Audience Theory

What is Audience Theory?
Audience theory is a developed theory which is either literary theory, cultural studies and a main focus on rhetoric, it was said by Walter Ong suggested that "the audience is a construct made up by rhetoric and rhetorical stituation". However, other theorists like Ruth Mitchell and Mary Taylor have said "writers and speakers actually can target their communication to address a real audience". Other theorists such as Ede and Lunsford tried to combine both of the two approaches and create situations where audience is "fictionalized," as Ong would say, "but in recognition of some real attributes of the actual audience".

What is the Audience Theorys Effect Models?
The hypodermic needle model: The intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.
Two step flow: The people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model.
Uses and gratifications: People are not helpless victims of mass media, but use the media to get specific gratifications.
Reception theory: The meaning of a "text" is not inherent within the text itself, but the audience must elicit meaning based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.
Obstinate audience theory: This theory assumes that there is a transactional communication between the audience and the media. The audience actively selects what messages to pay attention to. The Zimmerman-Bauer study found that the audience also participates in the communication by influencing the message.

What is the hypodermic syringe effect?
The hypodermic syringe effect says that media is similar to a 'magic bullet' and when an audience is targeted it will immediately be knocked down when they are hit. Also, it suggests that society is passive, over-bearing and that the media “inject” their media influence into society and manipulates it. The Frankfurt school envisioned the media as a hypodermic syringe, and the contents of the media were injected into the thoughts of the audience, who accepted the attitudes, opinions and beliefs expressed by the media without question. This model was a response to the German fascist’s use of film and radio for propaganda, and later applied to American capitalist society.