Reception theory focuses on how the audience perceives and interacts with a work of art or media. It was originally a method of literary criticism but can be applied to other art forms like film. Reception theory explains that meaning comes from the interaction between the audience and the work, not from the work itself. When creating media, the theory emphasizes considering both passive audiences who encounter media without seeking it, as well as active audiences who intentionally seek out and engage with particular media.

1. Reception Theory

2. • Reception theory is the idea that recognises that the audience are an
essential element in the creative process. It was originally a method of
literary criticism. Reception theory explains that the meaning does not
lie in the work of art itself but the meaning is part of the process of
interaction between the audience and the artwork. It can be applied to
many art forms such as drama, film and painting.
• In literary studies, reception theory originated from the work of HansRobert Jauss in the late 1960s.
• Reception theory focuses on how the audience will perceive what they
are looking at and this applies to my work as I will have to focus on two
different audiences, passive and active.
• The active audience will apply to my digipak as it is something the
audience will go out looking for whereas the magazine advert has a
passive audience where it will have to grab the audiences attention
because the audience aren't looking for it it’ll be there and have to make
them want to stop and look at it.

3. Uses and
Gratification Theory

4. • Uses and gratification theory is a way of understanding why and how people
seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. Uses and gratification is an
audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication. Unlike
other media effect theories that question “what do media do to the
people?”, uses and gratification theory focuses on “what do people do with
media?”
• It is suggested that uses and gratification theory has o fulfil one of the following
when we chose a form of media:
 Identity, being able to recognise the product or person in front of you, role moels
that reflect similar values to yours, aspiration to be someone else.
 Educate, being able to acquire information, knowledge and understanding.
 Entertain, what you are consuming should give you enjoyment and also some
form of ‘escapism’ enabling us to forget our worries temporarily.
 Social interaction, the ability for media products to produce a topic of
conversation between other people, speakers debates.
• This theory links to our work because we need to understand how our audience
is going to react to our work.