Audience Experiments and Theories

Audience Experiments and Theories

Hypodermic Needle Model

This model suggests that audiences to what they like through the media. So, the audience is not really choosing what they enjoy, rather the media is manipulating their audience to enjoy specific products made by the media. This model says that the media has control over peoples likes and dislikes which would make the media very powerful.

Bandura Bobo Doll Experiment

In 1961 Albert Bandura studied aggression. He created an experiment he would use on young children of ages 3 – 5. A child would be placed in a room with a bobo doll after watching an adult beat up the doll for 10 minutes. Every child copied the adult, what the children saw the children did. This experiment shows how children copy their adults and could show the reach of mass media, suggesting that children will do what they see in TV and movies.

Uses and Gratification Theory

The uses and gratification theory is the theory that the audience has complete control over what they want and don’t want to watch and purchase. This theory opposes the hypodermic needle model and suggests that the mass media does not have enough power to manipulate the audience’s interests. 

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation theory suggests that the audience chooses media that reinforces their own beliefs. The theory argues audiences chose to watch media with their opinion which overtime reinforces their opinion even more. With this theory the mass media would have lots of control and power over their target audiences but only their target audiences.

Reception theory

The reception theory argues that the audience decide the message of the media. The theory says that media texts are encoded by creators and decoded by the audience. The media is interpreted in different ways by different people dependent on their backgrounds. This theory suggests the media does not have much power at all over their audience and is rather giving them the freedom to interpret the media how they chose.