In this essay I will discuss the target audience and the four theories for example the two

step flow,
the hypodermic needle, uses and gratifications and reception theory and how they are used to
identify different types of audiences and how they absorb different information from and withhold it
within their brains. Target audience is a way of saying a audience that you want your advert
programme est. doing this helps make it more appealing to the audience you are targeting because
you are focusing on one particular audience. The key points addressed when focusing on target
audience are gender, age, social class, race and religion, these key points help determined what
audience your advert appeals to for example a makeup advert would appeal to different races and
most people of a young age and with the product being worn by 82% of women allows them to
direct the advert towards women, things used to attract female attention are things such as pretty
women, bright colours, attractive men, music or celebrities they like or admire.

Firstly one of the theorys is the hypodermic needle which suggests that the media injects ideas into
a passive audience, like giving a patient a drug; it is suggested though many explanations of this
theory that the audience are powerless to resist. The media is often described as working like a drug
by saying things such as audience are addicted. The hypodermic needle theory is how the media can
affect society and how society affects the media. There have been experiments to concluded
evidence of the hypodermic needle theory for example The Bobo Doll Experiment conducted by
psychologist Albert Bandura in 1961 and 1963 when he studied childrens behaviour after watching
an adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo Doll. 72 children between 3 and 6 were split into
two groups where one group was shown adults acting aggressively towards the doll and the other
group were shown the adults acting non-aggressively towards the doll. Bandura found that children
would imitate violent media content and that the children shown adults acting aggressively towards
the doll would act aggressively towards the doll than those that were not. This is also a problem with
the hypodermic needle theory because it does not take in to account the childs desire to please
adults and was conducted in laboratory conditions, which do not replicate the conditions under
which we interact with the media.
The second theory regarding audiences is the Uses and Gratifications theory. This theory is different
to the hypodermic needle theory because it suggests the audience makes use of what the media has
to offer. Stating that the audience has a set of needs which the media for fill one way or another.
The audiences are seen as constantly using particular programmes, films or magazines to satisfy
needs and interests of their own, opposed to the hypodermic needle theory where the audience is
seen as passive getting all the media injected without their consent, unlike uses and gratifications
where the audience is seen as made up of individuals free to reject and permitted to use or play with
media as they please. In regards to advertising I respond strongly to advertising messages; I think it
does depend on the product for example whenever I see an advert for an apple product I
immediately want to buy that product. The media conveys the message powerfully and that things
that are being advertised are amazing for example skin products and hair products act like they
really work and will make you have clear skin and amazing hair; these products may not necessarily
work but when watching the advert youre drawn in and it makes you want to buy it. Advertising
sometimes creates and emotional response whether thats a happy response or a sad one. An
example of this is a Children in Need advert; these make you cry or feel emotional then will make
you donate money to the charity, or another example is dove adverts creating a overwhelming
feeling that caused me to feel happy about the world I live in.

The third theory I am evaluating is the two-step flow theory which was first introduced by Paul
Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in The People's Choice. This theory asserts that
information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals who have seen the media
make their own mind up on how they feel about a piece of media such as a film, advert or magazine.
Secondly they share their views with someone else causing the person who may not have seen the
show to share the same views, for example if I told someone I knew that a film I had seen or a
product I had bought that was on a advert was not as good as I thought it would be ultimately
causing that person to not want the product or to see the film in which I was speaking of.

Lastly is reception theory this was developed by Stuart Hall in the 1970. It considered how texts were
encoded with meaning by producers then decoded by the audience, suggesting that media isnt just
passively accepted by the audience, but that the viewer interprets the meanings of the texts based
on the own individual cultural background or life experiences. Meaning that different people can see
things differently throughout the media. There are three types of readings in which the audience can
have these consist of dominant, negotiated and oppositional. Dominant is when the audience sees
the message as the producer intended them to causing them to agree with the message. Negotiated
is when the audience doesnt agree or disagree with elements of the text in light of the previous
held readers. Oppositional is where the audience know the original meaning behind it but disagree
because of cultural, political or ideological reasons.

This information helped me come to the conclusion that I agree with different theories because
different parts to me create what I see the media as. For example I do agree with the part of the
hypodermic needle that I feel as if when watching TV or when viewing different types of media i take
them regardless of my opinion of them for example I find the go compare advert very irritating yet is
still know exactly what happens in the entire advert and the full song without having to watch it
again this is why I do feel that the hypodermic needle theory has some sense in its analysis. However
I also agree with the uses and gratifications theory that the view makes their own mind up on the
types of things they enjoy or are entertained by for example if I dont enjoy a show I will turn over
automatically such as if a horror film was on or a soap I have no interest in watching them because
they do not for fill my needs that I look for in a program. I have also found that I have been effected
by the two step flow theory for example changing my mind on a product or type of media because of
someone elses opinion such as if a friend of mine had tried a makeup that I thought looked good
and they said its terrible I would automatically decide never to try it even though it may not just be
suited to their skin type. However I do find I dont really agree with the reception theory I dont think
that any type of media ever has just one type of meaning set out by the producer I do agree that
people will disagree due to background their culture or just their opinions in general but I find that
the producer makes it to be controversial so that it can be seen in different ways and that they asses
that before presenting the type of media to the audience.