Overview of audience theories.

Reception Theory:
The reception theory originated from Hans-Robert Jauss in the late 60's. It was most influential in the 1970's and early 1980's. It focuses on 'text' from books, movies and music. The idea is to see how this text is read by the audience. The media text has no inherent meaning and the theory also looks at the contextual factors such as influencing the spectator's reaction. The reception theory looks at a wide range of audiences such as the four quadrant audience, the niche audience and world wide audiences. The main aim of this theory is to place the viewer in context. Readers share culture so they interpret text in the same ways.

Hypodermic Needle Model:
This model involves the mass communication model. This looked at the mass media involving isolated individuals which created this large group. The mass media changed society and was most apparent in the 1940's and 1950's. It was most visible in television and radio. This model was used by the Nazi Propaganda and had a powerful effect on the audience. It was also known as the magic bullet as it injected ideas into the audience's heads.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
This theory was made in 1943 by Abraham Maslow. It is split into five different areas; self actualization, esteem, belongingness, safety and physiological. The self actualization part focused on morality, creativity, problem solving and acceptance of facts. Esteem looked at confidence, achievement and respect for others. Belongingness was the idea of friendships and families. Safety involved health, employment, morality and security of the body. Physiological was breathing, sleep, food and water.

Categories of Audience:
There are six different categories of audience. Category A is top management. For example doctors. Category B is middle management. This includes teachers. Category C1 are people like office supervisors and nurses. Category C2 are skilled workers and tradesmen. Category D are people who are semi-skilled or unskilled. Finally, category D are people who are completely unemployed. For example students.

Uses and Gratification:
This theory explains why people use particular media. It mainly focuses on the functionalist theory which involves social and psychological needs. The idea of gratification comes from the mass media. This relates back to the hypodermic needle model. A mediums content means that they watch a specific program. This idea relates to different genres and becoming familiar with them. For example watching soap operas. The general exposure to a medium is watching television.

Two Step Flow:
This theory involved the two step flow model by Katz & Lazarsfeld in 1955. This also included the mass media but also opinion leaders and social interaction. It was introduced by Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet. People choice was a study in 1944, this focused on the process of decision making. The information moves in two distinct stages. The first stage is when the individuals receive the information, then the interpretations are passed on. This way, word spreads and people become more aware of whats happening. An example of this is when critical opinions influence us. The Sun influences political opinion.