2.3 Media Effects Theories
Learning Objectives
- Identify the basic theories of media effects.
- Explain the uses of various media effects theories.
Early media studies focused on the use of mass media in propaganda and persuasion. However, journalists and researchers soon looked to behavioral sciences to help figure out the effect of mass media and communications on society. Scholars have developed many different approaches and theories to determine and study how communication works.
Media messages can impact its audience members in many ways. At the most superficial level, the media can inspire the short-term learning of information, though that highly depends on the motivation of the person engaging with the media content. Media messages could also inspire a number of other effects. Based on the content it displays, it may also inspire audience members to develop feelings about a product, individual, or idea (advertisers have found it far easier to get people to form new opinions rather than change existing ones). In some instance, media can inspire a behavioral or a psychological response. Refer to the theories in this chapter when researching communication and consider the many ways media messages can affect culture.
Widespread fear that mass-media messages could outweigh other stabilizing cultural influences, such as family and community, led to the direct effects model of media studies. This model assumed that audiences passively accepted media messages and would exhibit predictable reactions in response to those messages. For example, following the 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds that depicted a fictional news report of an alien invasion, some listeners panicked when they perceived the story as true.
Challenges to the Direct Effects Theory
The results of the People’s Choice Study challenged this model. Conducted in 1940, the study attempted to gauge the effects of political campaigns on voter choice. Researchers found that voters who consumed the most media had generally already decided for which candidate to vote, while undecided voters generally turned to family and community members to help them decide. The study thus discredited the direct effects model and influenced a host of other media theories (Hanson, 2009). These theories do not necessarily give an all-encompassing picture of media effects but rather work to illuminate a particular aspect of media influence.
Marshall McLuhan’s Influence on Media Studies
During the early 1960s, English professor Marshall McLuhan wrote two books that had an enormous effect on the history of media studies. Published in 1962 and 1964, respectively, the Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media both traced the history of media technology and illustrated the ways these innovations had changed both individual behavior and the wider culture. Understanding Media introduced a phrase that McLuhan has become known for: “The medium is the message.” This notion represented a novel take on attitudes toward media—that the media themselves became instrumental in shaping human and cultural experience.
His bold statements about media gained McLuhan a great deal of attention as both his supporters and critics responded to his utopian views about the ways media could transform 20th-century life. McLuhan spoke of a media-inspired “global village” at a time when Cold War paranoia reigned and the Vietnam War sparked heated debates. Although 1960s-era utopians received these statements positively, social realists found them cause for scorn. Despite—or perhaps because of—these controversies, McLuhan became a pop culture icon, mentioned frequently in the television sketch-comedy program Laugh-In and appearing as himself in Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall.
The Internet and its accompanying cultural revolution have made McLuhan’s bold utopian visions seem like prophecies. Indeed, his work has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Analysis of McLuhan’s work has, interestingly, not changed very much since the publication of his works. His supporters point to the hopes and achievements of digital technology and the utopian state that such innovations promise. The current critique of McLuhan, however, reveals the state of modern media studies. The field has grown since McLuhan published his work during the 1960s, and many contemporary scholars criticize his lack of methodology and theoretical framework for the ideas he espoused.
Despite his lack of scholarly diligence, McLuhan had a great deal of influence on media studies. Professors at Fordham University have formed an association of McLuhan-influenced scholars. McLuhan’s other great achievement lies in the popularization of the concept of media studies. His work brought the idea of media effects into the public arena and created a new way for the public to consider the influence of media on culture (Stille, 2000).
Agenda-Setting Theory
In contrast to the extreme views of the direct effects model, the agenda-setting theory of media states that mass media determine the issues that concern the public rather than the public’s views. Under this theory, the issues that receive the most attention from the media become the issues that the public discusses, debates, and advocates. This means that the media determines what issues and stories the public contemplates. Therefore, when the media fails to address a particular issue, it becomes marginalized (or unknown) in the public’s mind (Hanson).
When critics claim that a particular media outlet has an agenda, they draw on this theory. Agendas can range from a perceived liberal bias in the news media to the propagation of cutthroat capitalist ethics in films. For example, the agenda-setting theory explains such phenomena as the rise of public opinion against smoking. Before the mass media began taking an antismoking stance, most people perceived smoking as a personal health issue. By promoting antismoking sentiments through advertisements, public relations campaigns, and a variety of media outlets, the mass media moved smoking into the public arena, making it a public health issue rather than a personal health issue (Dearing & Rogers, 1996). Sometimes, coverage of natural disasters dominates the news cycle. However, as news coverage wanes, so does the general public’s interest.
Media scholars who specialize in agenda-setting research study the salience, or relative importance, of an issue and then attempt to understand what causes its importance. The relative salience of an issue determines its place within the public agenda, which in turn influences public policy creation. Agenda-setting research traces public policy from its roots as an agenda through its promotion in the mass media and finally to its final form as a law or policy (Dearing & Rogers, 1996).
