Table of Content
|
| Who is the audience? |
| Ways to categorise an audience |
| Mass audiences |
| Communication models |
| Effects model |
| Classification of media effects |
| The agenda setting model |
| Two-step flow model |
| The uses and gratifications model |
| Cultural effects |
| The encoding/decoding model |
| Passive, Semi-Active and Active Audiences |
| Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Media Involvement |
| Reflection |
In Media Studies the groups and individuals who consume media products are referred to as the 'audience', they are addressed and often partly 'constructed' by media industries.
Who is the audience?
A media audience sits in groups or alone; next door to one another or spread across cities, towns and the countryside; and often consume the same product at different times or dates. The audience think of themselves as a unique individuals, but this is not how media industries think of them. As far as the media are concerned, they belong to various categories which they share with other people, and they have money in their pocket which the media would like to know how they spend.
Ways to categorise an audience
A target audience is viewed as a segment of a consumer market by media institutions who use the following two' criteria:
• Demographics - the consumer is categorised in terms of concrete variables such as age, class, gender, geographical area, etc.
• Psychographics - the consumer is categorised in terms of their needs and desires such as those who aspire to a richer lifestyle or those who want to make the world a better place.
There are different types or categories of audience, for example:
• an audience for a particular product (e.g. Channel4' s Skins)
• an audience for a type of product (e.g. the audience for the mainstream soap opera genre)
• an audience at a certain time slot (e.g. the early evening audience from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
• an audience which belongs to a group described by characteristics such as age gender and class (e.g. working-class males aged 20-40).
This audience might also be subdivided in a number of ways.
• Genres, product and station - By far the easiest way to define a target audience is by describing it in terms of a suitable genre or product.
• Niche and mass audiences - These audiences are categorised in terms of size.
• Narrowcasting - With the advent of satellite, cable and digital dissemination it is now possible to dedicate whole channels or stations to a specific interest such as the Sci-Fi Channel, Sky Sports 1/2/3 or MTV; this is referred to as narrowcasting.
• Scheduling - In the broadcast media, there is a great deal of attention paid to targeting certain groups of people throughout the day which is important because different groups will watch at different times.
Mass audiences
Mass audiences are felt to be more unpredictable than smaller audiences. At one end is the view of media audiences as a homogenous mass, passive and easily manipulated. This sees audiences as wanting to be the same, simply accepting the messages beamed out to them without thinking too much about recognising or challenging bias or omission. At the other end is the view of media audiences as a variety of different groups composed of thinking individuals. This sees audiences as active, interpreting media products in different ways, debating with others about them, and not easily manipulated.
The first view of audience - as a passive, easily manipulated mass - is particularly influential. You will often find it used when the audiences for popular products such as soap operas and quiz shows are discussed. It is linked to phrases such as 'couch potatoes' and 'the lowest common denominator'.
Models and theories
Communication models
A concise example of a media or communication model is Lasswell's formule. This states that a mass communication process consists of 'who; says what; to whom; through which channel; with what effect(s)':
• 'Who ' refers to the producer / media industry.
• 'Says what' refers to the media text, its content and message.
• 'To whom' refers to the audience.
• 'Through which channel' refers to the form in which the text is conveyed to the audience (e.g. broadcast, television, BBC 1).
• With what effects' refers to any effects the media product may have on members of the audience (e.g. an advertisement might have the effect of persuading someone to buy a product).
The Lasswell model is useful for considering how the audience interrelates with all aspects of communication as a process.
Effects model - a short term effect theory
The effects model (also known as the hypodermic syringe model, hypodermic-needle model, transmission-belt model, or magic bullet theory) is the idea that there is a simple cause and effect relationship between media content and audience behaviour is often called the 'effects model'. When people talk about more of something in the media causing more of the same in society, they are thinking in the way described by this model.
The effects which are supposed to be induced include:
• inactivity (the 'couch potato')
• manic activity (such as performing sexual or violent acts because of a movie containing the same).
It has been a popular belief since the 19th century that 'violent images' in media texts could influence the actions of vulnerable sections of society. Certain groups are considered more vulnerable than the rest, including:
• women (who are 'fed' soap operas and daytime TV).
• children (who are parked in front of the TV by their parents whether they like it or not)
• the working classes (who mindlessly consume popular culture)
• people who are mentally ill or have learning difficulties.
In this theory it is suggested that the audience receive an 'intravenous injection' of a media text - which could be negative (e.g. violent murder) or positive (e.g. heroic act) and are stimulated into a response. David Glover suggests that the roots of this theory are 'deeply ingrained in modern societies'
Examples:
1. One often quoted example is the 1938, radio dramatisation of the H. G. Wells play War of the Worlds which caused a panic reaction across America because people genuinely believed aliens had landed.
2. Another is the Hungerford massacre in August 1987, when it was suggested that Michael Ryan had been influenced by scenes in the film Rambo before committing the shootings.
