Mass Comm Theories/Media Effect Theories/Persuasion Theories PDF

BKK 23303 MASS COMM THEORIES/ MEDIA EFFECT THEORIES/ PERSUASION THEORIES  1)Magic Bullet Theory Introduced in the 1940s and 1950s. Also called as ‘hypodermic needle theory’ Mass media has direct, immediate & powerful effect on its audiences. ‘shooting’ or ‘inj...

BKK 23303 MASS COMM THEORIES/ MEDIA EFFECT THEORIES/ PERSUASION THEORIES  1)Magic Bullet Theory Introduced in the 1940s and 1950s. Also called as ‘hypodermic needle theory’ Mass media has direct, immediate & powerful effect on its audiences. ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ all audience members with the same message, causing a uniform thinking among them. Public are all passive and equally susceptible to media messages.  The War of the Worlds example is the most classic illustration of this media theory: radio listeners were told an alien invasion was happening and immediately panicked and sprang into action, without questioning the report or its origins.  1)Magic Bullet Theory Public are weak-willed robots, powerless to resist the impact. End up thinking they way they are told. The mass media is said to have the ability to shape public opinion Persuade the masses toward nearly any point of view desired. Limitation of information sources (only TV & radio). Magic Bullet Theory Mass Media Isolated individuals constituting a mass  In China, MBT is still very much applicable whereby media is still view as important tool for government to disseminate information to the public. People still believe what the media says – media violence (eg: children imitation of Superman which caused tragic death who try to imitate Superman in flying off a building).  2) Two-step Flow Theory Developed by Katz & Lazarsfeld. Process of decision-making during Presidential election campaign Surprise to discover, informal, personal contacts were more influential in influencing voting behavior as compared to mass media. Mass media influence society’s key opinion leaders, who in turn influence the opinions and actions of society itself. Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and behaviors and are quite similar to those they influence.  2) Two-step Flow Theory Opinion leaders (OL) – influential figures - Elected public officials, powerful business executives and religious figures. All of us rely on various people for information and guidance because we believe they are knowledgeable about particular subject. Media is less powerful. Move in two-levels: - OL pay attention to mass media messages - Pass on their own interpretations in addition to actual media content.  2) Two-step Flow Theory Example: High technology companies often design their marketing strategy to first reach respected journalists & experts who really know the industry. They are opinion leaders who will ultimately tell the public whether the new product is good or not. Two-Step Flow Theory Mass Media Opinion leader Individuals as social contact with an OL  Flow Theories COMM2033 Mass Media & Society – Norhayati Abd Manaf 11  3) Agenda-Setting Hypothesis Introduced in 1972 by Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw 1968 presidential campaign, North Carolina. Mass media ‘tell people not what to think (of), but what to think (about)’ The ability to tell us what issues are important and determine what can and can’t be talked about. Media tend to concentrate on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.  3) Agenda-Setting Hypothesis Filter news and set agenda through gatekeeping (series of checkpoints that the news has to go through before its to the public). Some gatekeepers include reporters, editors and writers or even external influences. Mass media has the ultimate persuasion power over public, able to structure our thinking. Publics are passive participants. Mass media have a large influence on audiences by choosing what stories to consider newsworthy and how much prominence and space to give them.  Issue A more important than Issue B Conclusion: Mass Public Issue A more important Media than Issue B  4) Uses and Gratification Theory Developed by Blumler & Katz. This theory was born because of the weakness of the Agenda Setting Theory. This theory challenges agenda setting theory (who says that the source has the ultimate power of persuasion over the receiver) This U&G says that the receivers (publics) has the ability to pick and choose their channels of information.  4) Uses and Gratification Theory Mass media power in the society is limited. The power now rest on audience. Able to choose from a wide variety of sources. Act as own gatekeeper. Media usage is motivated by goals - information/ entertainment/ infortainment. Media is simply used to satisfy our needs.  4) Uses and Gratification Theory This theory explains why audiences (publics) DO NOT PASSIVELY wait for media messages to arrive. This theory replaced the image of the audience (publics) as passive victims with an active selector of media messages. People make intelligent choices about what messages require their attention and meet their needs. That is why people are very selective about what articles they will read in the local daily. Most popular Websites from 2004 towards 2020. https://youtu.be/DxbS1qkx6qI  Question 1)Identify the major differences between Magic Bullet Theory and Uses and Gratification Theory.