Audience Theories

Hypodermic Needle Model:

The Hypodermic Needle Model is when an idea is injected into the audiences heads, hence the needle. This idea was created by]around the 1940s, since being created the theory has been disproved along time ago as the theory was based on assumptions of the human nature at the time. The theory was that people were "uniformly controlled by their biologically based 'instincts' and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever 'stimuli' came along" (Lowery & De Fleur, 1995, p. 400). This theory is still used today even though it was proven wrong, an example is blaming games for murders happening in the real world an example of this is the Sandy Hook shooting in america, the media tried to blame it on the game counterstrike as he played it, some people believed this  but not everyone. As the theory suggests that everyone is "uniformly controlled" it is dis proven as not everyone believed what the media said. The Hypodermic needle model was one of the first models to be created, thus it started the development for more models, even though proven wrong this makes the model one of the bases for other models.

Uses and gratifications theory:

The uses and gratifications theory focuses more on what people do with the media, rather than what does the media do to other people. The theory focuses mainly on the fact that people use the media to satisfy their own needs like enhancing knowledge, using it for escape or relaxation etc. This theory states "the audience members are not passive consumers of media. Rather, the audience has power over their media consumption and and assumes an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives". This theory was created by Herta Herzog in 1944 which is know as stage 1. This theory covers a large bases of the media, the news and how having it animated made people gather more information about it, how it entertained them and how it was more relaxing than normal news, mobile phones and how they are used by different people to appeal for different things like entertainment, mobility, fashion/status etc. But this theory also touches on social media and how we use it for "social and affection, need to vent negative feeling, recognition, entertainment and cognitive needs". The pros to this theory are it apply to multiple aspects of people reacting and using the media, unlike most theories about how the media controls people and some people are spoon feed information, this theory takes a completely different, and refreshing, angle. This theory also covers a large amount of things in the media and how people use them, not just the general idea f the media. However it's cons are the fact that not everybody uses the media for their own gain, some people still follow the hypodermic needle theory as I have previously stated making it incomplete as people still follow a theory that has been proven wrong. A major example of this theory is Facebook, a lot of people use Facebook for their own gains be it socializing, entertainment, self-seeking or information, a quote is "basic research finds that socialization motivates use of friend-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Particulars under socialization might be finding old friends, making new friends, learning about events, creating social functions, and feeling connected."

Reception study:

The reception study is a theory that talks about how do not just accept a piece of media but they see it in their own views, like agreeing to it, disagreeing or compromising to it. A quote that explains this is " This means that a "text"—be it a book, movie, or other creative work—is not simply passively accepted by the audience, but that the reader / viewer interprets the meanings of the text based on their individual cultural background and life experiences. In essence, the meaning of a text is not inherent within the text itself, but is created within the relationship between the text and the reader." This theory originated in the late 1960's by Hans-Robert Jauss. The main parts of this theory are a negotiated viewpoint, an opposed viewpoint and a preferred viewpoint, a negotiated viewpoint is when the audience view a piece of media and interpret it in their own way, for example when someone sees an advert for the best thing ever they decide that it is not the best thing ever but it is still good, they have a negotiated view. An opposed view point is when the audience does not agree with the media that has been shown to them, for example if and someone is show an advert that makes someone's skin look 20 years younger and they do not believe it, this is an opposed viewpoint as they are against what the advert is saying. The final main viewpoint is a preferred, in this viewpoint the audience fully agrees with what the media is saying, an example of this is a  when an advert says it is a new and incredible technology they completely believe it, even if what they are saying isn't necessarily true. A pro to this would be it give a range of views that vary from different audience opinions, this allows the theory to be very wide with which people it effects. However the theory is not fully developed in one aspect as it tries to cover all aspects individually.

Active and passive consumption:

The active consumption theory is when a person tries to soak in as much information about a piece of media as they can. Active consumers pay attention to that piece of the media and listens closely to what they say, then they break it down and analyse different aspects of it. This theory also shows how an audience interacts with the media and questions it every so often. The pro to this is the fact that person knows a lot about that part of the media as they have analysed the part intensely, a con however is that there knowledge of the media is unbalanced as they know a lot about one part but that is around it. An example of this is a media student as they have to analyse parts of the media to get a good grade.
The passive consumption theory is more or less the opposite, these people just don't question the media they look at, they just accept it. Therefore the media that this group looks at has to be realistic as they need to be able to accept it.A pro to this part of the theory is that it shows a different aspect to people than the previous part, so it covers more ground as a whole, a con however is that the theory does not go into as much detail when compared to it's previous part. An example of this theory is when someone watches a film, the audience need to just accept the story and what is happening in the film, if the film is unrealistic the audience will try to question it, converting them from passive to active.