Unit 6 Task 3

In the following piece of work, Im going to explain three different theories developed to help understand consumers in the medial after describing the theories I will apply them to a media product of my choosing.

Hypodermic Theory Main Theorists

Katz & Lazarsfeld developed the hypodermic needle theory in the 1930s

What was it?

The hypodermic needle theory was one of the first theories around, which was used as an attempt to explain how audiences will react to media products. The theory suggests that the audience will receive information via some form of media whether it be magazines or a newspapers, the theory then suggests that once they have read the information, that they the audience will not even think about challenging the information that they have just received, so the theory basically suggests that the media which is produced on a mass has an very powerful and direct affect on the audience. You can see why the theory got its name because its basically implying that the information is basically injected into you and once something is injected into you, you have to accept it because there is no way to get it out of you. Another factor that this theory suggests is when people have lots of different media messages shown to them or injected in this case then they kind of be forced to accept that what they see is right and dont challenge it because it has become the normal.

Does this theory see the audience as active or passive? Why do you think this?
I think that the theory definitely sees the audience as a active audience, I think this because when an audience is active they just choose to accept the media products that they see and probably wont apply their own ideas to the product either and the hypodermic needle theory definitely describes the audience as being accepting and not even thinking about challenging the media product that they have just seen.

What are the criticisms of this theory?

The main criticism with this theory is that it was produced such a long time ago especially at the time of the war were propaganda was rich and basically every single bit of media produced was propaganda, so the results they got from the studies would of most likely been from propaganda and the main point of propaganda was that it swayed peoples opinions and the person wouldnt question it and that is probably were this theory came from. Also the fact that the theory is so outdated now as the media has changed massively since then.

Uses and Gratifications theory

Main Theorists Katz, What was it?
The uses and gratifications theory is a theory which was designed to help and understand not what the message the media puts across does to its audience, but on why people will seek out specific forms of media to satisfy their needs, it also focuss on what people do with the media that they acquire. The theory suggests that the people, who consume the media, will do so for one of the following reasons which are that: They will buy it, because they will be able recognize the product or relate to the image which is put on the front cover, or ,maybe a celebrity is put on the front cover and will serve as some form of inspiration. In the hope that the media will educate them It will entertain them, so they hope they will get some form of entertainment out of it Finally, because they hope they will produce a topic of conversation between other people. Finally another example of were the Uses and Gratifications theiry applies is when people choose music to listen to, because we choose music not only to try and fit into the mood we are feeling at the time, but to try and fit in socially as well.

Does this theory see the audience as active or passive? Why do you think this?
The audience is for this theory is passive because a passive audience basically apply their own ideas to media when consuming it and the whole idea behind this theory is that people interests and free will, will determine what kind of media products they will consume.

What are the criticisms of this theory?

A big criticism over this theory is that the theory doesnt really suggest the media can have an unconscious effect on our life because it suggests that we only ever use media to satisfy their needs and it basically suggest that we are in control. Finally another criticism is that it doesnt cover the fact that media consumers arent entirely free to pick what media they want and also have a decision on how it will affect them.

Reception Theory Main Theorists

Stuart Hall

What was it? The whole idea behind the reception theory, is it looks at how the audience receive and how they interpret the media the receive they receive aswel. The theory has two main parts to it, the first part is concerned with the encoding & decoding and the second part concentrates on how someones understands a product. Encoding: The encoding part of the theory, is were however produces a piece of media, will fill that product all over it with a message that they will want to get out to the people, the message might not always be that clear. A good examples of this magazines about fashion they will have anchorage and captions on their images and also the use of big headlines to get across a certain point whether it be the message of excellence or class. Decoding: This is the audiences part of the theory, this is where the consumer of the product will decode the product message which was talked about in the Encoding section of the theory. The second part considered with the understanding of a product mainly text the theory says that they are three ways in which an audience can interpret something. Preferred: This is where the reader will fully understand the message that they receive and agree with it aswel. Negotiated: This is where the reader will accept what they see, but they will also sometimes modify it to reflect their own interests or experiences. Oppositional: This is where the reader will understand the product but will reject it and has an alternative or an opposite view. Does this theory see the audience as active or passive? Why do you think this? This theory doesnt really classify the audience as either passive or active, because in the second part of the theory explanation it says that the audience will either accept it, modify it abit or fully reject it and that is why I think that the audience can either by passive or active in this theory. What are the criticisms of this theory?

Im now going to apply the following three theories to media products of my choosing. For the first theory I will use an example which fits in well with the time, of when the theory was created so I will use propaganda which was used in the world wars. You can see the example that I will be explaining on the right hand side. This is a good example of what the hypodermic needle theory is talking about, its a good example because it is intended for the audience to only receive it one way and that is the message that taking a day off work is a bad thing to do because the enemy has suggested you to do it.

My second example of the media that uses the uses & gratifications theory is the example which you can see to the right, this follows the theory because one of the big ideas is that an audience who buy a certain of product, do so because they feel as if they can relate to the product. The product to the right uses it because someone who most likely enjoys playing football will see the image of the footballer on the front and they will either relate to them by thinking they want to be like them or they think they can play football like them or they will either see them as an inspiration. The last theory which I will apply to a media product is the reception theory, I will apply this to newspapers. I think that this theory is commonly found in newspapers because they will have messages all over them, commonly on annotations of photos, the annotations will usually be used to make you think a certain way about the article such as if the article is about someone who robbed and assaulted someone then the annotation is likely to be giving to the person a bad name and after you read this annotation you will subconsciously think that the person is a bad person, the second part of the theory also applies because it is up to you how you interpret it.