AUDIENCE
AS Production

Who was the core buyer for your magazine?
Esquire
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Brand Statement
Entertaining & informative reading for men who've
grown up.
Brand Promise
Every month Esquire covers a diverse range of topics
from music to politics, health to fashion, lifestyle tips
to inspiring features and, of course, beautiful women.
Esquire's heritage of top-class writing and quality
journalism, combined with A-list celebrity coverage
and great photography gives the readers an
informing and entertaining package every month
AS Production

Who was the core buyer for your magazine?
Esquire
Brand Promise (continued)
Esquire is a guide for its readers to help them improve
all aspects of their lives, through expert advice. It's a
magazine for smart, discerning men who want more
than cheap thrills from a magazine.
Brand Values
• Sharp
Sophisticated
• Contemporary
Stylish
• Intelligent
Entertaining
• Quality
Segments of a consumer market
The target audience is viewed as a
segment of a consumer market.
Advertisers use the following criteria:
DEMOGRAPHICS – the consumer is
categorised in terms of concrete variables
such as age, class, gender, geographical
area etc.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS – the consumer is
categorised in terms of his/her needs and
desires.
The audience as a market for
media products
 Genres,
product and station – for
example, a new product may be
described as appealing to Channel 4
viewers / Classic fm listeners.
 Niche
and mass audiences –
categorised in terms of size/numbers
 Narrowcasting
– stations that appeal
to small numbers with specific interests
 Scheduling
– targeting different groups
at different times of the day
Scheduling
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
‘Hammocking’ – new programmes are
‘hammocked’ when they are placed
between two successful programmes.
‘Inheritance’ – a new programme is
placed after a successful programme and
it is hoped that the audience will be
‘inherited’.
‘Pre-echo’ – the practice of placing a
programme before an established
programme to catch people switching on
early.
Broadcast Flow
Scheduling a seamless flow of programmes in
the attempt to keep the audience.
Advertisements – reflect programme being
broadcast
Trails – of programmes being shown later in the
day
Presenters and idents – give people a feeling of
being addressed directly + brand loyalty
Juxtaposition – fitting programmes together
carefully.
The audience as commodity
The audience becomes a commodity
which is sold to the advertisers.
The audience response to the media
 The
effect the media have on the
audience
 The
ways audiences use the media
 The
ways audiences read media texts
Audience Theory
Many attempts have been made - and
continue to be made - at defining the
ways in which a text and its receptors
relate to one another.
We shall look at four basic types of
interpretation.
Audience Theory
1. the Effects model (a)
This is sometimes known as the
“hypodermic needle” model.
The intended message is directly received
and wholly accepted by the receptor.
The Frankfurt School (established 1923):
film and radio are used by those in power for
propaganda purposes. Audiences accept media
messages passively, like drugs.
[Theodor W. Adorno]
Criticised: German fascism, 1920s/30s/40s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_W._Adorno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8&safe=active
Audience Theory
1. the Effects model (b)
(The “hypodermic needle” model)
The intended message is directly received
and wholly accepted by the receptor.
Behaviourists (1950s onwards): particularly
studied effects of TV on audiences. Were
alarmed by connections they saw between
violent acts in TV shows and violence
committed by members of TV audiences. Drew
on earlier work by Ivan Pavlov etc.
Prominent behaviourist: B.F. Skinner
Albert Bandura and the Bobo Doll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHHdovKHDNU&safe=active
Audience Theory
Inoculation Model
- Passive
However, Inoculation theory suggests
that long term exposure to repeated
media messages makes audiences
immune to them.
Can you think of any examples to
support this theory?
Audience Theory
Narcotising Dysfunction
 The
inoculation model suggests
that the mass media render the
audience incapable of action.
Audience Theory
2. the Two-step flow model
This is a modern version of the
“effects/hypodermic needle” model.
People with most access to the media, and
highest media literacy, explain and diffuse the
content to others.
These people are “opinion leaders” who
mould and guide the responses of the
remainder of the audience – who are largely
passive receptors - though to a lesser extent
than in the effects model.
Also known as: the limited effects paradigm
Prominent theorists: Katz & Lazarsfeld;
Berelson
Audience Theory
Two-step flow model – Semi-active
The audience will ‘interpret’ the media
message (long term).
The audience are ‘interacting and
responsive individuals’ as opposed to
‘socially isolated, passive atoms’.
(James Watson and Anne Hill, A
Dictionary of Communication and
Media Studies Fourth Edition, 1997,
Edward Arnold.)
Audience Theory
3. the Uses and Gratifications model (a)
People are not helpless victims of mass
media, but use media to gain specific
gratifications (satisfy needs).
Started in USA (1940s onwards): emphasises
use of “choice”; sees audience as
“consumers”, and “consuming” the media as
an “activity”.
Prominent theorists: Blumier & Katz; McQuail
Blumier & Katz (1974): “Media usage …
provides gratifications related to the
satisfaction of social and psychological needs.”
Audience Theory
3. the Uses and Gratifications model (b)
Blumier & Katz identified four main uses:
Surveillance – our need to know what is
going on in the world: security.
Personal relationships – our need to
interact with other people. We create
virtual relationships with characters,
individuals, etc. in media texts.
Personal identity – we define our identity
and sense of self, partly by making
judgements about film & TV characters and
personalities [“value reinforcement”].
Diversion – our need to escape, be
entertained and relax.
Audience Theory
Uses and Gratifications Model - Active
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INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE – the need to be
informed
PERSONAL IDENTITY – the need to reinforce a
view of personal identity by comparing our roles
and values with similar roles/values represented
in the media.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS /INTEGRATION AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION – the need to have
companionship and interaction.
DIVERSION / ENTERTAINMENT – the need for
fantasy and escapism.
Think of examples for each use.
Media Involvement
 Primary
–completely consumed by
watching or reading a media text
 Secondary – may be occupied in
another task but half listening.
 Tertiary – the medium is just a
background.
Audience Theory
4. Reception theory
The “meaning” of a text is not inherent
within the text itself.
Instead, members of the audience will elicit
meaning based on individual cultural
background and life experiences.
The relationship is between text and
receptor: no meaning is contained within the
text until it is “decoded” by the receptor.
Each decoded reading might be different.
Prominent theorists:
Roland Barthes (the “death of the author”, 1960s/70s)
Stuart Hall (Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies)
The Encoding / Decoding Model
Stuart Hall, Culture, Media, Language, Hutchinson, 1980
David Morley, The Nationwide Audience, BFI, 1980
Audiences vary in response to media
messages. They are influenced by
their: gender/age/social
position/occupation etc.
Media texts are ENCODED to present
a PREFERRED READING.
3 Kinds of Audience Response
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Dominant – the audience agree with the
dominant values expressed within the preferred
reading of the text.
Negotiated – the audience generally agree but
they may disagree with certain aspects according
to their social background.
Oppositional – the audience disagree with the
dominant values expressed with the preferred
reading.
(Aberrant – the reader mistakenly or wilfully
decodes the text in opposition.)
Audience Theories
1. The Effects model.
2. The Two-Step Flow model.
3. The Uses and Gratifications
model.
4. Reception theory.