Stuart Hall - Reception Theory (Audience)

This theory suggests that media texts are encoded by the producer meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages (ideologies) which are decoded by the different audiences and perceived in different ways depending on the audience, not always in the way the producer intended.

The ways the audience reacts is broken down into 3 different categories:
1. Dominant/Preferred - the audience view the media text in the way the producer intended. The audience agree with the ideology and message behind the text.
2. Negotiated - this is a compromise between the dominant and the oppositional readings, the audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding in relation to the text.
3. Oppositional - the audience fully reject the meaning intended by the producer as they do not agree with it and so create their own reading of the text.

Factors that change how an audience react to a text include:
- personal experiences
- whether you like the genre or not
- gender
- age
- ethnicity/religion (ideology)
- social class
- level of education
- ability/disability
- regional identity
- sexuality