3. In 1993, it was also suggested that scenes from the film Child's Play 3 had influenced Robert Thompson and John Venables, the two boys accused of killing James Bulger. The public outcry spurred by comments from the judge at the trial, Mr Justice Morland, who said he suspected' ... exposure to violent video films may be in part an explanation for this terrible crime' resulted in more regulations surrounding the sale of videos the following year.
However, all of these examples are subject to argument. Research conducted by Hadley Cantril, published in 1940, revealed that among other things:
1. The reaction to the Wells' play had a great deal to do with people tuning in late to the broadcast and failing to realise it was fiction; he also found that, at that particular historical moment, there was a prewar world-wide political and economic nervousness which made people 'expect' bad news.
2. In the case of Rambo and Child's Play 3, there is no proof that viewing these videos prompted the violent acts.
3. In fact, in the latter case, there is no proof at all that the two boys had ever viewed that particular video.
The weakness of this model is that audiences are seen as passive and malleable with no thought of their own. Watson and Hill point out that it assumes that the mass media have a 'direct, immediate, and influential effect upon audiences'.
Classification of media effects
In his book Mass Communication Theory, Dennis McQuail proposes various categories of media effect. His list, or ' typology', is constructed on various distinctions, which are framed here as questions:
• Is the effect long term or short term?
• Is the effect intentional or not?
• Is the effect at the level of the individual or the collective?
• Is the effect simple or complex?
• Is the effect based on information given?
• Is the effect based on emotional or instinctive factors, such as fear or sexual arousal?
• Is the effect linked to other significant social events, such as an election, war or revolution?
Inoculation model - a long term effect theory
Inoculation theory suggests that long term exposure to repeated media messages makes audiences 'immune' to them.
Example:
Prolonged exposure to media violence would desensitise the audience so that they would no longer be shocked by it; it follows that someone thus desensitised might be more likely to commit a violent act as it is not seen as an extraordinary action.
One argument put forward during the Bulger murder trial, and possibly also implied in the judge's words, was that the two accused boys had been subject to long term exposure to so-called video nasties and therefore they felt that violent acts were normal behaviour.
Narcotising Dysfunction - This concept of audience reception suggests that the mass media render the audience incapable of action. The term describes the way that prolonged media exposure can act like a narcotic drug on the brain causing apathy. Another way of describing those afflicted with this disease might be the term 'couch potato'.
The agenda setting model
This is founded on the idea that the topics the media select for attention, and the attention and priority they give to the topics selected, has a matching effect upon what the audience perceives as important. McCombs and Shaw wrote: "Audiences not only learn about public issues and other matters through the media, they also learn how much importance to attach to an issue or topic from the emphasis the media place upon it."
This model is typical of much 'effects theory' research in three ways:
• It exaggerates the influence of the mass media to lead.
• It portrays sources in the :media as having deliberate intentions to control issues and their debate in a manner that resembles conspiracy theory.
• It portrays the audience as unthinking and easily manipulated (a passive recipient of the process).
Two-step flow model - a long term effect theory
Hypodermic theory suggests that there is a direct one-step effect of the media on the audience but a study conducted in 1940 by , Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet on the US presidential election came up with some important findings that led to the formulation of the two-step model of communication flow.
Study:
Lazarsfeld discovered that 50% of the voters in the presidential election had decided their voting preference six months prior to the election and despite media debates and coverage, coupled with persuasive presidential campaigns, they had not changed their minds. The study also discovered that individual views were most affected by opinion leaders who played a key role in the communication process. Opinion leaders both filtered and disseminated media messages.
Result:
Thus Lazarsfeld discovered a two-step communication flow from the medium through the opinion leader to the individual.
The uses and gratifications model
One of the discoveries which has moved on effects research is the realisation that media audiences are active.
Media Analysis Techniques, Arthur Asa Berger gives the following list of what the media may offer to do and the possibilities which we, as audiences, may take from media products:
1. To be amused
2. To see authority figures exalted or deflated
3. To experience the beautiful
4. To have shared experiences with others
5. To satisfy curiosity and be informed
6. To identify with the deity and the divine plan
7. To find distraction and diversion
8. To experience empathy (sharing in the joys and sorrows of others)
9. To experience, in a guilt-free and controlled situation, extreme emotions such as love and hate, the horrible and the terrible, and similar phenomena
10. To find models to imitate
11. To gain an identity
12. To gain information about the world
13. To reinforce our belief in justice
14. To believe in romantic love
15. To believe in magic, the marvelous and the miraculous
16. To see others make mistakes
17. To see order imposed upon the world
18. To participate in history (vicariously)
19. To be purged of unpleasant emotions
20. To obtain outlets for our sexual drives in a guilt-free context
21. To explore taboo subjects with impunity and without risk
22. To experience the ugly
23. To affirm moral, spiritual and cultural values
24. To see villains in action.
James Halloran said that it let study move away from 'thinking in terms of what media do to people' and substituted the idea of 'what people do with the media'. The thinking went even further than this because the model suggested that what people do with the media was governed by what they need from the media.