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Practitioners of the uses and gratifications theory study how the public consumes media. This theory states that consumers use the media to satisfy specific needs or desires. For example, an individual may enjoy watching a show like Bridgerton while simultaneously tweeting about it on X (formerly Twitter) with friends. Many people use the Internet to seek entertainment, find information, communicate with like-minded individuals, or pursue self-expression. Each of these uses gratifies a particular need, and the needs determine the way in which each person uses the media. By examining factors of different groups’ media choices, researchers can determine the motivations behind media use (Papacharissi, 2009).
A typical uses and gratifications study explores the motives for media consumption and the consequences associated with the use of that media. In the case of Bridgerton and X, the aforementioned individual uses the Internet as a way to find entertainment and to connect with friends. Researchers have identified several common motives for media consumption. These include relaxation, social interaction, entertainment, arousal, escape, and a host of interpersonal and social needs. By examining the motives behind the consumption of a particular form of media, researchers can better understand both the reasons for that medium’s popularity and the roles that the medium fills in society. A study of the motives behind a given user’s interaction with Facebook, for example, could explain the role Facebook takes in society and the reasons for its appeal.
Uses and gratifications theories of media often get applied to contemporary media issues. The analysis of the relationship between media and violence discussed in the preceding sections exemplifies this. Researchers employed the uses and gratifications theory, in this case, to reveal a nuanced set of circumstances surrounding violent media consumption, as individuals with aggressive tendencies often find themselves drawn to violent media (Papacharissi, 2009).
Symbolic Interactionism
Another commonly used media theory, symbolic interactionism, states that individuals derive and develop their sense of self through human interaction. This means the way individuals act toward someone or something owes its basis on the meaning they have for a person or thing. To effectively communicate, people use symbols with shared cultural meanings. People can construct symbols from just about anything, including material goods, education, or even the way people talk. Consequentially, these symbols prove instrumental in the development of the self.
This theory helps media researchers better understand the field because of the important role the media plays in creating and propagating shared symbols. Because of the media’s power, it can construct symbols on its own. By using symbolic interactionist theory, researchers can look at the ways media affects a society’s shared symbols and, in turn, the influence of those symbols on the individual (Jansson-Boyd, 2010).
One of the ways the media creates and uses cultural symbols to affect an individual’s sense of self manifests through advertising. Advertisers work to give certain products a shared cultural meaning to make them desirable. For example, ownership of luxury automobiles signifies membership in a certain socioeconomic class. Technology company Apple has used advertising and public relations to attempt to become a symbol of innovation and nonconformity. Using an Apple product, therefore, may garner a symbolic meaning and send a particular message about the product’s owner.
Media also propagate other noncommercial symbols. National and state flags, religious images, and celebrities gain shared symbolic meanings through their representation in the media.
Spiral of Silence
The spiral of silence theory, which states that those who hold a minority opinion silence themselves to prevent social isolation, explains the role of mass media in the formation and maintenance of dominant opinions. As those who hold minority opinions self-silence, the illusion of consensus grows, and so does social pressure to adopt the dominant position. This creates a self-propagating loop in which minority voices become reduced to a minimum and perceived popular opinion sides wholly with the majority opinion. For example, before and during World War II, many Germans opposed Adolf Hitler and his policies; however, they kept their opposition silent out of fear of isolation and stigma.
Because the media serves as one of the most important gauges of public opinion, scholars often use this theory to explain the interaction between media and public opinion. According to the spiral of silence theory, if the media propagates a particular opinion, then that opinion will effectively silence opposing opinions through an illusion of consensus. This theory relates especially to public polling and its use in the media (Papacharissi).
Media Logic
The media logic theory states that common media formats and styles serve as a means of perceiving the world. Today, the deep rooting of media in the cultural consciousness means that media consumers need only engage with a particular television program for a few moments to understand its format, whether it is a news show, a comedy, or a reality show. The pervasiveness of these formats means that American culture uses the style and content of these shows as ways to interpret reality. For example, think about a TV news program that frequently shows heated debates between opposing sides on public policy issues. This style of debate has become a template for handling disagreement to those who consistently watch this type of program.
Media logic affects institutions as well as individuals. The modern televangelist has evolved from the adoption of television-style promotion by religious figures, while the utilization of television in political campaigns has led candidates to consider their physical image as an important part of a campaign (Altheide & Snow, 1991).
Cultivation Analysis
The cultivation analysis theory states that heavy exposure to media causes individuals to develop an illusory perception of reality based on the most repetitive and consistent messages of a particular medium. This theory most commonly applies to analyses of television because of that medium’s uniquely pervasive, repetitive nature. Under this theory, someone who watches a great deal of television may form a picture of reality that does not correspond to actual life. Televised violent acts, whether those reported on news programs or portrayed on television dramas, for example, greatly outnumber violent acts that most people encounter in their daily lives. Thus, an individual who watches a lot of television may view the world as more violent and dangerous than crime statistics suggest.
Cultivation analysis projects involve a number of different areas for research, such as the differences in perception between heavy and light users of media. To apply this theory, the media content that an individual normally watches must undergo analysis for various types of messages. Then, researchers must consider the given media consumer’s cultural background to correctly determine other factors that could influence an individual’s perception of reality. For example, the socially stabilizing influences of family and peer groups influence children’s television viewing and the way they process media messages. If an individual’s family or social circle plays a significant role in their life, the social messages they receive from these groups may compete with messages they receive from television.
