MEDIA AS - AUDIENCE

MEDIA AS - AUDIENCE

1. PAST MEDIA AS QUESITON 3's

   • AUDIENCE: What makes and Why do audiences respond differently to the same text? And how do texts position the audience?
     • AUDIENCE THEORY
       • USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY the different types of appeals to a text
         • 1) Entertainment and Diversion: To escape from the mundanity of everyday life
         • outdated hypodermic needle theory - suggesting that audiences are a mass that behave the same way to a text (obviously not) Uses and Grats is a developed response to this outdated theory
         • 2) Info: To use a text to find out/learn something new i.e. documentaries/news
         • 3) Social interaction: "Water-Cooler T.V." - To watch/play something that's trending so that the audience can use the experience for conversation i.e. the voice
         • 4) Personal Identity: Get pleasure from a text as audience are able to relate to with the topic/circumstances i.e. soap operas with narratives that tend to focus on social issues
       • David Gauntlett's 'PICK AND MIX' THEORY
         • Suggests audiences are sophisticated enough to use texts to satisfy their needs. Therefore, they pick the bits of texts that fit their interests and ignore the irrelevant content. For example, this theory counteracts that woman will be adversely affected by the unrealistic images on the magazine covers as they will only chose to ignore it and read the articles about fashion.
       • Two-Step Flow and Opinion Leaders - Another theory to counteract the hypodermic needle model
         • There are other factors that affect the way an audience responds to the messages encoded within the text
           • Research conducted by Paul Lazarsfeld in 1940 suggested that the ideas and opinions of other people affected how an audience may respond to the media i.e. conversations with friends, expert reviews and the audiences own cultural experiences and environmental upbringing. The people that affect how an audience responds are called OPINION LEADERS.
             • Opinion Leaders: These the people that are most trusted from an audience e.g. celebrities, politicians (for some unknown reason), friends or parents.
             • The term step-flow illustrates the fact that the audience may not have seen the media themselves, but their response is influenced by the opinion leaders - this is particularly true if the said opinion leader is trusted.
         • REINFORCES THAT AUDIENCES ARE ACTIVE AND SOPHISTICATED IN THEIR RESPONSES
     • AUDIENCE POSITIONING
       • Producers encode messages into text through construction and mediation and the audience decode these messages.
         • Since audiences are active and individualistic due to cultural differences, have different mindsets and look for different appeals in a text. The responses will vary.
           • STUART HALL AUDIENCE POSITIONING (audiences are active)
             • Preferred reading: audience accepts and interprets the text how the producer intended to. This usually happens when the text reflects the ideas and belief of the audience.
             • Negotiated reading: Some ideas and beliefs are accepted others not so much.
             • Oppositional reading: Content/ideology not accepted i.e. intelligent Western Society and ISIS propaganda
           • Audience's are made of individuals different:
             • Gender - women enjoy different aspects of a text than compared to a man
               • Age - Elders may prefer not to listen to swearing, younger people have been more desensitised to this kind of content.
                 • Ethnicity - people have different cultural backgrounds so will respond differently due to their different beliefs and upbringings i.e. four lions
                   • Culture and cultural experiences
                   • Cultural competence - the shared knowledge of the audience who consume similar texts, particularly consumers of the internet and gaming. For example, women may feel alienated to video game texts due to their lack of knowledge.
                     • Situated Culture - The context in which the audience consumes the text i.e. location and who you watch text with will affect an audience response
             • Audience Categories and Demographic: A-E ( and psychometric profiling) - accurate targeting by advertising industries
               • A-E are segments of the population according to their class, occupation and income.
                 • A-B are the wealthiest and most influential members of society - disposable incomes
                   • Age and gender are also aspects of demographic profiling
                     • Psychometric profiling- based on lifestyle and values
                       • Mainstreamers: 40% of population - security, tried and trusted brands. Like value for money and aren't risk takers.
                       • Aspirers: want status and prefer brands that show their place in society. Happy to live on credit and will buy designer items. Stylish, dynamic and may be persuaded by celebrity endorsement
                       • Explorers: Discover new things. Like brands that offer new experiences and instant results
                       • Succeeders: People who already have status and control and have nothing to prove. Serious and reliable brands and believe they deserve the best
                       • Reformers: defined by their self-esteem and self-fulfilment. Innovative and less impressed by status. Not materialistic and are socially aware. May be more inclined to buy brands that are enviromentally friendly or those that considered healthy
               • Industries categorise people so that they can be easily targeted for marketing purposes
                 • Done through: Income, lifestyle and needs. (outdated categorising)
       • Texts position audiences through technical codes, language and mode of address
       • Audiences are constructed by media texts
         • Media packs - producers of texts provide info. to advertisers informing them on the assumed audience who consumes their texts. Magazine companies construct an audience through the front cover, the content and the language and mode of address; therefore creating the lifestyle of audience and tells them what is normal in the world.
           • Since magazine lifestyles are aspirational means they don't reflect the true lifestyle of the consumer
           • Men's Health assumed consumers, "Men's Health is the magazine for active, successful, intelligent men who want to make the most of their physical, professional and emotional lives. We give men the tools they need to make their lives better"
     • HOW MEDIA TEXTS APPEAL TO AN AUDIENCE (CONSIDER TARGET AUDIENCE FIRST)
       • Technical and audio codes - e.g. fast-paced editing and dramatic music of a trailer for an action film serves to attract audiences, likewise varied fonts on magazine covers
       • language and mode of address - may target a specific audience and alienate another i.e. voice-over of a horror film may attract fans of the genre
       • The construction of the text and audience within the text e.g. encoding a celeb to attract fans of celeb
       • Context - placing of an advertisement for lager or a sports car aimed at a male audience in the ad break of a rugby game, will attract the audience of the product
       • Positioning of audience - Camera shots and angles, use of audio codes, lang and mode of address or through empathy with the characters