Audience Theories Flashcards
(11 cards)
Explain the Hypodermic Needle Theory of audience behaviour. In your answer, refer to its key features
The Hypodermic Needle Theory suggests that media messages are injected directly into the minds of a passive audience — meaning individuals accept what they see or hear without questioning. It assumes that the media is powerful, having a strong, immediate, and homogenised effect on everyone, with no room for individual interpretation.
Explain how the Uses and Gratifications Theory helps us understand audience behaviour in relation to modern digital media platforms
Uses and Gratifications Theory argues that the audience is active, meaning individuals make conscious choices about the media they consume based on their own needs and desires. Rather than being manipulated, the audience is in control, selecting media texts that fulfil specific gratifications. This theory sees media users as goal-oriented and personally motivated
What are the 5 main uses of gratification?
1.Surveillance / Information & Education
2. Personal Identity- self image, relate to role models or characters
3. Social Interaction / Integration – connecting with others through shared content
4. Entertainment
5. Escapism – using media as a distraction from real-life stress or responsibilities.
How does Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory explain the way different audiences respond to media texts?
Reception Theory argues that media texts are encoded with meaning by producers, but audiences may decode these messages differently depending on their personal background, culture, and ideology. audiences are active interpreters, capable of producing polysemic meanings from the same media content.
Explain Stuart Hall’s three audience readings—dominant, negotiated, and oppositional—and how they reflect different interpretations of a single media text.
• Dominant (or preferred) reading – the audience fully accepts the intended message as encoded by the producer.
• Negotiated reading – the audience partly agrees with the message but adapts it based on their own context.
• Oppositional reading – the audience rejects the intended meaning and interprets the message in a contrasting way.
What does the stuart hall theory suggest about interpretation of meaning amongst audience
media meaning is not fixed, and interpretation depends on audience positioning and individual context,
How does Cultivation Theory explain the way heavy television viewing might influence a person’s perception of social reality, and what role does the concept of “mainstreaming” play in this process?
Cultivation Theory argues that long-term exposure to media content specifically television can gradually shape an audience’s perceptions of reality. Heavy media consumers adopt a mainstreamed, homogenized worldview that reflects the repetitive messages and themes portrayed in the media, rather than their direct, personal experiences. Over time, this can subtly reinforce dominant social norms and ideologies, shaping public attitudes and beliefs
What does the Two-Step Flow Theory suggest about the way media messages are communicated and received by audiences?
Two-Step Flow Theory suggests that media messages are not directly received by a passive mass audience. Instead it follows the two steps communication: first, media messages are received by opinion leaders who interpret and filter the information, sharing it with others in their social circle through interpersonal influence. Therefore the media’s impact is indirect
How does Fandom Theory challenge the idea of a passive audience, and what are some ways fans actively engage with media texts?
Fandom Theory argues that fans are not just passive consumers, but part of an active audience who engage deeply with media texts. These fans participate in a participatory culture, where they interpret, rework, and build upon existing media, a practice known as textual poaching. They engage through activities such as creating fan fiction, memes, and fan theories
How does an active audience differ from a passive audience in the way they engage with media content?
Passive vs Active Audience concept distinguishes between two types of audience behavior and their level of engagement with media texts. A passive audience tends to uncritically accept media messages, often accepting dominant ideologies as presented, with little to no negotiation of meaning
In contrast, an active audience engage with content more critically. They negotiate meaning, question underlying messages, interpret texts in diverse ways, and may even produce their own content
According to Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, how can media influence audience behavior, particularly in terms of imitation and vicarious reinforcement?
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory suggested that audiences, particularly children, can learn behaviors through observation and imitation of what they see in the media. When individuals witness behavior being rewarded—or not punished—in media, they experience vicarious reinforcement meaning they learn from others’ outcomes rather than direct experience. This process involves modelling behavior, where audiences replicate actions they have observed, highlighting the powerful influence of media on behavior.
