The Media Reception Theory is one by Stuart Hall, a Jamaican-British sociologist. The theory discusses that there are a many messages which are intentionally placed by producers within a media text (encoded), which are meant to be picked apart and understood by the audience (decoded). The theory also emphasises that there are ‘readings’ which the audience unintentionally follow. The audience are split into one three groups. ‘Preferred reading’, ‘Negotiated reading’, and ‘Oppositional Reading’. These groups are made apparent when discussing or reviewing a media text.
When reading, watching, or viewing a media piece, there will always be these three groups present. The ‘Preferred reading’ are the group that the media text would appeal to when viewing it. It will have points and messages that are meant to be agreed with by those within the preferred reading group, as they may share the same ideology or opinions as the creator of the piece. The Negotiated reading is when the audience member partially agrees with the decoding in the piece but the individuals values or experience means they may resist some of the intended meanings. For example, this could happen when a person is watching a comedy show but doesn’t find it funny due to the face that they have seen other examples elsewhere which have been very similar. It would appeal to the user if they hadn’t already seen the similar texts. The Oppositional reading is very different from the previous two. This is when the audience member completely rejects what they have decoded from the media text. In the same example as before, this audience member completely rejects the ‘funny’ jokes, and they are considered offensive or disrespectful to them.
Using an example from today, in the Digital age, we can see how these groups come into action. This is through the example of influencer marketing. Social media is becoming one of the biggest methods of capturing an audience and this is how businesses use influencers to market for them. Encoding within the social media influencer marketing is very visual. There are a lot of visual eye-catchers, as well as language and captions. When an influencer would encode their piece, they may place hashtags or phrases which relate to it. For example, if an influencer was to create a TikTok video about a fitness campaign they are passionate about, they may hashtag it “#empowerment” “#fitnessfreak” in order to promote it and reach a wider audience. They may also place a narrative around the product in order to make it more persona. This could be as simple as talking about a personal experience.
To decode this, the audience are needed. They will pick apart the piece and see what parts appeal to them, unintentionally, using their ethics and morals. This is where the audience become part of the preferred, negotiated, or oppositional groups to decode it. The preferred readers will be those of a fitness background, and have an interest in health or wellbeing, as this is who it will appeal the most to. The negotiated reading will be those who are partly interested, or may seek motivation through TikTok videos that influencers may create. I guess you could say that they are looking to be ‘influenced’ into starting new fitness journey. Then, the oppositional riders will be those who are opposed to exercise, or may live a more relaxed, and dare I say lazy, lifestyle.
