Audiences Theories

Media Effects Theory

Albert Bandura - A collective name for the branch of study concerned with the effects that the media have upon different types of audiences. To what extent are the audiences active in their engagement with the media and to what extent are they passive?

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Hypodermic Needle Model

Effects Theory - Inject passive audiences with ideologies. The audiences are seen as a passive mass who will immediately accept whatever version of events is given in the media.

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Bobo Doll Experiment

Effects Theory - Showed children violent images of a self-righting doll being repeatedly hit by a mallet. He then put the kids in a room with the doll and a mallet and they repeated the acts they saw. This has since been disproved.

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Cultivation Theory

George Gerbner - Whilst one text won’t have a large impact, repeated exposure will make the audience desensitised.

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Reception Theory

Stuart Hall - The theory states that audiences respond in different ways to a text in essence, the meaning of the text is not inherent in the text itself but is created within the relationship between the text and the audience. There are three ways that t

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Fandom Theory

Henry Jenkins - Fans are active participants in the construction and circulation of textual meanings. Fans construct social and cultural identities through borrowing and infecting mass culture images and are part of a participatory culture that has a vita

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End of Audience Theory

Clay Shirky - The internet and digital technologies have had a profound effect on relations between media and individuals. Media consumers have now become producers as they speak back to the media in various ways as well as creating and sharing content wi

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Uses and Gratifications Theory

Blumler and McQuail - See media audiences as active and suggest that people use the media in order to satisfy particular social needs that they have. Four basic needs: Diversion (immerse themselves in media to make up for lack of satisfaction. Procrastina

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Moral Panic

Stanley Cohen - A sudden increase in public awareness of a possible threat to the values and interests of society. Often results in a public outcry or mass movement for action.

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Two Step Flow

N/A - Assumes that a more active audience who will discuss media texts with each other. If a text is discussed with an opinion leader or someone we respect, then we may well be passive enough to accept their views of the text. The audience can be swayed t

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Audiences Theories

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