Victoria Holt

Audience Theory
Hypodermic Needle Model:
The Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that, as an audience, we are influenced by the
creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily
changed by media-makers. This is the audience theory that is all about
passive consumers, which means that they consume media products
without question, as the audience get injected with ideas that are suggested
and brought up by the media. Basically the opinions of the audience is
affected by what the consumers see and read within the media, whether its online or in a
magazine. For example if you play a game that is to do with fighting then the audience will
then become interested in fighting and begin to start arguments with people. If you relate
this to buying products such as a console that is already popular when being released to its
consumers, then they would automatically buy the product without much question.
This theory is based upon the audiences reaction to the content of a video game, and not
by his or hers own personal experiences, intelligence and opinions. It states that the
audience can be manipulated by the games content and that our behaviour of thinking
might easily change has been seen recently.
There are some strengths and weaknesses of the theory, the strengths being:

The use of numbers and statistics can be effective and reliable way of seeing trends.
Effect studies involve a large numbers of participants and sometimes extend over
long periods of time.
The weaknesses are:

Too simplistic, changes to attitudes and beliefs are not always observable or easily
measured in the way physics; changes are.
Audiences interpret media differently.
When relating it to my game that I designed in unit 72 and 78 there isnt really anything that
is in the game that will influence the players to become violent or makes the player want to
change themselves. If you play my game consecutively then you might become annoyed
from it if you keep failing and falling off the pathway. This means that this audience theory
doesnt apply to my game. When designing my game I didnt use the hypodermic needle
model at all.
To the right is a picture of the game I designed which shows that there is no way of the
game influencing people in the wrong way as you can see that the characters are aimed
towards to younger audience and are made to look friendly. Basically in
this game the player can do whatever they please but they have to stay
on the path and collect coins and fruit. My game doesnt have a pegi
rating as it is suitable for anyone to play.
Victoria Holt

Uses and Gratifications Theory:

This theory of the active audience suggests that, the audience determines what to do with
the media rather than the media influencing the audience directly. The uses and
gratifications theory is the complete opposite to that of the hypodermic needle model in the
sense that when an audience actively seeks media, the message of the media is not being
forced on them as such, they are choosing to interpret its message themselves. The whole
idea of this theory is so that the media does not fully control an audience,
but rather the media is subjective per person as they use it to meet needs
of the product or game. The theory goes on to suggest that the more an
individual uses media to gratify their needs, the more dependent on it
they become, and the more influence that media will have over the
person and their opinions. This is a bad thing as it can potentially change
how and what a person thinks about something.
Audiences are free to pick from a wide variety of media to meet different needs, and the
theory has to fulfil one of the following forms of media purposes. Distraction to escape
from problems or real life situations, personal identity reinforcing values and being able to
recognize a person easily, surveillance finding out about the world, educate - being able to
acquire information, knowledge and understanding, entertain what you are consuming
should give you enjoyment and also some form of escapism or social Interaction the
ability for media products to produce a topic of conversation between other people.
When it comes to my game this theory applies because people will only play it if
they like it, but they have to play it first to find out if that is the case. This theory
also means that the audience of the my game will be able to have their own
opinions without being influenced or manipulated by anything that is said in the
media. When comparing a game like mine to one that is already out like Temple Run, I feel
my game is less violent however the graphic quality is still the same. The thing
that makes people play my game is the fact that it is a sequel to an already
popular and addictive game, however is it more aimed towards children rather
than anyone. My game is mostly played for the entertainment and distraction as
there isnt any particular levels which need to be completed however you can
unlock different characters.

Reception study:
This theory is all about when a media text/subject and its meanings stay the same but
different types of audience can interpret and read it in different ways. Each piece of text
which is found in any kind of media format or platform such as online, on social media or in
a newspaper, has many different audiences, made up of people with different
thoughts and opinions who will responds in a different way to each other. If the
audience has a specific and direct experience of it, then they are more likely to
question about it.
Victoria Holt

Theorists who analyse media through reception studies are concerned with the experience
of cinema and television as it could change what people believe in and could possibly
interpret it in many different ways. An important thing to remember about the reception
theory is that the media text has no essential or intentional meaning in and of itself. Instead,
meaning is created in the interaction between reader and text; in other words, meaning is
created as the viewer watches and processes the film. The same applies for people who play
games, in the sense that the opinion from the player is created after experiencing the game
itself.
David Morley argues that sometimes people make sense of the media subject according to
many different reasons such as their social position including gender, age, class and race. He
also thought that there is 3 main audience members, a dominant reader who
share text values and beliefs, a negotiated reader who only shares parts of their
values and beliefs but changes it slightly to reflect themselves and an
oppositional reader who doesnt share anything .
When playing a game there may be different meanings, hidden or not, that have
a particular subliminal meaning without even realising it. An example of where a game has a
hidden meaning is when an image is specifically used instead of another one as it has a
meaning. When designing my game I wouldnt consider putting any meanings within my
game as it is not necessary and I dont want people to judge my game before they have
played it. My game doesnt have meanings as such that can be interpreted in different ways
by everyone.

Conclusion:
When it comes to looking at all these 3 different audience theorys, I have found that the
uses and gratifications one is most suited to my designed game, this is because it will allow
people to have their own opinions on the game without being influenced as well as not
having a hidden meaning behind the game. Each audience theory has its own purpose and
each one can be to a game. The game I designed is quite simple and doesnt contain the use
of any humans as characters so there is no need for my game to have bad affects on people.
There is no way of the audience being manipulated into playing my game because the
audience gets to decide how to play the game.