Audience Theories

Question 1

What is the ‘Fandom Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 1

Henry Jenkins - Close relationship between producer + consumer so they can all benefit.

Question 2

What is the ‘Lines of Appeal Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 2

Gillian Dyer - Attracting audiences through using images producers think the audiences want to see.

Question 3

What is a ‘Moral Panic’ and who came up with it?

Answer 3

Stanley Cohen - When the Media’s coverage of a topic creates a sense of fear. Usually due to over-exaggeration of certain aspects.

Question 4

What is ‘Inoculation Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 4

William McGuire - The more you consume violent and graphic media, the less affected you are, become immune to it.

Question 5

What is ‘Social Learning Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 5

Albert Bandura - Society learns how to act/behave/accept as norms through what they see in the media.

Question 6

What is the ‘Hypodermic Needle Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 6

Harold Lasswell - Audience are controlled by the media as information is ‘injected’ into their brains. (purely passive audience)

Question 7

What is the ‘Two Step Flow Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 7

Paul Lazarsfeld - Audiences are impacted by ‘opinion leaders’ such as celebrities or influencers. However, these people get their information from the media.

Question 8

What is ‘Cultivation Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 8

George Gerbner - The idea that the more you look at a media text the more likely you are to believe its message. (Similar to Inoculation Theory)

Question 9

What is ‘Media Dependency Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 9

Sandra Ball-Rokeach - The more someone is dependent on a certain type of media, the more important it will be in their lives.

Question 10

Define what an ‘Active Audience’ is and who came up with it.

Answer 10

Stuart Hall - Those who question the media text and challenge it.

Question 11

Define what a ‘Passive Audience’ is and who came up with it.

Answer 11

Stuart Hall - Those who do not question or challenge media texts and just absorb the message.

Question 12

What are the 3 types of readings in ‘Audience Reception Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 12

Stuart Hall:

Dominated Reading
Negotiated Reading
Oppositional Reading

Question 13

What is the Dominated Reading?

Answer 13

When the consumer fully understands and agrees with the message.

Question 14

What is the Negotiated Reading?

Answer 14

When the consumer understands the message, but adapts it to suit their values.

Question 15

What is the Oppositional Reading?

Answer 15

When the consumer disagrees with the intended message.

Question 16

What is Encoding and Decoding? (Stuart Hall)

Answer 16

Encoding: How a media text is created.

Decoding: How a media text is consumed.

Question 17

What are the 5 parts of the ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’ and who came up with it?

Answer 17

Katz and Blumler:
- Information + Education
- Entertainment
- Personal Identity
- Integration and Social Interaction
- Escapism

Question 18

Define the Information and Education part of the Uses and Gratifications Theory.

Answer 18

When the user wants to acquire information or knowledge through watching programmes like The News or Documentaries.

Question 19

Define the Entertainment part of the Uses and Gratifications Theory.

Answer 19

Viewers watch programmes for enjoyment only.

Question 20

Define the Personal Identity part of the Uses and Gratifications Theory.

Answer 20

Viewers recognise people or product role models with similar values to themselves, and then mimic or copy their actions.

Question 21

Define the Integration and Social Interaction part of the Uses and Gratifications Theory.

Answer 21

Ability for media products to produce conversation between people. (E.G who was the best contestant in a show)

Question 22

Define the Escapism part of the Uses and Gratifications Theory.

Answer 22

Where consumers use media to escape their own lives.

Question 23

Who came up with the 3 types of audiences and what were they?

Answer 23

Jeremy Tunstall:

Primary Audience
Secondary Audience
Tertiary Audience

Question 24

Define Primary Audience

Answer 24

Someone who is completely immersed in the media text.

Question 25

Define Secondary Audience

Answer 25

Someone who is partially engaged in the media text, as well as doing another task.

Question 26

Define Tertiary Audience

Answer 26

Someone who is disengaged with the media text - using it as ‘background noise’.