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| http://media-studies.mrshollyenglish.com/theory/audiences-institutions/audience-theory |
This is an audience theory that sees consumers as following the climb up this pyramid for gratification and Self-actualization.
It was discovered by Abraham Maslow, a psychologist who believed that people have layers of needs. These layers in ascending in fulfillment are physiological, security, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualizing needs. Physiological covers all the common need people have like water and health, the next caste establishes the need for things like a home, stability, and income. Then there are more emotion-based tiers like love and relationships and high self-esteem that needs to be built in order to feel fulfilled. The last tier at the top is the need for fulfillment itself because after all the tiers have been surpassed that's the only way you can reach it. Companies still theorize that consumers go through this process thus market their products around this way of thinking, especially with literature or anything tells a story. That's why knowing this theory is crucial to creating any written media because people need a guide to know what structure a story should follow to ensure its effectiveness.
Another heavily used audience theory is Cultivation theory which paints consumers as a passive audience that when subjected to the same false information over and over again, will start to believe it is true. This way of thinking was constructed by a screenwriter, Larry Gross, and professor in communications, George Gerbner. At its core, it is the effect that long term media consumption specifically with TV, has on people. This same theory is the basis for the argument that video games make people violent, though there is no link there scientifically. Advertisements use this theory's mechanics in how they distribute their promotions, making sure that people see a company's ad more than once a day.
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