In 1948 Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for individuals and society:
• Surveillance
• Correlation
• Entertainment
• Cultural transmission
However, McQuail, Blurnler and Brown expanded this theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following need:
• The need to reinforce a view of personal identity by comparing our own roles and values with similar roles and values represented in the media.
• The need to have personal relationships - to help companionship and social interaction with others, discussion of shared experiences and interests.
• The need to be informed - to supply the need for information in our complex world, to keep up to date with events.
• The need for entertainment and diversion. This identifies both the need for fantasy as an escape from the constraints of reality and the need to recharge or purge emotions.
The assumption within this model is that individuals are active participants in the mass communication process. People are seen to be able to select and reject aspects of media output according to individual needs. The problem with this assumption is that the audience is always seen to be seeking gratification of specific needs when in fact this is not necessarily always the case. Another problem is that this model doesn't attribute the media with any direct short or long term effect on the audience at all.
Cultural effects - a long term effect theory
The thinking behind this theory centres on the long-term effects of particular ideological representations on our beliefs and values.
Example:
Media representations of beautiful women, for instance, have been influential in giving both males and females a view of an 'ideal' woman. It is interesting that the media now stand accused of subjecting men to similar ideological representations of 'male perfection' which require men to be a 'new man' who is 'behaving badly' while striving for the rugged good looks and rippling torso of a participant in Gladiators.
The encoding/decoding model (Reception Theory) - the giving and taking of a media message
As an audience, we are seen as sensitive beings who are hit over the head with a media text which will influence, hoodwink or even damage us. But we all have our own experience of the world and make sense of it.
The encoding/decoding model put forward by Stuart Hall and David Morley centred on the idea that audiences vary in their response to media messages. This is because they are influenced by their social position, gender, age, ethnicity, occupation, experience and beliefs as well as where they are and what they are doing when they receive a message. In this model, media texts are seen to be encoded in such a way as to present a preferred reading to the audience but the audience does not necessarily accept that preferred reading.
Stuart Hall categorised three kinds of audience response:
• Dominant - the audience agree with the dominant values expressed within the preferred reading of the text.
• Negotiated - the audience generally agree with the dominant values expressed within the preferred reading but they may disagree with certain aspects according to their social background.
• Oppositional - the audience disagree with dominant values expressed within the preferred reading of the text.
Sometimes the audience goes along with the text, but 'negotiate' a response by bringing in personal experience, such as recognising one of the books on the shelf. Media research seems to be making progress towards the understanding that the audience are not 'empty vessels' waiting to be filled, or blotting paper to be imprinted by what they last took in. When they consume or use the media they engage in a dialogue in which they actively and imaginatively make sense of what they read, hear or see .
Passive, Semi-Active and Active Audiences
Hypodermic and inoculation models of communication view the audience as passive receivers of media output. The audience is perceived as a sponge absorbing everything contained within media texts without selection or rejection.
Two-step flow is a semi-active model of audience reception because it implies some action on the part of the audience. Watson and Hill speak of the 'process of the interpretation' of media messages in this model that makes it different from earlier ones by presenting the audience as 'interacting and responsive individuals' as opposed to 'socially isolated, passive atoms.'
The uses and gratifications model views the audience as active users of media texts who are capable of selecting and rejecting media messages and making use of media texts to gratify a complex set of needs.
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Media Involvement
The intensity of audience involvement with a specific medium at a specific time will also vary and this will contribute to the way that the particular media text is being received.
The three categories of involvement are as follows:
• Primary involvement- which implies that someone is completely consumed by watching a specific TV programme or reading a specific publication.
• Secondary involvement - which implies that someone may be occupied in another task but half listening at the same time. For instance, someone may be ironing while also watching EastEnders.
• Tertiary involvement- which implies that at the most the medium is just a background to what we are doing. This could apply to people who keep the radio on all day but are moving from room to room - in essence a tangential involvement.
Reflection
From my research I have been able to understand and broaden my knowledge of audiences and how they interact with the media and the media products as a result. I will now be able to develop my short film as a result of this and with the knowledge I have gained be able to understand how my short film will be received and understood by audiences.
Furthermore this will support my audience research that I will undertake at a later date as I now have an understanding of how audiences consume short film and therefore we'll be able to pose questions to them that address this and aid me in my understanding of how to better my post-production, production and pre-production of my short film.
References:
Books:
Bennett, J., Tanya, J., McDougall, J. (2002). A2 Media Studies for OCR: Second Edition. Hodder Arnold
Nicholas, J., Price, J. (1998). Advanced Studies in Media. Nelson
Mark, J., Angela, B., Danny, R. (2005). Advanced Level Media: Second Edition. Hodder & Stoughton Branston, G., Staffordd, R. (2003). The Media Student's Book. Routledge
McDougall, J. (2003). OCR Media Studies for A2: Third Edition. Hodder Education
Websites:
Wilson, K. (2000-2011). Audience. [Online] Media Know All. Available from: http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience [Accessed 6 August 2012].
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