Download - Active and Passive audience theories
Media Audiences
An Introduction
A Reminder…
• What do we define as ‘the media’?
• What different types of media do we ‘consume’?
Your Media Life
• Make a list of as many different ways that you have consumed media in the past week?
• What 3 different ‘texts’ have you used the most?
What is an Audience?
• An audience is a group of people that consume similar media in a certain way
• The method in which an audience is ‘constructed’ or ‘located’ is always beneficial to a powerful group of people
Why Study Audiences?
1. By identifying an audience you can predict behaviour.
2. A viewer can then adapt their own understanding of a text
Types of Audiences
What different categories can we put audiences in?
Audience Classification
• It is useful to first split audiences into these categories:
o Socio-Economic Statuso Psychographics / moodoDemographicso Technology
Socioeconomic StatusGroup Example Job Type
Wage Bracket
AUpper Class
Higher Managerial, Admin & Professional (Managers &
Lawyers)£50,000 +
BMiddle Class
Intermediate Managerial, Admin & Professional
£25,000 - £50,000
C1Lower
middle ClassSupervisor / junior manager
£15,000 – £25,000C2
Skilled working
class
Skilled Manual Workers
DWorking
ClassSemi-Unskilled workers £7,000 -
£15,000
ELow income
earners
Pensioners / Widows, Casual workers, Students
£5,000 - £7,000
Psychographics / Mood
• Psychographics can change over time
• They reflect an audience member’s:
oAttitudes o Personality oValues
Demographics
• Demographics are static attributes that rarely change
• They refer to an audience’s:
oAge / Gender / Ethnicity / Sexual Orientation / Regional Identity
Technology
• The medium or institution that an audience uses to consume media
• This could refer to:
o ITV / Radio 1 / Netflix / Vogue / Twitter
Examples of Constructed Audiences
• A ‘Playstation 3’ audience• An elderly audience• A gay audience• A Twitter audience• A tired (post-work) audience
Some Examples
Film advertising
Fast Girls (2012)
• Girls / aged 15-24 / Post-secondary school• Londoners / Urban• Sporty / aspirational • C1 / C2 socioeconomic status
• Kidulthood / The Misfits / Step Up / Skins
The Best Marigold Hotel (2012)
• Men & Women / aged 50 + / Retirees• Southern England/ Rural / Ex-pats• Worldly/ reflective• A / B socioeconomic status
• The King’s Speech / The Boat That Rocked
Specific Audience Models
What is the Theory?
Active Vs. Passive Consumption
• Media texts are ‘consumed’ by different audiences in different ways – an audience member can be Passive or Active
• Passive – a passive model of consumption suggests that texts have an effect on the audience
• Active – an active model instead suggests that audiences interact with the text to create meaning
Interactive television
Which TV shows force you to interact?
Interactivity
Physical Interactivity
Social Interactivity
Intellectual Interactivity
Emotional Interactivity
Content Interactivity
A handshake / a keyboard / a controller
Joining a group / phoning in / talking with other fans /
Forming an opinion / having a thoughtful response
Crying at a sad scene / laughing at a joke
Creating a blog / Retweeting / leaving a comment
The main differencesPassive Active
Accepting opinions
Paying little attention
Watching a game
Forming opinions
Paying full attention
Playing a game
A passive model
Audience
Text
A media text has a direct influence on a passive audience
An active model
Audience
TextAudiences engage with what they
consume and are actively making
their own meanings
Uses & Gratifications
InformationPersonal Identity
Social Integration
Entertainment
Information
• Finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
• Seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
• Satisfying curiosity and general interest • Learning; self-education • Gaining a sense of security through
knowledge
Personal Identity
• Finding reinforcement for personal values • Finding models of behaviour• Identifying with valued other (in the media) • Gaining insight into one's self
Integration and Social Interaction
• Gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy
• Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
• Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
• Having a substitute for real-life companionship
• Helping to carry out social roles • Enabling one to connect with family, friends
and society
Entertainment• Escaping, or being diverted, from problems• Relaxing • Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic
enjoyment • Filling time • Emotional release • Sexual arousal
In Groups…• We are going to create a profile of the
gratifications people get from different genres.
o Sporto Reality TVo Soap Operaso Documentaries
Talk Shows
Information• Different subject matter each episode
• ‘Real life’ issues and problems
• Based on families / relationships
• Taboo subject matter
Social Integration• Watch with friends / family
• Empathise with guests of show
• Tweet along / talk about with others later
• Substitute for conversation with real-life companion – conversational mode of address
Personal Identity• Reinforces beliefs about family life and
relationship ethics
• Provides advice about personal problems
• Identify with similar characters
• Recognisably British
Entertainment• Probably involve a fight or an argument
• Familiar format – easy to watch
• Laugh at the misfortunate – reassuring about own possible problems
• ‘Shocking’ subject matter
How does the genre appeal to peoples need for:• Information• Social Integration• Entertainment• Personal Identity
In your groups