Audience

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Theorising Audience Behaviour

How do audiences behave when presented with a media text? How much attention do they give it? Does engaging with the text have any specific effects on the audience?
These and similar questions are important for producers, critics and regulators, all of whom would like to be to predict audience behaviour in advance. 4/26/12

Try to remember your last encounter with each of the following media texts

A film seen at the cinema A newspaper A magazine A video game A radio programme A much effort did you have to put in Howtelevision programme to gain access to each text? Did you have to pay for it, make a special journey...? How much knowledge about each text did you have before you approached it? How much do you remember about each text do you think you have changed in any way as a result of watching/listening/reading it? 4/26/12

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PASSIVE AUDIENCE

ACTIVE AUDIENCE

Early theorists (1920s) The active model of tended to see behaviour takes the audiences as passive, process of reading ie. Sitting back, media texts to be waiting to be more about entertained or engagement, with educated, and then audiences seeking to following the direction do something with the text suggested whatever is presented to them. The uses and gratification model suggests that audiences find 4/26/12 different needs

The effects/hypodermic model

Original model for audience Stressed the effect of mass media on their audiences Follows the idea that audiences are injected with ideas and meanings

Associated with propaganda (eg.Nazi films such as Triumph of the Will) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBfYn
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Associated with totalitarian states

The Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt School (ie. School of thought) developed in pre-war Germany Concerned about the power of the mass media had to propagandise on behalf of Facism The Frankfurt School were left-wing and under threat in Germany They moved to America and refined 4/26/12 their theories in post-war America

Cultivation Theory

As audiences watch more and more film and television, they gradually develop certain views about the world, some of which are false.

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Desensitisation

If we are exposed to too much violence, or too much blatant sexuality, we will become less sensitive to real violence and sexuality.

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Copycat theory

This approach suggests that people will imitate what they see in the media eg. If young people watch Natural Born Killers they will go on a killing spree. This is not so much a theory as an assumption perpetuated by the press

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Reception Analysis and Ethnography

Audiences are seen as active producers of meaning, rather than as merely consumers of media meanings. They make sense of media texts according to their social position (in terms of their identity) and their gender, race, class etc.
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Uses and Gratification

Instead of researching what the media do to the audience, this approach studies what the audience does with the media.
Audiences gain knowledge and think through problems or new ideas make-over programmes, interior decoration

Cognitive the desire to learn

This approach also takes account of peoples personalities and personal Affective emotional suggests good films induce a sense of Feel that audiences needs and satisfaction well-being find different needs satisfied visceral Tension Release relaxation Action films provide by different texts. excitement, comedies provoke laughter
Personal integrative help with personal identity issues Social integrative help with general issues in society 4/26/12

We identify with characters who face similar problems to ourselves Audiences work through arguments about a social issue (safe in the knowledge that this does not face

Apply the Uses and Gratification theory

Apply the theory to soap operas What do fans of soap operas claim it does for them? (Refer to specific examples and audiences needs)
The uses and gratification model appears to empower the audience, but if you check through the list of audience needs again youll notice that they are primarily about accepting the original intentions of the producers. Do 4/26/12 audiences really use the media like this?