The Hypodermic Needle Model is a theory that Dates from the 1920's, this theory was the first technical attempt to explain specifically mass audiences react to different forms of mass media. In this method, the target audience for mass media receive an injection of a media text, either positive or negative and are instinctively encouraged to respond. This is a short-term effect as the audience is seen as passive and they seem to think their opinion is more down to themselves and does not have any external influence in particular.
This method is mainly useful when companies or organisations want to change people opinions discretely, without people thinking their opinion wasn't down to themselves and to their own knowledge and personal views and opinions.
The Inoculation Model
The Inoculation Model is a theory that suggests that the long term exposure to similar repeated media messages makes audiences less likely to respond negatively to them. For example, when news is released relevant to a particular subject which people prefer not to discuss, as it can be quite a touchy subject, people see it as something to ignore and not discuss further. If people are subjected to small amounts of news related to a particular subject over time that they may not wish to discuss at first, they will see it as more of a normal subject to discuss, rather than avoiding it and it becomes more acceptable to discuss and evaluate with the current population. The audience is desensitised by the media text and no longer reacts in a shocked manner.
The Two-Step Flow Model
The Two-Step Flow Model was discovered by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet who conducted a study in the 1940's during the presidential election in their country. They found that 50% of voting participants had made up their minds six months before the election and did not change their minds despite the constant influence of media coverage, it was found that individual views were most affected by opinion leaders who played a key role in the communication process, filtering the message, making it appear distorted and inaccurate.In the Two-Step Flow Model, peoples opinions usually do not originate from the primary mass media and primary messages from the people trying to get elected, they usually come from other sources such as family and friends who influence their opinion, meaning that a final opinion is influenced less by the key pitch and information and more from other people opinions who usually have less authority and knowledge, this audience is semi-active.
The Uses & Gratifications Theory came around in the 1960's, as during the 1960s the first generation to grow up with television became grown ups and it became apparent to the media that audiences made choices about what they did when consuming media such as advertisements and shows relevant to certain topics and products. Far from being a passive mass audience, audiences were made up of individual people who consumed media for different reasons and in many different ways specific to themselves.
Researchers expanded this theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a media text for the following varied purposes:
Information
To be informed, news broadcasts and news from other media such as online news.
Help with DIY jobs typically around their own homes.
General interest and curiosity such as quiz shows.
Learning from shows like documentaries on things like history and culture.
Personal Identity
Comparing your own lifestyle choices to others by referencing shows and media similar people to you would refer to, such as certain bands you listen to, different games you might play and films you might watch.
Integration and Social Interaction
Social interaction with other people mainly online through integration into online sites such as Facebook and Reddit, where you can become part of groups and voice your opinion and interest in order to find people similar to yourself.
Entertainment
People particularly look for entertainment in things like games and interesting TV shows in which they can escape from the troubles of reality, while also filling in gaps of time while they are waiting for something, entertainment can also be used as emotional release.
The Reception Theory
In the 1980's and 1990's, there was much discovery in how people interpreted text and how what they interpret leads them to act in a certain way and how also their individual circumstances such as age and sex affect how they read.
The meaning of text is interpreted in different ways depending on the circumstances and reading ability of the reader and can lead to the text being interpreted in different ways:
The Preferred Reading - Audience understands and accepts the ideology offered.
The Negotiated Reading - Audience understands the ideology offered, accepts some aspects of it but rejects other aspects.
The Oppositional Reading - Audience interprets the ideology offered in the opposite way than it is actually intended.
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