Audience

Henna Ashraf

Audience

Introduction

During this assignment I will be writing about the different types of audience and how the media affects their perception of the world, also including the influence of ideas and behaviours on the audience. Following from this, I will also be explaining Blumer and Katz's 'The Uses and Gratification Theory', which has been expanded from a previous theory.

Audience

An audience is the target group of the product being marketed. For example, in music there are many types of genres and different genres are aimed at different audiences. A R&B music video would most likely be aimed at the youth and perhaps teenagers and young adults. This is because the lyrics and music are to their preference and they are able to see relate to the meaning of the song. Most R&B songs have fast beats which make it harder for young children or really old adults to understand, either because they do not understand the terminology being used or simply because their reaction time is too slow to understand what is being sung to them. 

Similarly, different types of media institutions have diverse audience. News papers are usually read or viewed by adults, some of which are from professional bodies, whereas magazines are aimed at teenagers. Nevertheless some magazines and media institutions relate to a specific gender; for example a beauty/cosmetics magazine is likely to be targeted at women than men, as they are more pre-cautious about their looks. The audience is most important for media products because it is the centre of which the ideas and thoughts are based around. If a singer/composer was to create a piece of music and wanted to target it at teenagers, he would have to research into teenage preferences; likes and dislikes and more so. This would then help them to create a musical piece which would be successful in the music industry, hence stressing the importance of a target audience.

Mass Audience

Audience being a large group as it goes is narrowed down into two further categories; mass audience and niche audience. A mass audience is defined as the large group of people which a media product is aimed at. An example is of a new shampoo product which would be targeted at a wide audience, as almost everyone uses shampoo hence the product would be most sold in large quantities, as well as increasing media awareness.

Niche Audience

On the other hand, a niche audience can be defined as a smaller group of people to whom a media product is advertised and aimed at. A producer/manufacturer of a sports car, such as a Ferrari or Lamborghini will have a niche target audience. This is because majority of the human population are likely to drive cars such as Ford and Toyota which are family cars selling at an affordable price. However the target audience for sports cars are likely to be aimed at the rich and wealthy people like celebrities. As they have the money they are able to consume such products and hence the market audience for this product is very small.

Audience Perception of the World Through the Media
The media has the power to shape an audience perception of the world, especially music. Music nowadays are concept based which shapes the the world around us. For example Black Eyed Peas was a concept based music video which conveyed a message, acknowledging the wrong in the world. This music video was favoured by many individuals and  hence became a trend in the media. Whereas stereotypes such as gold diggers have been common among the society and have also alerted individuals too. Media is also able to influence some people more than others. For example, when big names in society choose something in particular, more people are likely to choose it too. Media products like NIKE and ADIDAS are advertised by celebrities in the sports field, and hence it impacts the audience and makes them want to follow their inspirations. Presidents up for election persuade us to give them our votes but they do this by giving us unrealistic expectations and when they have achieved their status they forget about the promises they have made too us.

Media Influence of Ideas and Behaviours on the Audience

The media is a very powerful tool which influences the ideas and behaviours of the audience. They are able to emphasise ideas and to be bias. For example, news channels which are owned by an individual who has conservative views is likely to portray conservative views within his news broadcasting, hence brainwashing and influencing our minds. Not only this but they are able to stereotype certain representations of people, for instance Micheal Jackson. Micheal Jackson was named and shamed for hanging his child out of the bedroom window to show press, however the news reporters manipulated the story and exxagerate the truth. Once the news was spread Micheal Jackson was seen as a neglecting and irresponsible father, as people were not ready to believe his truth due to media impact.

But on the other hand, despite saying this it can also be argued that the audience has the choose to interpret the media in their own way, in other words meaning that they may not be influenced by it. 

Media can also alter the perception of the audience. For examples reports and studies showed that video games which were too violent affected young children and hence parents became more alert when buying certain games for their children. People are likely to be influenced by things which affect them or their family like the violent games affect. Not only this but media is also able to influence the way we dress. what we eat and how we look, mainly through television adverts (like Lo real starring Cheryl Cole) and magazine front covers, where women want to look the most appealing. Nevertheless movies can also have a negative influence to a younger audience which was referred to, during the James Bulger Case. Two young children captured a naive toddler and abused, assaulted and murdered him and investigations revealed that it was the influence of a movie they had watched the night before.

Television programmes in the media, like Eastenders and Hollyoaks give groups of people a topic to talk about which allows them to feel a sense of belonging. On the other hand the same actors can also be disgraced openly whereas other individuals with money, status and power are overlooked. For example, Jeremy Clarkson made a opinionated comment which was bias on a television show and the matter had quickly been resolved with a simple 'sorry.' However media also causes social conflicts and segregates culture. Sometimes what is portrayed by a group/cult/sect of people may not be accepted by another group of people and it causes social cohesion. For example, when Muslims are labelled 'terrorists' a large debate works around society which makes people hate the entire Muslim community. Therefore this supports the argument that media can make and destroy society.  

Blumer and Katz's: 'The Uses and Gratification Theory'

Blumer and Katz's theory was based upon four main ideas; information, personal identity, social interaction and entertainment. They expanded from an original theory which explained why an audience may engage in the media and then came up with the above ideas. Blumer and Katz's theory was to focus on why people engage in the media productions.

Information: 

An audience would want to watch an informative piece of television product to learn new things. An example of an informative media production is the news. The news is heavily based upon the events taking place in the world as well as the knowledge of the society we are living in. Informative productions allow an individual to seek advice on practical matters and opinions and help them make decisions as well as satisfying a general interest on a certain topic.

Personal Identity:

Blumer and Kat'z second suggestion was personal identity. Personal identity causes an audience to engage in watching a certain media production because it reinforces an individuals personal values as well as modelling a certain type of behaviour, giving them a chance to relate to their inner self.

Social Interaction:

On the other hand, media can be consumed for social purposes. Soap operas like Eastenders and Coronation Street gives groups of individuals topics to talk about. When individuals get together to discuss a particular topic it creates a sense of belonging among peers, hence which is why it is also consumed by a large audience.

Entertainment:

On the other hand, Blumer and Katz theory had also expanded from a previous version to state that media is also consumed for entertainment purposes. This was a common factor among a study of students, which claimed to have said that students engaged in media products to keep themselves amused.