The document discusses various audience theories in media consumption, focusing on why and how audiences choose and are influenced by certain texts. It covers the hypodermic needle theory, which suggests audiences passively accept media messages, the uses and gratifications model that emphasizes audience agency in media selection, and the two-step flow model which highlights the role of opinion leaders in shaping audience opinions. Key studies like the Bobo doll experiment are referenced to illustrate how media exposure can affect behavior.

1. Audience Theory
Research
Caitlin McMullen

2. 3 Questions being thought
about:
O Why do audiences choose to consume
certain texts?
O How do they consume texts?
O What happens when they consume texts?

3. Hypodermic Needle Theory
O Hypodermic Needle Theory is a model of
communications suggesting that an intended message is
directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.
The model suggests children and teenagers are
vulnerable to media content as they are still in early
stages of socialisation and therefore they are
impressionable. Audiences are powerless to resist any
texts which are shown to them. Audiences have messages
‘shot’ into them by the mass media. The mass media assume
the audience take everything in directly therefore meaning they
cannot escape from the medias influence. When the audience
consume certain texts they tend to be influenced by this
and sometimes possibly copy what they have consumed.
This is shown through the ‘Bobo Doll Experiment’.

4. Bobo Doll Experiment
O The Bobo Doll Experiment was conducted in
1961 to investigate if social behaviours could
be influenced by something they’ve seen. In
this experiment, a group of children watched
an adult model act aggressively towards the
bobo doll (a toy that gets back up to standing
position once knocked down).
O The experiment found that children acted
more aggressively towards the doll once they
had seen someone be aggressive towards it
than those who hadn’t seen any aggressive
behaviour towards the doll.

5. Uses and Gratifications Model
O Uses and Gratifications Model is an approach to
understanding why and how people actively seek
out specific media to satisfy specific needs. The
model assumes that audience members are not
passive consumers of the media. The audience
has power over their own media consumption and
has an active role of interpreting and integrating
media into their own lives.
O UGT is an audience-centered approach to
understanding mass communication. UGT holds
that audiences are responsible for choosing media
to meet their desires and needs to achieve
gratification.

6. Two Step Flow
O Two Step Flow of Communication Model says that the
majority of people form their opinions under the influence of
opinion leaders who are influenced by the mass media.
According to this theory, ideas flow from mass media to
opinion leaders then onto a wider audience. This theory is
not direct in the sense that audiences do not get their
thoughts and opinions directly from the media. Social
influence is created and adjusted by the ideals and opinions
of each specific ‘elite media’ group. The audiences choose
what texts they consume by what other people say.
O Two Steps:
1. Opinion Leaders get information from the media
2. Opinion Leaders pass the information along with their
interpretation to others.