Audience
Theories
Passive
Audiences – The passive audience theory is where the affiliates of the audience
just basically sit and consume the aspects of media texts. This happens with
adverts in particular. Because of this, it is believed that the active part of
the brain wasn’t needed to be used. This is because the audience believes that
all messages in media text is acceptable to the brain. This all together is
known as the passive audience theory.
Active
Audiences – This theory is kind of the opposite of the passive theory. This is
because this theory doesn’t involve the audience being ‘couch potatoes’ unlike
what they were in the passive theory. The main reason why the active theory is
different is because they interact with process within the communication and
have their own purpose for the media texts.
Uses and
Gratifications Theory – This theory advocates that the audiences of media are
active and therefore make active decisions about what they consume in relative
to both social and cultural settings of their needs. The theorists Blumier and
Katz created this theory in 1974-75. They believed that the usage of media
could be explained as it provides gratifications related to the fulfilment of
both physiological and social needs. This basically means that the audience
choose what programmes they want in order to make them feel good.
Reception
Theory – This theory suggests that the meaning of a text is not inherent within
itself, but the audience must provoke a meaning based on their discrete cultural
background and experiences throughout their lives.
