Audience Theory - continued.

Three Questions.

1. Why do audiences choose to consume certain texts?

2. How do they consume texts?

3. What happens when they consume texts?

There are three theories of audiences that we can apply to help us come to a better understanding about the relationship between texts and audiences.

1. The Effect Model or the Hypodermic Model.

2. The Uses and Gratifications Model.

3. Reception Theory.

The Effects Model :-

-The consumptions of media texts has an effect or influence upon the audience.

-It is normally considered that this effect is negative.

-Audiences are passive and powerless to prevent the influence.

-The power lies within the message of the text.

The Hypodermic Model :-

-Here the messages in media texts are injected into the audience by the powerful, syringe-like media.

-Therefore the media works like a drug and the audience is drugged, addicted, etc.

-Audience is powerless is powerless to resist.

Key Evidence for the Effects Model :-

1. The Frankfurt School theorized in the 1920s and 30s that the mass media acted to restrict and control audiences to the benefit of corporate capitalism and governments.

2. The Bobo Doll Experiment - This is a very controversial piece of research that apparently proved that children copy violent behaviour.

-Conducted in 1961 by Albert Bandura.

In the experiment -

- Children watched a video where an adult violently attacked a clown toy called a Bobo Doll.

-Children then taken to a room with attractive toys that they were not permitted to touch.

-The children were then led to another room with Bobo Dolls.

-88% of the children imitated the violent behavior that they had earlier viewed. 8 months later 40% of the children reproduced the same violent behaviour.

-Conclusion - children will imitate violent media content.

-Many problems with this experiment.