The document discusses several audience and media theories: - Reception Theory examines dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings of media messages. - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs proposes that people are motivated to fulfill physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. - Cultivation Theory suggests that heavy TV viewing shapes peoples' beliefs about social reality. - Dyer's Utopian Solutions Theory argues that media provides escapism from problems in reality through social tensions, inadequacy, and absence. - Uses and Gratifications Theory proposes that people use media to fulfill surveillance, personal identity, relationships, and entertainment needs.

1. Audience Theories
By Maddie Quirke

2. Reception Theory
The reception theory is separated into three different sections: the
dominant reading (hegemonic), the negotiated reading and the
oppositional reading (non-hegemonic).
Dominant Reading- This is when the consumer directly takes the
meaning and decodes it to the exact way in which it was
encoded. In other words it’s the way the director intended the
consumer to receive it.
Negotiated Reading- This is when the consumer can identify
meaning but wont necessarily agree with it and will therefore
create their own preferred meaning.
Oppositional Reading- This is the complete opposite to the
Dominant reading theory. The consumer will completely ignore
and misunderstand the intended meaning, this is when the
consumer takes something negative that was originally
supposed to be shown in a positive way.

3. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
“People are motivated to achieve certain needs” –
Abraham Maslow
When a need is fulfilled they will look to fulfil the next need
which follows the chain. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
includes five motivations: Physiological needs, Safety
Needs, Social needs, Esteem needs and Self-actualisation
needs. He believes that these five needs are what
motivates people when they are not met.
Maslow stated that one must fulfil lower level needs and work
their way up to the highest level in this case self-
actualisation. Self-actualisation is the realisation of one’s
talents, which Maslow says that only 1 in 100 people
reach this level.
Due to any failure to meet the lower level of needs, this
disrupts being able to reach the higher levels. It is said
that different life experiences can affect progressing
through meeting needs, such as loss of job, divorce, death
etc. Maslow also believes that many people use media
activities to fulfil their social needs for example going to a
concert or going to the cinema.

4. Cultivation Theory
The cultivation theory is a social theory which examines the long term effects of
television on audiences.
The primary proposition of the cultivation theory states that the more time people spend
‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed
on television. His theory was made by George Gerbner and Larry Gross which was
developed with the purpose of identifying the cultivated effects of television on
audiences. It suggests that watching TV changes peoples behaviour and attitudes. Media
can impact negatively on peoples actions and thoughts in reality.
It is said that violent TV shows can influence young children and teenagers because they are
easily influenced at their age, especially by video games they play or TV shows that they
may watch. They may think that by copying and acting in the same way as the video
game or TV show is ‘cool’ and will make them more popular. An example of a TV show
that may influence a younger generation is WWE, this can be seen as a violent TV show
which will negatively influence its audience as they are not sensible enough to know that
what previewed on the shows is only for entertainment. There has been many cases in
which accidents have happened due to the audience copying the wrestling moves on
WWE. In 2013 a school boy was left with brain damage and permanent double vision
after his friend performed a wrestling move on him in the lunch queue at school.

5. TV viewing
Incidental information
Social reality
Capacity, focusing
strategies,
attention and
involvement.
Inference skills, social
structures and
other experiences.
(LEARNING)
(CONSTRUCTION)

6. Dyer’s Utopian Solutions
The Dyer’s theory suggests that the audiences consume media products as a
form of escapism from reality.
Dyer thinks that reality is a negative place to be and that the media world
is a positive place. It is closely related with the Uses and Gratifications
theory.
Dyer states that there are three different reasons why people consume
media products: social tensions (the audience fears they are being
criticised and try to avoid social situations), inadequacy (the audience
doesn’t think they are good enough) or absence (the audience feels like
there is something missing from their life).
“Entertainment offers the image of something better to set against the
realities of day to day existence” – Richard Dyer
The consumption of media provides audiences with a ‘utopian solution’ to
their problems that they have in reality.

7. 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 and sincerity
Fragmentation
Job mobility
Rehousing, development
High-rise urban life
Community
Togetherness
Communal Interests
Sense of belonging

8. Uses and Gratifications Theory
The Uses and Gratifications theory is based around the fact that
people watch media to satisfy their own individual needs.
The theory first started in 1948 as Laswell suggested that media
texts had the following sections: Surveillance, Correlation,
Entertainment and Cultural transmission. In 1974, Blumler and
Katz broadened the theory before they published their own
version. It stated that people may choose to watch media for the
following reasons: Surveillance, Personal identity, Personal
relationships and Entertainment/Diversion.
Surveillance- the information that could be useful for living, for
example: weather forecasts, world news or latest offers.
Personal identity- the learning of behaviours and values from
media as finding yourself echoed from within it.
Personal relationships- the using of media for emotional, social or
any other interactions.
Entertainment/Diversion- the escape from everyday problems
and enjoyment of media.