This is my research for Audience Theory.

1. AUDIENCE THEORIES
Tom Macleod

2. HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
The five stage model can be divided into
basic needs and growth needs. The basic
needs being physiological, safety, love and
belonging and esteem. On the other hand the
growth needs being self actualization.
One must satisfy the lower level basic needs
before progressing to meet the higher level
growth needs. Once these needs have been
met at a reasonable level, one can reach the
highest level of self-actualization.
Every person is able and has the desire to
move up the hierarchy to the level of self-
actualization. However, progress can be a
failure by not meeting the lower level needs.
Life experiences can make a person
fluctuate between the hierarchy. This could
be a loss of a job or family issues.

3. PASSIVE AUDIENCES
There are several effects models, i.e. theoretical explanations of how humans take in
the information transmitted by media texts, and how this may influence their
behaviour. Effects theory is still a very hotly debated area of Media and Psychology
research, as no one is able to come up with indisputable evidence that audiences will
always react to media texts one way or another. The debate is disquieted by politics
of the situation: a few audience theories are seen as a call for more censorship.

4. THE HYPODERMIC MODEL
• In the hypodermic model, the media is seen as having power and being able to
inject ideas and thoughts into the minds of the audience who are seen as easy to
manipulate and weak.
• The hypodermic model was first introduced by Harold Lasswell in the 1920s.
The model suggests that a media text can ‘inject’ or ‘fire’ ideas, values and
attitudes into our previously described passive audience, who may act upon
them.
• An extremely famous example of the hypodermic model is Nazi Germany, where
the Nazi party used propaganda to ‘inject’ ideas promoting the Nazi cause.

5. CULTIVATION THEORY
This theory also treats the audience as passive. It suggests that repeated
exposure to the same messages leads to a change in audiences ideas and
attitudes. A similar idea is known desensitisation, which suggests that long term
exposure to violent media makes the audience less likely to be shocked by
violence. Being less shocked by violence in turn makes the audience more likely
to perform violent acts. This idea is played with in the film A clock work Orange
where Alex is forced to watch violent videos whilst under the influence of a drug
which makes him unwell attempting to make him associate violence with this ill
feeling.

6. TWO STEP FLOW THEORY
The two step flow theory was created by Lazarsfeld, his theory is that the mass
media communicates through people, however the opinion is channelled
through the opinion leaders. A lot of people follow the decisions of their role
models. For example if a celebrity promotes a brand, money would be
generated by both people who support the brand and the celebrity.

7. USES AND GRATIFICATION MODEL
The uses and gratification model sees the audience as active. This model states we use media for
5 reasons:
1. Information and education - the media is used to stay informed and up to date with current
affairs.
2. Entertainment - the media is used as a pass time and entertainment for example, film and
video games.
3. Personal identity - Younger and more easily influenced audiences use media as a way to
develop life skills. This is why the characters in children’s TV have strong morals.
4. Integration and social interaction - People may become united through the love of film and
media, for example chat rooms and conventions for tv
5. Escapism- people may just want to forget about their life and try to find tranquility in media.

8. reception analysis
The reception theory was created by Stuart Hall, his philosophy
is that the Media text has been coded by the creator, and
becomes decoded in one of three ways:
1. Dominant- The audience accepts full meaning of text.
2. Negotiated- The audience accepts meaning but does not
completely agree.
3. Oppositional - The audience does not agree with the displayed
message.

9. interactive audiences
Prosumer- a person who consumes and produces media. in modern
day we can contribute to the media easily using technology,
generating our own audiences and voicing our opinions. It is now
easier than ever to take and idea global due to the advances in media
technology and social media.