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Audience theory offers explanations of how people encounter media, how they use it, and how it affects them. Although the concept of an audience predates modern media, [ 1 ] most audience theory is concerned with people’s relationship to various forms of media.
James G. Webster (born 1951) is a professor and audience researcher at Northwestern University. [1] Webster's publications have documented patterns of audience behavior, sometimes challenging widely held misconceptions. He has also made foundational contributions to audience theory and the methods of audience analysis.
During the early 20th century, developing mass media technologies, such as radio and film, were credited with an almost irresistible power to mold an audience's beliefs, cognition, and behaviors according to the communicators' will. [17] [18] The basic assumption of strong media effects theory was that audiences were passive and homogeneous.
The audience memory curve is an important principle to understand in order to better communicate and present information to an audience. Understanding how people retain and connect with information will help a presented to take control of what an audience takes away from their presentation and is a huge skill to have as a presenter.
Moreover, reception theory suggests that texts are not necessarily absorbed in their entirety, but rather selectively received and interpreted based on the audience's interests and preferences. This selective reception reinforces the idea that audiences actively engage with media texts and shape their meanings based on their own needs and desires.
This is another reason why we might call dependency a "comprehensive" theory of media effects – it incorporates the entire theory of agenda-setting within its theoretical framework. Like any other effect, media agenda-setting effects should be heightened during times when the audience's needs and therefore dependency on media are high.
These leaders tend to influence others to change their attitudes and behaviors. The two-step theory refined the ability to predict how media messages influence audience behavior and explains why certain media campaigns do not alter audiences' attitudes. This hypothesis provided a basis for the two-step flow theory of mass communication. [9]
An artist trying to entertain their audience intends an immediate effect while an employer giving instructions for the rest of the week intends to have a delayed effect on the employees' behavior. Messages can also produce unintended outcomes, such as when the intended receiver does not react as the source anticipated or when the message ...