Audience Theories:

Audience theories: Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Maslow said that there are 5 basic needsof humans: 1.air, water, food, shelter, sleep and sex. 2.safty and security. 3.love, to belong and to be wanted. 4.self-esteam. 5.creativity.

Producers use these to engage an audience and appeal to one of there needs.For example car adverts (no.3) a group of people, driving and singing. It’s trying to convey that if you buy this car you will achieve that life style. Phone adverts (no.5)you will become a more creative person if you have this phone. In terms of food adverts, they don’t play on humans need of food (no. 1 and 2) but suggest that if you eat their food you will find the love of your life because you like and eat the same foods.When looking at adverts it’s often easy to see which need it is fulfilling, shock adverts are used for lower needs(no.1 and 2).

Audience theories:Hypodermic syringe theory(1923)

Passive audience: assume the audience don’t question/react to what they see and

go along with it. As a passive audience you would go and do what you see e.g.

violent video game and University shooting.

During this time there only forms of media text was: >radio>cinema>news papers>magazines

An active audience, therefore, uses the texts and its gratifications (Blumer and Katz 1974) o Diversion: escaping from there own life, or an emotional release.o Personal relationships: companionship.o Personal identity: comparing your own life.o Surveillance: to see what else is going on in the world.

Audience Theories:Pleasures.

People might like a particular film/TV series/magazine because it offers them more than one pleasure.

Visceral: a physical reaction has been createde.g. in saw or the human centipede. voyeuristic: spying on others e.g. Facebook or twitter. Puzzle solving: working things out e.g. Broadchurch or NCIS. Destructive: produces chaos e.g. the impossible or the walking dead. Vicarious: living via other people e.g. casualty or Holyoake. Aesthetic: a beautifully made text e.g. beautiful creatures.

Other ways of categorising and audience is though psychographic. This divides markets into groups of social class, life style and personality. This reflects that persons characteristics and patterns. Social class is one of the single most used variable for research. This divides the population into groups and the occupation of the chief income earner(CIE).

Audience theories:social-economic scale.

This is a UK scale, which is a national survey, that provide the following standardized groups.

Grade Occupation Example

AA higher manager Administratorprofessional

Company JudgeHead of a school.

BIntermediate managerialAdministratorprofessional

Middle managerHigh educationteacher

C1ClericalJuniorsupervisor

Bank clerk

C2skilledManagerworker

Plummer

DSimi-unskilled manager worker

labour

EState pensionersStudent(casual job)unemployed

Charity workSaturday jobunemployed

Young and Rubican:cross cultural consumer characterization

>Resigned: a rigid, strict person, likely watch Corrie/Emerdle because it’s on every day. Type of person who gets life insurance and does not like any think new or trendy. Typically old people.

>Struggler: a disorganised person, who is a large consumer of drugs/alcohol/junk food/fake goods. Watches Jeremy Kyle e.g. unemployed.

>Aspirer: a materialistic type of person who believe/engage in plastic surgery adverts, watches Holyoaks e.g. students.

>Mainstreamer: a conformist/domestic/conventional person, who won’t shop at Aldi/Lidi because they sell not known brands. Also won’t buy latest tech, they will wait entail it become conventional.

>Succeeder: some one with strong goals/confident/god work ethic. Shows off with high quality brand cloths, watches bake off e.g. secondary student.

>Explorer: an energetic person, who enjoys “new” expiries. Wants the latest tech e.g. the apple watch/google glasses/ electronic car. Watching the latest blockbuster e.g. upper class, gap year person.

>Reformer: free from restriction/personal growth/social awareness. Conscience about recycling/fairtrade/grow your own. Buys nice, good quality, non branded cloths. Shop small, local rather than big and faceless. Watches world documenters e.g. middle age traveller.

Applying audience theories to Footloose.

• In this film, I think they are playing to the need of love and belonging because it stars with a voice over of a religious speech.

• However the dancing feet, that officially starts the film and tells the audience who is in the film, could be playing on the need to be creative and have self-confidence.

• The people in the church are shown to be a passive audience, because they don't question what the preacher says, unlike the viewer (me and the main characters in the movie) who are an active audience, questions what he is saying. As an active audience, they are looking for a diversion of their own life.

• The pleasure is aesthetic- a beautifully made text. I think this because is it about young people and a town going though tragedy and hardship. Fun, music and dance were taken away from them and rules and restriction put in there place. All the young people want to do is dance.

• None of the people are really above a B or C1 on the social-economic scale, this makes the film relatable for a majority.

• An example of Young and Rubican cross cultural consumer characterization is that the preacher is a resigned character. He does not like things that are new, trendy, possibly dangerous or sexualised. In the opening Arial is portrayed as a struggler/explorer, she is a consumer of alcohol and junk food, but also wants new experiences and thrills. Ren, the main characterer, is shown as a reformer, he appears free from restriction, because he has read books that are banned in the town. The hole town is mainstream and conventional they, like the preacher, don’t want things that are new. The people seen are domestic and conformist.