AudienceAS Media Studies

AudienceWhy is the audience important?Each media text is produced with an audience in mind.The audience is the receiver of the text and interprets the message thats conveyed.Without the audience, there is no meaning.

McDonalds want you to think....

You may agreeOr.....You may disagree

Or.....You may think that big macs do taste good, but Ill only have them every now and again

So here we have three separate readings of that one advert

In 1980 David Morley did a study of audience responses when watching the BBC TV show Spotlight. As a result of his research, he decided that audiences tend to fall into three groups based on their interpretation of the text.....Preferred ReadingNegotiated ReadingOppositional Reading

The preferred reading is the reading media producers hope audiences will take from the text.

Audience members from outside the target audience may reject the preferred reading,receiving their own alternative message.

Negotiated reading is when audiences acknowledge the preferred reading, but modify it tosuit their own values and opinions.

What is the PREFERRED reading?The NEGOCIATED reading?The OPPOSITIONAL reading?

Consumption PatternsWe use different media at different times of the day.

To what extent does the media organise your daily routine?

Do you plan any activities around particular media output?

Look at the TV schedule and identify what groups are being addressed at particular times.

Audience ResearchMarket research is a vital part of the process concerned with discovering audience thoughts, needs, feelings and aspirations.This gives them a detailed picture of what texts will appeal to different audiences.Then a text can be created/packaged in a way that will deliver it to the audience successfully.Research includes questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

DemographicsQuantitative data about audiences are broken down by institutions into demographics.This includes age, social class, address and occupation.Definitions of socio-economic groupsAB professional, business and white collarC1 higher skilled manualC2 lower skilled manualDE semi and unskilled manualHow might you be pigeonholed as a media consumer using demographic categories?

PsychographicsA system for measuring consumers beliefs, opinions and interests.Instead of counting age/gender/race it focuses on opinions on issues, religious beliefs, musical tastes, personality characteristics etc.These are also called IAO variables (Interests, Attitudes and Opinions)Research into audiences usually combines both demographics and psychographics.

Youth Facts case studyPage 62

Advertising companies claim they can segment audiences on the basis of socio-economic values such as:

SurvivorsThose who want security and like routine

Social ClimbersThose who have a strong materialistic drive and like status symbols

Care GiversThose who believe in caring and sharing

ExplorersThose for whom personal growth and influencing social change are important

These socio-economic groups are based on the work of the American Psychologist Abraham Maslow and his idea of a Hierarchy of Needs (1954)

layers of needs satisfy one before moving on to the next we all start at the bottom of Maslows Hierarchy Maslow argues that many people stop at particular levels and never reach the top self-actualisation the unsatisfied needs are what motivate our behaviour Maslow stated that the hierarchy was dynamic and reversible; the needs are not necessarily present in the same order in everyone the audience is active rather than passive

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (1954)Job security, friendsThe need to belong to a groupSelf esteem, status, respect and admiration of othersThe need to succeed, to become what you wish to become

Which of Maslows needs do you think are being fulfilled in this advertisement?

Hypodermic Needle TheoryThe Hypodermic Needle theory suggests that the media inject ideas into a passive audience, like giving a patient a drug.

Earliest academic studies of media audiences appeared in the 1920s and 1930s The audience was seen as a mass audience all consuming the same product and receiving the same mass message Propaganda View reinforced by Orson Welless The War of the Worlds broadcast on American radio in 1938 Are we too sophisticated today? Ghostwatch Halloween 1992 Advertisers took the hard sell approach repeating the message often and loudly

Uses and Gratifications TheoryResearch then led to a view that audiences werent passive and a mass but were composed of different social groups.The audience was now being seen as playing an active role in the interpretation of the media of particular media texts.Audience now considered to be active instead of passiveThe audience has a set of needs (Blumler and Katz 1975)DiversionIntegration & Social InteractionPersonal identitySurveillance/Information

Gratification1) SURVEILLANCE/INFORMATION

We want to find out about society and the world.

Gratification2) INTEGRATION & SOCIAL INTERACTION

Companionship through identification with television characters

We want to find out more about the circumstances of other people so we can empathise/sympathise with the lives of others.

Sociability through discussion about television with other people.

Gratification 3) PERSONAL IDENTITY

Finding reinforcement for personal values.

Identifying with a valued other in the media.

Gaining insight into ones self.

Gratification4) DIVERSION

We use the media for enjoyment, relaxation or just to fill time.

Audience InteractionAudiences are often given the opportunity to interact with media texts.Voting on a reality TV showEmailing an opinionWriting a letter to a local paperTaking part in a radio phone inRequesting a songParticipating on makeover programmes

Key Questions to ask...To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?What assumptions about the audiences characteristics are implicit within the text?What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the texts scheduling or positioning?In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age/gender/background etc?

**Key terms**Uses and Gratifications TheoryHypodermic Needle TheoryMaslows Hierarchy of NeedsNiche AudienceDemographicsPsychographicsRead pages 268 283.Add to your notes.

Working as a groupImagine that you have been asked by a film company to provide the outline for a new film aimed at audiences between 18 and 25. Draw up an outline that includes:The main situation/narrative of story and its dramatic potentialDescriptions of the main charactersIdeas for 2 or 3 settings, explaining their visual impact, the reasons for using them and any technical difficulties that they may present.The opening sequence of the film, explaining how it will attract the audiences attention.Explain the ways in which the film will appeal to its target audience.Suggest ways in which the film could be marketed.