A look at different ways of categorising audiences and how different groups use different media texts

1. Media
Audiences
An Introduction

2. A Reminder…
• What do we define as ‘the media’?
• What different types of media do we
‘consume’?

3. Your Media Life
• Make a list of as many different ways that you have
consumed media in the past week?
• What 3 different ‘texts’ have you used the most?

4. What is an Audience?
• An audience is a group of people that
consume similar media in a certain way
• The method in which an audience is
‘constructed’ or ‘located’ is always
beneficial to a powerful group of people

5. Why Study Audiences?
1. By identifying an
audience you can
predict behaviour.
2. A viewer can then
adapt their own
understanding of a
text

6. Types of Audiences
What different categories can we put audiences in?

7. Audience Classification
• It is useful to first split audiences into these
categories:
o Socio-Economic Status
o Psychographics / mood
o Demographics
o Technology

8. Socioeconomic Status
Group
Example Job Type
Wage Bracket
A
Higher Managerial, Admin &
Professional (Managers & Lawyers)
£50,000 +
Intermediate Managerial, Admin &
Professional
£25,000 - £50,000
Upper Class
B
Middle Class
C1
Lower middle
Class
C2
Skilled
working class
D
Working Class
E
Low income
earners
Supervisor / junior manager
£15,000 – £25,000
Skilled Manual Workers
Semi-Unskilled workers
£7,000 - £15,000
Pensioners / Widows, Casual workers,
Students
£5,000 - £7,000

9. Psychographics / Mood
• Psychographics can change over time
• They reflect an audience member’s:
o Attitudes
o Personality
o Values

10. Demographics
• Demographics are static attributes that
rarely change
• They refer to an audience’s:
o Age / Gender / Ethnicity /
Sexual Orientation /
Regional Identity

11. Technology
• The medium or institution that an audience
uses to consume media
• This could refer to:
o ITV / Radio 1 / Netflix / Vogue / Twitter

12. Examples of Constructed
Audiences
•
•
•
•
•
A ‘Playstation 3’ audience
An elderly audience
A gay audience
A Twitter audience
A tired (post-work) audience

13. Some Examples
Film advertising

14. Fast Girls (2012)
•
•
•
•
Girls / aged 15-24 / Post-secondary school
Londoners / Urban
Sporty / aspirational
C1 / C2 socioeconomic status
• Kidulthood / The Misfits / Step Up / Skins

15. The Best Marigold Hotel
(2012)
•
•
•
•
Men & Women / aged 50 + / Retirees
Southern England/ Rural / Ex-pats
Worldly/ reflective
A / B socioeconomic status
• The King’s Speech / The Boat That Rocked

16. Specific
Audience
Models
What is the Theory?

17. Active Vs. Passive
Consumption
• Media texts are ‘consumed’ by different audiences
in different ways – an audience member can be
Passive or Active
• Passive – a passive model of consumption suggests
that texts have an effect on the audience
• Active – an active model instead suggests that
audiences interact with the text to create meaning

18. Interactive television
Which TV shows force you to interact?

19. Interactivity
Physical Interactivity
A handshake / a keyboard / a
controller
Social Interactivity
Joining a group / phoning in /
talking with other fans /
Intellectual Interactivity
Forming an opinion / having a
thoughtful response
Emotional Interactivity
Crying at a sad scene / laughing
at a joke
Content Interactivity
Creating a blog / Retweeting /
leaving a comment

20. The main differences
Passive
Active
Accepting opinions
Forming opinions
Paying little attention
Paying full attention
Watching a game
Playing a game

21. A passive model
Text
A media text has a
direct influence on a
passive audience
Audience

22. An active model
Audiences engage with
what they consume and
are actively making
their own meanings
Text
Audience

23. Uses & Gratifications
Information
Personal Identity
Social Integration
Entertainment

24. Information
• Finding out about 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 interest
• Learning; self-education
• Gaining a sense of security through knowledge

25. Personal Identity
•
•
•
•
Finding reinforcement for personal values
Finding models of behaviour
Identifying with valued other (in the media)
Gaining insight into one's self

26. 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
interaction
• Having a substitute for real-life companionship
• Helping to carry out social roles
• Enabling one to connect with family, friends and
society

27. Entertainment
•
•
•
•
•
•
Escaping, or being diverted, from problems
Relaxing
Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
Filling time
Emotional release
Sexual arousal

28. In Groups…
• We are going to create a profile of the
gratifications people get from different genres.
o
o
o
o
Sport
Reality TV
Soap Operas
Documentaries

29. Talk
Shows

30. Information
• Different subject matter each episode
• ‘Real life’ issues and problems
• Based on families / relationships
• Taboo subject matter

31. Social Integration
• Watch with friends / family
• Empathise with guests of show
• Tweet along / talk about with others later
• Substitute for conversation with real-life companion
– conversational mode of address

32. Personal Identity
• Reinforces beliefs about family life and relationship
ethics
• Provides advice about personal problems
• Identify with similar characters
• Recognisably British

33. Entertainment
• Probably involve a fight or an argument
• Familiar format – easy to watch
• Laugh at the misfortunate – reassuring about own
possible problems
• ‘Shocking’ subject matter

34. In your groups
How does the genre appeal to peoples need for:
• Information
• Social Integration
• Entertainment
• Personal Identity