This theory describes how different audiences react and engage with different media texts. Passive consumption is where the audience takes in information from the news and other sources without reacting, engaging or questioning what is being said. This is what media sources want to achieve, as people are submissively reading or hearing what they say and believing it without considering that they are being fed false information. Audiences were much more susceptible to this when there were fewer sources of information and they only had a radio.
Active consumption is when audiences take an active interest in the information that they are being given. Today people have so many different platforms to post and comment about different news stories and programs, that is becoming very difficult for individual news platforms to control what media, people consume. It doesn't have to oppose what they see, they just must take an active role in discussing or fining out more about what they have seen.
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| Passive and Active Consumption |
A good example of this is, when people dislike a program on TV or on Radio, they would go online to either comment bout in on social media so that other people can see it and share their opinions about the program as well, or putting a comment on either the website of the company that broadcast the program or the Ofcom website, where they can take appropriate action.
Hypodermic Needle Theory
Hypodermic needle theory is a theory that suggests that when people see or hear the news or general information, they hear it and accept it without questioning. The name 'Needle' relates to the information being directly injected into the public and it having an immediate affect. The public cannot escape the medias influence and is therefore just waiting to receive the information.
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| Hypodermic Needle Theory |
When the different media industries manipulate the viewers/ listeners to believe a story or an event. This was much easier in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, before other forms of media were as mainstream. Radio was the only source of information for a lot of people. An example is the radio program ‘War of the Worlds’, was a story that was broadcast on the BBC. Some of the listeners thought the made up events in the story were really happening as it wasn’t clearly mentioned before and throughout the reading of it. This showed the media company that although not everyone did, many people believe anything that is said through the media because it's meant to be reliable. The theory itself is that people don’t have opinions and will all react to stories in the same way.
Uses and Gratification theory is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The theory focuses more on the consumer than the message itself, as it questions 'what people do with media', not 'what the media does to people'. It relies on the audience not being passive in their use of media, but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their lives. This could be by using a topic that is currently mainstream news and using it as a topic of conversation.
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| Uses and Gratification Theory Diagram |
A good example of this is through the cinema. Going to the cinema to watch a film is a great example of being impassive in the pursuit of entertaining media. This isn't just the experience of seeing the film but also the entire cinema experience which involves buying popcorn, watching the adverts etc.
Reception Theory
Reception theory suggests that the way we interpret text differs depending on our background, upbringing and values. This means that two people with completely different lives will have different opinions on one subject, whereas, two people from the same place with the same values will think the same thing about a story. These different opinions can be split up into 4 different categories which identify each reaction to the text.
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| Reception Theory Diagram |
1. Negotiated - The reader or viewer partially accepts the texts opinions, but will resist and modify these opinions to fit their own experiences and interests which will change bases on their locations and personality.
2. Dominant - This is when the reader or viewer fully accepts the texts code because they have very limited knowledge of the subject. This would seem very natural and agreeable to the reader because they sound beneficial. An example would be the government promising improvements to the NHS, as that is what most of the pubic want to hear.
3. Oppositional - This is when the audience recognizes the dominant message but rejects it due to their cultural opinions. An example of this would be watching a political parties promotional program and deciding to vote against them.
4. Preferred - This is how the director want the audience to see the text which is why it is often linked to the dominant category, as the audience is agreeing with the message that is being conveyed.
As an example for each of the categories in reception theory I have used Android phones. People have very different opinions about the type of phone. If there was an advertisement the dominant or preferred response would be that android phones are great because they have taken a strong liking to both the phone and the advert. It would also entice you to buy this android phone.
An oppositional view point would be that they don't like android, the advert will make no difference, they think the product is rubbish and would never own it. They might even be in favor of a rival product so they have a strong sense of brand loyalty.
A negotiated view point wouldn't have any strong feelings towards the advert, they wouldn't react positively and would probably forget it fairly quickly.
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