Hypodermic needle theory

1. Hypodermic needle theory
By Tiffany Jones

2. What is the Hypodermic needle
theory?
• An injection of information into our heads influenced
by what we want to see.
• In the 1920s and 1930s we had linear communication
and passive audiences. The mass media was perceived
as a power influence in the 1940s and 50s, it had a
powerful influence on behaviour change
• Several factors contributed to this “strong effects”
theory of communication including- The fast rise and
popularization of radio and television
• The emergence of the persuasion industries, such as
advertising and propaganda.

3. What is the Hypodermic needle
theory?
• This theory suggests the mass media could influence a very large group of
people directly and informally by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with
appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. This theory (a
needle) suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender
to the receiver.
• The hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected
straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the
message.
• It expresses the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating
an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of
the message.
• People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot"
at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other
source of information.
• The theory assumes what we see or hear we believe and consume. The
theory assumes we are brainwashed in to believing the media messages.

4. Famous Case
• In the 1930s a radio broadcast of ‘War of the
worlds’ was performed like a real news
broadcast to heighten the effect of the story,
people listening thought is was real and
assumed mars had come to invade the world.
This demonstrates a passive audience and
how an audience believes what they hear in
the news and how this can quickly lead to
misinterpretation.

5. Cons to the theory
• However this theory is very out of date
and invalid, not all people consume
media in the same way. Not every one
watches the news/ consumes media in
the same way. Audiences are not simply
passive more up to date theories have
proved this.