Audience reception theory

Audience reception theory is based on the way audiences interpret different texts. Some say that it is a newer version of the reader response literary theory.
Audience reception theory came about around the 1970's/80's and was on the work done by sociologist Stuart Hall. It was a way of characterising the wave of audience research and it went away from the idea that media had the power to directly cause a certain behaviour in an individual. It was also to show that audiences aren't passive. They engage when viewing a text and like to think about what they are watching.
This theory stated that texts are encoded with a meaning or with messages put in by the producers, which are then decoded by the audience. There are three types of readings which the audience will pick up on:

• Dominant/ Preferred
• Negotiated
• Oppositional

A dominant reading is where the audience decodes the text as the producer wants them to and then generally agrees with it. For example watching a political speech and agreeing with it.

A negotiated reading is where the audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text. This is like neither agreeing or disagreeing with a political speech

Then finally a oppositional reading is where the dominant meaning is recognised but then rejected due to social or cultural context. This is like completely rejecting what one of the political candidates is saying.