Audience Theory

The audience theory is based on five different aspects:

• Income
• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Location

Audiences preference = 'Demographics'

Blumer and Katz

• Informed and educated
• Identity with others
• Entertained
• Socially interact with others
• Escape from reality 

Before this theory was recognised, it was thought that media 'chooses us'.

The Hypodermic Needle

• Created in the 1920's
• Media was very new at the time
• Very crude

Reception Theory

• Consumer has independent views
• Gender, class, age ethnicity
• Encoding/Decoding model
• Encoded by the producer, creating a sense of false belief for the consumer
• Decoded by the audience