LO3: Audience Responses and Behaviour

The effect of advertisement on society is that we as the consumers are in 'need' of all these new fancy products. We need the latest fashion, we need to drink the latest energy drink and we need the latest gadgets.

These are the impacts that we are given as we listen/watch adverts, they attempt to tempt us into buying their products. If it’s a new hair product, they’ll boast how ‘alive’ your hair will look and feel and that everyone will be in awe of your hair. Advertising using techniques to seduce you, humour you, befriend you and impress you all to achieve your desire of that particular product.

Adverts will always attempt to convince you that the latest version of this product or newest product is better than those previous to it, for example a Nikon advert may say that their newest camera is far better than any of the ones before it, that it has better quality and more features, telling you that you can’t take amazing photos without it.

Hypodermic needle theory

The hypodermic needle theory is used as a plausible explanation for the impact, effect and repercussions mass media has upon society at large. The idea of the hypodermic needle theory was conceived during the 1940`s and 50`s a time rife with heavy propaganda that showed a direct correlation to the effect of the viewer or recipients behavioural mannerisms. Below are some of the key contributory factors to the strong effects of with regards to theory of communication.

1. The rapid rise and expanse of radio and television 2. The induction of definitive persuasive media i.e. propaganda.3. the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s, which focused on the impact of motion pictures on

children4. Hitler's monopolization of the mass media during WWII to unify the German public behind

the Nazi party

The hypodermic needle theory states that mass media has the potential to influence a dense mass of the population with the use of subliminal and direct messaging , referred to as “injecting” or “shooting” them with ideals specifically designed to trigger and appropriate reaction.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

During the beginning of the iconic 1960`s as those who had grown up with the common place of television matured into adults and conceived offspring of their own it became increasingly apparent to the world media theorist that audiences make conscious decisions about their actions when consuming text. Far from passive theorists observed that individuals consumed such media and text in varied ways for different reasons. In 1948 Laswell determined that media texts had the following functions for individual members of the common society.

1. surveillance2. correlation3. entertainment

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4. cultural transmission

Passive and Active Consumption

Instead of defining the audience or recipients of media as an ambiguous mass highly susceptible to even the simplest persuasion techniques todays theorist now acknowledge that the audience are in fact active and each have individual selective interests and produce increasingly varied response to media texts and advertising. Croteau and Hoynes discussed that not only does audience activity encompass actively interpreting media messaging but also interpret this in a social context. By considering the media as part of our social lives, the public may choose to partake in active discussion of media in groups thus leading to media having a broader effect on our social relationships.

Introduce the advertLucozades witness my revival advertisement was released in March 2012 a year during which The Lucozade corporation was beginning to make serious moves towards more directly marketing their energy drink as a nutritional supplement used to restore glucose levels and replenish lost electrolytes. The advert itself brings together dancer Dickson Mbi and choreographer (Sadler's Wells Associate Artist) Russell Maliphant, directors Warren Du Prez and Nick Thornton Jones and an original arrangement from James Lavelle to revive your senses. This advertisement has taken a very mature approach to its advertising with regards to content it has no in your face propaganda or larger taglines or explosions leaving the hypodermic needle theory with very little need for reference however some of its effects are moderately apparent. For example it could perhaps be said that this advert could perhaps be conscious attempting to persuade people that they can in fact move like Dickson Mbi, though this seems unlikely and slightly implausible. However evidence of the gratifications and passive and active theory are certainly present.

Coca-Cola`s move to the beat advertisement also surfaced around 2012 making primary use of the London twenty twelve Olympics and its position as partner to really sell it`s product to the public masses. The Coca-Cola corporation made sure to have every single possible asset to their sales involved this was primary accomplished by recruiting local London born star Katy B and the production talents of Mark Ronson as well as athletes from several competing nations spanning the globe, these athletes were in turn used both pre recorded and live to produce a menagerie of acapella effects creating the basis for the track “Anywhere in the World” which was vocalised by Katy B. The Hypodermic needle is most certainly present within this advert as it directly messages to the public (whether they realise or not) that by all-consuming the beverage communally they will become widely accepted by everyone thus fostering a sense of acceptance. However many may argue that this in fact encourages conformity and dependence upon a western globalised sales giant instead of a sense of community or pride.

In conclusion I believe in an ever growing world of mass media exposure many of the worlds most heavily globalized locations particularly in world hubs a great deal of then public masses are slowly beginning to develop a more passive immunity to the direct messaging spawned from much of today’s mass medias advertising. Leading to many more making their

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own conscious decisions on product quality and necessity something companies and corporations are now gradually coming to a realisation as such. Meaning that perhaps theories such as the hypodermic needle theory may could possibly in the near future become redundant and replaced by a more refined version of the observation of passive and active consumption.

Zachary Millward