Priming theory, which is considered to be the predecessor to agenda setting theory, is about

the media effect on audience’s decision making, like agenda setting. It is also taken as an effect
of agenda setting as priming is done before setting an agenda. Priming provides basic
perception and relative comparison, which makes judgment easier and quicker. The
preconceptions are used for as frame of reference for decision making. The theory was
promulgated by Iyengar, Peters and Kinder in 1982.

Priming theory talks about the process of how media images control the mind of audience in a
psychological way. The theory has its roots in associative network model which is about human
memory in cognitive psychology. Every idea or information is stored in memory as nodes which
form a network with related information. The network and memory path is semantic paths.
When a node of a network is activated, priming occurs. The network activation acts as a filter in
interpretation, understanding and judgment process.

Concepts in Priming Theory

priming theory explains the psychological process an

zd brain patterns that show the way information is stored in the memory, media triggered
specific nodes, how nodes or networks are formed and how the information influences the
person in many ways.

Priming happens in everyday life of every person. Words, which a person comes across
frequently, are more noticeable to him/her. Media affects increases if it has a prior context. But
media acts as a source of priming which causes problems and influences people gravely by
spending more time on a particular issue.

https://www.businesstopia.net/mass-communication/priming-theory
https://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/priming
https://sites.psu.edu/gmc5227/priming-theory-paper/
Intro

Priming theory explores the enhanced impact of mass media content by telling the audience

what to think in their mind based on the importance of information. The theory was derived

from priming's cognitive psychological concept and has evolved since it began to gain attention

in the 1980s. It is based on memory-based information processing models that compare the

ease of recalling instances or associations (Scheufele and Tewkbury, 2007)

The original concept of priming in 1975 was based on the idea that when people receive

information, they develop memory traces or "activation tags." Scheufele (2000) explained the

concept of "tags" as once a topic is primed, activation tags are disseminated in the mind of the

audience and when another topic is presented it collides with a tag left earlier in the memory of

the audience. The idea of "tags" was later replaced by the development of information usability

and saliency in the mind of the viewer. Salience refers to how easy it is to retrieve information

from memory. What the media chooses to present, is what becomes significant and accessible

when forming opinions and making judgments.

Priming is a very relevant concept with the daily media content explosion of today. The theory

refers to enhancing media effects by influencing how easily the information is accessible in the

memory of the audience. This gives the audience a context and it becomes the basis of their
thoughts and opinions when interpreting future information. Priming effects can be easily

measured and attributed to how we evaluate the content of mass media.