powerpoint going through 4 different audience theories

1. Audience Theories

2. Cultivation Theory
 This theory was developed by George Gerbner and was derived
from a project called ‘Cultural Indicators’ in which they set out to
identify and track the cultivated effects of television on viewers.
 It is a social theory which examines the long term effects of
television.
 It suggests that watching television changes people’s attitudes
and not their behaviors.
 The combined effect of large amounts of television exposure by
viewers over time subtly effects their perception of social reality
– individuals and our society as a whole.
 This theory is known as a stalagmite theory as it suggests that the
effect of media is over a long period of time – like a slow buildup
of formations on a cave floor.

3. Cultivation Theory
 The theory discovered that there were two main types of
viewers who had different outlooks on the social reality
of life.
 The first are ‘Heavy Viewers’ who watch over 4 hours of a
television per day. The second are ‘Light Viewers’ who
watch less than 2 hours of television per day.
 After research in to the theory they discovered that heavy
viewers had a more cynical outlook on society and
believed they were likely to be attacked if out at night.
Whereas, light viewers had a more trustworthy view on
society and were not scared of being attacked when out at
night.

4. Dyer’s Utopian Theory
 Richard Dyer believes that audiences consume media
products with a clear set of pleasures to draw from that
experience.
 His Utopian theory is linked with the Uses and
Gratifications Theory.
 Both theories suggest that audiences consume media
products because they wish to escape reality.
 It implies that reality is full of negatives and stress, whilst
the world of media represents an escape from this stress.
“Entertainment offers the image of ‘something better’ to
set against the realities of day-to-day existence.”

5. Dyer’s Utopian Theory
 Dyer had three reasons why audiences chose to
consume media:
1. Social Tension – the fear of being constantly criticized and so
they try to avoid social situations.
2. Inadequacy – feeling as if they are not good enough.
3. Absence – feeling as if something is missing in their life.
 He believes that these are generated by reality and
the consumption of media provides audiences with a
‘utopian solution.’

6. Social Tension Utopian Solution
Exhaustion
Work as grind
Alienated labour
Pressures of urban life
Energy
Acting Vigorously
Human power and activity
Scarcity
Actual poverty
Unequal distribution of wealth
Abundance
The conquest of scarcity
Having enough and to spare
Enjoyment of sensuous, material things
Dreariness
Monotony
Predictability
Daily Routine
Intensity
Experiencing of emotion
Directly, fully, authentically
Without holding back
Manipulation
Advertising
Bourgeois democracy
Sex roles
Transparency
Open, spontaneous, honest
communications and relationships
Love, sincerity
Fragmentation
Job mobility
Rehousing, development
High-rise urban life
Community
Togetherness
Communal Interests
Sense of belonging

7. Reception Theory
The reception theory is split into three different models:
 Dominant Reading (hegemonic)
 This is when the consumer takes the actual meaning directly and
decodes it exactly the way it was intended. It is the way the the
producer intends us to receive it.
 Negotiated Reading
 This is when the consumer accepts the meaning but does not
necessarily agree with it and so they modify it to a meaning they
prefer.
 Oppositional Reading (non-hegemonic)
 This is when the consumer completely disregards the intended
reading and misinterprets it so that they take it the wrong way. This is
usually when a reader takes something positive and sees it in a
negative way.

8. Uses And Gratifications Theory (UGT)
 UGT is an approach to understanding why people
actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific
needs.
 The driving question of UGT is: why do people use
media and what do they use them for?
 UGT discusses why people choose to media that will
satisfy given needs and allow one to enhance
knowledge, relaxation, social
interactions/companionship, diversion or escape.

9. Uses And Gratifications Theory (UGT)
Information
 Finding out relevant
events and conditions in
immediate surroundings,
society and the world.
 Seeking advice on practical
matters or opinion and
decision choices.
 Satisfying curiosity and
general interests.
 Learning; self education.
 Gaining a sense of security
through knowledge.
Personal Identity
 Finding reinforcement
for personal values.
 Finding models of
behaviour.
 Identifying with valued
others in the media.
 Gaining insight into
one’s self

10. Uses And Gratifications Theory (UGT)
Integration and Social
Interaction
 Gaining insight into
circumstances of others; social
empathy.
 Identifying with others and
gaining a sense of belonging.
 Finding a basis for conversation
and social interactions.
 Having a substitute for real-life
companionship.
 Helping to carry out social roles
 Enabling one to connect with
family, friends and society.
Entertainment
 Escaping, or being
diverted, from problems.
 Relaxing
 Getting intrinsic cultural
or aesthetic enjoyment
 Emotional release
 Sexual arousal

11. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests that people
use media to fulfill their own personal needs.
 The hierarchy of needs is often portrayed as a
pyramid with basic human needs at the bottom and
self-actualisation at the top.