Audience theories

In this essay I am going to discuss the concept of target audiences and the four theories used to
identify different types of audiences and what sort of things they absorb whilst watching the TV. A
target is audience is a specific group of people in which a product is aimed at and sold to.
The Hypodermic Needle Theory was the first attempt to explain how a large audience might react to
mass media. After the effect of propaganda during WWI this theory was developed during the 1920s
and 1930s. This theory suggests that audiences receive messages passively without attempting to
think about their own opinion. This theory is also known as the magic bullet theory as it injects the
audience with messages that are powerful and direct. This theory is however no longer acceptable,
but nevertheless, this theory still has an impact on how we talk about media. This theory now no
longer carries the same respect it once did as its accuracy was found to be questionable because the
audience now have a voice. Social networks now allow audiences to voice their opinions and
become their own critic online.
As years developed, the Two Step Flow Theory was discovered. The Two Step Flow Theory is
basically a modern version of the Hypodermic Needle Theory. As mass media became an essential
part of life all around the world a more sophisticated explanation was required. The Two Step Flow
Model says that most people form their opinions from opinion leader who themselves have also
been influenced by the mass media. This is why it is called the Two Step Flow because the audience
have not been affected by the mass media directly; they have been affected by an opinion leader
who has been affected by the mass media therefore creating a Two Step Flow. Researchers felt that
this can make the media less effective. In 1940, Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet
analysed the voters decision making process during a presidential election campaign and then
published their results in a paper called The Peoples Choice.
In the early 70s, Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler and Michael Gurevitch introduced the Uses and Gratification
approach. Their explanation was that people use the media to their advantage. The Uses and
Gratifications Approach views the audience as active, meaning that they actively seek out media to
satisfy their personal needs. Audiences spend time using the media for various things; whether they
are using it to cure boredom ore using it for education or a social tool.
Still in the 70s, Stuart Hall developed the Reception Theory at Birmingham University. This theory
thought about how texts were encoded with meaning by their producer and then decoded by the
audience. This theory suggests that media is not passively accepted by the audience, but is
interpreted by their individual cultural background or own life experiences. Each person has the
ability to interpret the same text differently. However, there are three different types of audience
readings. Dominant is when the audience decodes the message as the producer of the text wants
them to. Negotiated is when the audience neither agrees nor disagrees with the message. And
oppositional is where the audience recognises the dominant message, but rejects it due to cultural
or political reasons.
In conclusion, we can see that audience theories have changed vastly over the years. Audiences are
more evolved and have developed their own way in which they take in media and understand it.