Audience theory

Unit 6: Critical Approaches report 

Media products are defined by their audience. An audience can control wither a film is going to become a failure a success . If a company was to publish a book and nobody buys it or it does not have a target audience then it will fail. An entire industry is made just off defining an audience. The data this industry produces helps producers or publishers know there audience is and what they buy and interested in and why they are interested. It can open up ways to advertise products and make a target audience.

Audience theory is made up of many other theories. The theories can be applied to show the relationship between texts and audience.

Hypodermic needle model; this theory is the belief that media outlets presents messages to the audience directly. The theory itself proposes that an audience would do what ever they are told without thinking about it. However the theory has been seen as inadequate and more complex theories have been made regarding the audiences ability to make decisions rationally based on their own experiences.

Uses and gratifications theory: This theory is used to understand the purpose behind why people consume different types of media and where they would find them. The idea behind the theory is to see how audience would spend time and energy to find media that will match their needs. Uses and gratification assumes that the audience take up an active role in understanding and integrating media content into their own lives. Contrary to the Hypodermic needle model theory which assumes audiences are passive. The theory developed in the 1940s and several different theorists have developed the idea behind it. Another way of saying this is by looking how people respond and interact with media rather than just looking at its effect.

Reception theory: we see that this theory looks at how media text (content) is encoded and decoded. The main belief of the theory is that creators encode their text and that the audience decode the text that come from the creators. The second part to the theory is the way the audience decode the message behind the content. It is split in to 3 different interpretations;

• Preferred: when the message behind the video is accepted by an audience and is agreed with. For example a fan watching ‘Made in Chelsea’ would understand what's going on in the show and would relate and believe what is happening.

• Negotiated: This is when the message behind the video is understood and that an individual would modify its meaning to them self regarding their own personal experiences, interests and position. For example someone watching a love film and feels as if the character and the self are similar but different at the same time.

• Oppositional: This is when the audience individual understands the context of the text/content and oppose it and has his/her own view. 

Passive or active consumption: passive audiences do not apply their own experiences or their own thoughts to the  media they are consuming. This relates back to the Hypodermic needle model which assumes audiences are passive. 

Active audience apply their own thoughts and experiences to the media they consume. This relates back to the Uses and gratifications theory, in which the audience are more active in their media consumption.

Effects debates: There are debates wither or not media effects an audience. The culmination theory which relates to this suggests that exposure to violent games or films once would not cause someone to be violent. However long term exposure can cause people to slowly become violent in real life and in the media. The same can be said with sexual content and other relatable  things.

Effects of advertising: Adverts is the type of media where more would view it. The way an advert works it gives a message to buy the product and the audience viewing it in theory if interested would buy it. The reason why companies advertise is because the brand will have more awareness  and will increase sales and in turn companies would profit. Due to the effects that advertising has governments have set rules. For example in the U.K, Advertising standards Authority is responsible for the rules that are made for advertisers. They monitor ads and look for complaints against ads if their misleading. 

Health concerns: According to  Pediatrics (Vol. 118 No. 6 December 1, 2006 

pp. 2563 -2569) an average young person views “ more than 40,000 ads per year on television alone...” we see from this that young people view many ads and among those ads there are inappropriate ads they can view and can cause problems regarding health.  It is an exposure to smoking, alcohol use, obesity and poor nutrition. Children can be influenced by watching ads and it can cause negative long term effects especially if they see the same add repeated. This problem for example could be related to the Hypodermic needle mode theory and how children can be seen more passive than active. 

Censorship debates: censorship is to stop a certain type of speech or any other type of communication which may be considered harmful, sensitive and inconvenient as ruled by the government or controlling body. Content can be censored in protection of a minority group or to stop something that is illegal like videos of individuals taking drugs or child pornography. 

Responses: An audience can respond to media they have consumed by using social media like twitter. People can even go on TV shows and news stories and have their say. To respond to a certain type of media it is known as Participatory media. This type of media includes blogs, video blogs, podcasts, tagging and social bookmarking. 

Cultural competence: Media texts requires the audience to have some cultural understanding to be able to understand them. At a minimal level this could mean being able to read the language the magazine or text that's been written. A deeper level of understanding is being able to acknowledge signs and symbols and communicate ideas. It is easy to understand in a culture that is familiar but it is difficult to understand in foreign cultures. For example a suit can represent being formal. Another example would be having a rare classic car to show wealth. 

Fan culture: Certain media products are popular amongst its audience. The audience decide to take part in an  active role in already created product but with their own ideas and input. This is very common with video games and even marvel films like avengers. A lot of fans make their own stories, scripts, TV shows and books.  The culture of fan culture has been around for a long time however ever since the steady rise of social media fans have been able to make and meet new communities. They also have their own networks dedicated to their favourite media product.