Research: Reception Theory

Given that the effects model and the uses and gratifications have their problem and limitations a different approach to audience was developed by the academic 'Stuart Hall' at Birmingham University in the 1970's. This is considered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences

The theory suggests:
- When a producer constricts a text it is encoded with a meaning or message that the producer wishes to convey to the audience
- In some instances audiences will correctly decode the message or meaning and understand what the producer was trying to say
- In some instances the audience will either reject or fail to correctly understand the message

Stuart Hall identified 3 types of audience readings (or decoding) of the text:
1) Dominant or preferred - where the audience decodes the message as the producer wants them to do and broadly agrees with it. E.g. watching a political speech and agreeing with it.
2) Negotiated - where the audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text in the light of previously help views e.g. neither agreeing no disagreeing with the political speech.
3) Oppositional -where the dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons e.g. total rejection of the political speech and active opposition

Audience decodes meaning and message:
Producer -> Dominated or preferred
Encodes -> Negotiated
Meaning -> Oppositional