Types of Audience Flashcards
What is a PRIMARY AUDIENCE
• The people who the media product is aimed at
What is a SECONDARY AUDIENCE?
• The people who are not the primary audience, but might also consume the media product (e.g. parent watching a child’s TV programme with their child)
What in meant by INDIVIDUAL CONSUMPTION?
- Media product that can be enjoyed by one person
* The consumer of the media product engages with it alone
What in meant by GROUP CONSUMPTION?
- Media product that can be enjoyed by a group of people at the same time
- Media product that enables the consumer to engage with other people
Provide 3 examples of INDIVIDUAL CONSUMPTION?
- Reader
- Gamer – that requires one player
- On-line shopping
- Web surfing
- DVD viewing
- Social networking
- Listening to music
- Listening to the radio
Provide 3 examples of GROUP CONSUMPTION?
- Website forums
- Social networking
- Instant phone messaging
- Live broadcasts (tv and radio audience)
- Cinema audience
- Multiplayer online games
- DVD viewing
- Listening to the radio
- Social networking
Why might someone prefer SOLO enjoyment? (INDIVIDUAL CONSUMPTION)
- Convenience: Easier than calling friends or visiting cinema
- Accessibility: Easy to consume from comfort of own home
- Individuality: Can express you individuality by only consuming products you are interested in
- Privacy: It is more private for the individual
- Control & Flexibility: You have control over what you consume, you do not have to ask people
Why might someone prefer COLLECTIVE enjoyment? (GROUP CONSUMPTION)
- Shared: products can be shared with friends (e.g. DVD) rather than having to buy on own.
- Social interaction: You can socially interact with friends while consuming product
- Belonging: doing something together, there is a sense of belonging from exploring a shared interest with people
- Competition: the sense of competition when playing online makes the experience more exciting
What is PASSIVE VIEWING?
• When the audience/consumer/viewer that does not interact with the product or influence production in any way. E.g. watching a TV show like Eastenders
What is ACTIVE VIEWING?
- Media that requires audience interaction.
- Audience interactions contribute and become part of the production. E.g. computer games where what happens in the game is dependent on the players choices
Explain 3 characteristic of the PASSIVE AUDIENCE THEORY (HYPODERMIC NEEDLE)?
- Believes that all members of an audience react the same way
- Believes that audience responds passively to the media messages
- Believes the audience can be manipulated
- Believes that the media can affect the audiences thoughts and feelings
- Believes that the audience will ‘copy’ what it sees (e.g. a teenager watches a violent film, they will become violent)
- Assumes that consumer do not interact with the product or its content.
- Assumes consumer does not generate content.
- Assumes consumer does not influence production
Explain 3 characteristic of the ACTIVE AUDIENCE THEORY (USES/GRATIFICATION MODEL)?
- It assumes that a media audience are not simply passive consumers, that they have power over their media consumption
- Media users will deliberately choose media products that will satisfy their needs
- Audiences might choose media products to be entertained
- Audiences might choose media products to gain knowledge
- Audiences might choose media products to interact socially
- Audiences might choose media products for identification
What is the ADVANTAGE PASSIVE AUDIENCE THEORY (HYPODERMIC NEEDLE)?
• People with media training are put in charge of production, thus ensuring that a high quality media product is produced
What are 3 DISADVANTAGES of PASSIVE AUDIENCE THEORY (HYPODERMIC NEEDLE)?
- Ignores that people have free will and can make their own choices on consumption and behaviour
- It views the individual as a passive and only has opinions gained from the media
- Focusses It supports the notion that media consumers ‘copy’ behaviour seen in the media but the behaviour copied is always negative when positive behaviour would be copied equally
- It tends to support the idea that all audiences will respond to media messages in the same way and does not account for individual responses or the text can have multiple meanings.
What are the ADVANTAGES of ACTIVE AUDIENCE THEORY (USES/GRATIFICATION MODEL)?
- Give the consumer more control over what they consume
- Most suitable theory for explaining modern forms of media consumption (e.g. websites) where the user has to make choices and interact with media product
