the ideology
offered in the opposite way than it is intended.
51. BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production – Games Design
Unit 6 - Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php
?pageID=audience
http://gottolovealex.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/uses-gratifications-
understanding-and-reflecting/
http://coleshillmediasite.weebly.com/g322---audience-theory.html
http://www.communicationandculture.co.uk/Effects.pdf
