Introduction of Cultivation theory and Priming theory

1. Cultivation Theory
&
Priming Theory
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice
Jianan Hu, Jing Long, Ruochen Jiang

2. Cultivation Theory
● Definition:
■ “Television is responsible for shaping, or ‘cultivating’ viewers’ conceptions
of social reality. The combined effect of massive television exposure by
viewers over time subtly shapes the perception of social reality for
individuals and, ultimately, for our culture as a whole.” (Twente, 2018)
● Keywords: Long term, exposure, media content
● Assumptions:
■ Television is different from other mass media form (Gerbner, Gross,
Morgan & Signorielli, 1986).
■ Television affect people’s thinking ways in reality (Gerbner & Gross, 1972)
■ Television's effects are limited.
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice

3. Violence Perspective
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice
Post from tweet, wechat and weibo

4. Violence Perspective - dangerous behavior
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice
Photos from South China Morning Post

5. What is the reality of body?
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice

6. Critique
(1) Fail to explain the role of institutional practice. Do institutions utilize this effect
intentionally to affect their audiences?
(2) Stress on topics instead of meanings. Is the “meaning” coherent s across genres,
dayparts, channels, media, and cultures?
(3) From senders’ perspective rather than audiences’ perspective. Common shortage of
media effect theories that have the presupposition that audiences are average,
identical and passive.
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice

7. Priming Theory
Definition:
Priming refers to enhancing the effects of the media by offering the audience a
prior context – a context that will be used to interpret subsequent
communication. The media serve to provide the audience with standards and
frames of reference. (Twente, 2018)
Origin: Much attention in agenda-setting research, in the 80’s, was focused on
the concept of priming. This concept was derived from the cognitive
psychological concept of priming. (Twente, 2018)
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice

8. Single women should treat
themselves.
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice
“Treat yourself” “Lifestyle changes”

9. Ad and PR application
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice
Photos from Instgram users

10. Critique
● Before people are affected by priming, they have some knowledge
and judgment about the time to come, so they will have much less
impact on this category of people (Iyengar, Peters, & Kinder, 1982).
● Because social media makes people have a wider channel for
receiving information, people now have some judgments before
receiving some publicity and advertisements, so they are less
affected.
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice

11. Reference
Ashikali, E., & Dittmar, H. (2011). The effect of priming materialism on women's responses to thin-ideal media. British
Journal Of Social Psychology, 51(4), 514-533. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02020.x
Doyle, E., & Lee, Y. (2016). Context, context, context: Priming theory and attitudes towards corporations in social media. Public Relations
Review, 42(5), 913-919. 10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.09.005
Gerbner, G. (1998). "Cultivation Analysis: An Overview". Mass Communication and Society. 1 (3–4): 175–194.
doi:10.1080/15205436.1998.9677855.
Gerbner, G.; Gross, L.; Morgan, M. & Signorielli, N. (1986). "Living with television: The dynamics of the cultivation
process". In J. Bryant & D. Zillman. Perspectives on media effects. Hilldale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 17–40.
How materialistic advertising messages negatively shape the female body image, study finds. (2018). ScienceDaily.
Retrieved 15 February 2018, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110405141715.htm
Mass Media | Cultivation Theory. (2018). Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 15 February 2018, from
https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Mass%20Media/Cultivation_Theory/
No more gory Elsa and Mickey as China bans graphic cartoons. (2018). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 February
2018,from http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2130262/no-more-gory-elsa-mickey-and-peppa-pig-china-cracks-down-
graphic
Potter, W. (2014). A Critical Analysis of Cultivation Theory. Journal Of Communication, 64(6), 1015-1036.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12128
Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing and Consumer Behavior | Priming. (2018). Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 15
February 2018, from https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-
cluster/Public%20Relations%2C%20Advertising%2C%20Marketing%20and%20Consumer%20Behavior/Priming/
7 Times Video Game Violence Went Too Far. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 15 February 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3Vq5aS_ow