Driving test- audiences summary

AUDIENCES

TARGET AUDIENCES

The target audience is the intended audience of publication, advertising or other message in the media. Media producers use the target audience as a guideline to shape their advertisement so that it attracts a certain group of people. This means that their products will most likely become increasingly popular if directed towards the correct audience, because these are the people that the producers believe will purchase the product. 

However, certain things may have a dual audience. A dual audience is where the target audience is aimed at two groups of people, rather than one singular group. For example, 'Stranger Things' may be considered to have a dual audience- teenagers and people who are nostalgic for the 80's. This means that stranger things may have become so popular due to the fact that more people are targeted to watch it. Nostalgia is known to be the emotion that people will spend the most money on. This is also seen through 'Disney' creating sequels to childhood movies- adults and children are usually the target audience. 

AUDIENCE GROUPS

When considering an audience group, producers consider the following: age, gender, occupation and education. These four terms make sure that the main components of the target audience are covered, and that the producers can aim the product to the correct audience. This is usually done through advertisements such as billboards and adverts. 

Producers also take occupation groups into consideration for their target audience. These groups section occupations into lettered groups- group A usually being the highest paid. These groups are helpful when determining a target audience as they focus on the audience's jobs and who may be attracted to the product. For example, 'Stranger Things' is most likely groups C1, C2, D, and E. The psychometric audience profile determines an audience by how they think and consider their values, attitudes and lifestyles.

A- lawyers, doctors, scientists, well-paid professionals, need a degree

B- teachers, middle-management, fairly well-paid professionals, need a degree

C1- junior management, bank clerks, nurses, "white collar" professionals, don't necessarily need degree

C2- electrician, plumbers, carpenters, "blue collar" professionals, no degree

D- manual workers, e.g drivers and postal workers, no degree

E- students, unemployed, pensioners

There is also another group section that producers use to organise their consumers. This group ranges from the resigned- someone that is uninterested in anything new and seek to survive, to the aspirer- somebody who seeks status and is happy to invest in luxury goods. For example, someone who enjoys travelling and being in nature may relate to the 'explorer' role as they are mainly focused on discovering new things and don't care about brand names. Whereas someone who owns a lot of designer brands may be considered an 'aspirer' as they seek status and are happy to invest in luxury goods. 

The aspirer- somebody that seeks status, happy to invest in luxury goods, consider themselves stylists and on trend, Gucci, Prada, Mercedes, etc.

The explorer- likes to discover new things, attracted to new brands, products and experiences, try to make the most out of the world and explore, don't care about brands

The mainstreamer- 40% of the population, herd mentality, less likely to take risks, seek security

The reformer- eager to learn about themselves and the world, want to make the world a better place, not very materialistic, socially aware, focus on the environment (possibly vegan or vegeterian), not easily influenced

The resigned- uninterested in anything new, would be happy to wear the same clothes and eat the same food for the rest of their lives, like to stick to the things that they like, they seek to survive

The struggler- has a 'live for the day' attitude and doesn't think about the future, they seek escape

The succeeder- work hard, believe they deserve the best, have a high social status, seek control

THE BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT- ALBERT BANDURA

Theorist, Albert Bandura created the 'hypodermic needle model'. His theory is that the media can influence people directly and human values, judgement and conduct can be altered through a person's exposure to the media. Albert Bandura conducted an experiment known as the 'Bobo doll experiment'. This was conducted in the 1960s where a group of children watched a video of an adult hitting a bobo doll. Then, the children were placed in a room alone with the doll. Bandura concluded that every one of the children imitated what they saw the adults do. The children acted violently towards the doll and it was found that the children who watched an adult of the same gender in the video acted more violently towards the doll. This experiment changed the media's thoughts on media influence and made people realise that what people view online has much more of an impact on them than expected. 

Up until this experiment, it was believed that watching violent acts purged the violence out of people and ultimately made them less violent. This was found to be fake after Bandura conducted this experiment, and it was concluded that children imitate what they see adults do, as these are the people that they look up to.

The gratification theory states that if you believe that you have control over what you watch, and use the media more than it uses you, you are likely to subscribe to the 'Uses and Gratifications model'. It is belived that people use the media more than it uses them.

THE RECEPTION THEORY- STUART HALL

Stuart Hall created the 'encoding and decoding' model. This model argued that media producers encode 'hidden meanings' and 'preferred meanings' into texts, however these texts may be perceived in a number of different ways. Essentially, producers can put meanings into texts, but the consumers may interpret these meanings in different ways. This could depend on many different factors such as age, gender or occupation group.

Hall believes that there are three main positions that the audience could interpret media. These are the groups that he believes have been created:

The dominant-hegemonic position- a 'preferred reading' that accepts the text's messages and the ideological assumptions behind the messages

The negotiated position- the reader accepts the text's ideological assumptions, but disagrees with aspects of the messages, so negotiates the meaning to fit with their 'lived experience'

The oppositional reading- the reader rejects both the overt message and its underlying ideological assumptions

This theory could be used in many different scenarios. For example, the movie 'Pinocchio'. The dominant-hegemonic position would be that it is bad to lie and if you do lie, karma will come back to you. This is seen when Pinocchio's nose grows each time he lies. The negotiated position-would be that lying is okay sometimes but it depends on the situation. Finally, the oppositional reading would be that it is fine to lie and no consequences come with it. The fact that these three opinions can come from one movie shows that everyone interprets things differently. This is also why producers are often cautious of what they post online, as it could be taken differently by different people.