Audiences response and behaviour : task 1

     Abigail Mbaki                     Audience Response and Behaviour  

 Task 1  

For this assignment I will be analysing the effects of audience response and behaviour towards shooting games for 16-18 year olds.  

According to the American Psychological Association research it " demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in pro-social behaviour, empathy and sensitivity to the aggression". This research suggests that violent video games do have an effect on a child's behaviour. 

The hypodermic needle is a theory about audiences , the theory implies that the media has a powerful effect on its audience, so it influences how it's audience think and feel by simply following instructions and doing as they are told. The hypodermic theory believe that their audience are passive. The creators of the shooting games such as GTA and Call of Duty produced and edited the game the way they wanted it to be by injecting its audience with information they want them to take in. With shooting / violence games it teaches its audience about information how to use weapons and their impacts on using it . Shooting / violence games teach individuals how to work as a team and also how to defend themselves. This  hypodermic theory proves that the media has an impact on how you react or think towards things and what you consume as an audience. The hypodermic theory is like a big needle that the creators have packed on what they want the audience to receive it .  

The audience who play these violent games such as Call of duty and Grand theft auto have passively chosen to play it , they went out of their way to play the game by choice and did not question anything about it but just accepted what they receive.  According to my survey results 72% of the students play shooting games by choice and 61% enjoy playing the shooting game.  

In terms of the uses and  gratification theory it explains why the audience have decided to consume different types of media. The Harrold Lassell theory believes that audiences use the media for their own well-being and entertainment. Harrold also believes that once you start to watch/ play something you enjoy you begin to look for similar things that correlate with what you like . For example from our survey statistics the 61% of my target audience who enjoy playing shooting games, play a range of different shooting games . Another example is , if the audience members play GTA , because they are impressed with the results of the first addition that they have played , they won't hesitate to by a new version when it comes out because they put their trust in the games and know what to expect.  

Participatory is when the audience at home get the chance to participate with the media they are taking in. In terms of this the target audience have decided to participate with my primary research by filling out my survey for me to gain first-hand information and results. Another participatory act is the audience by playing the games, they get a chance to participate in online competitions and get the chance to invite their friends through social media linked with the games.  

Oppositional is when the audiences are aware of the negativity of the media they are consuming but they reject it because they feel that the good out weighs the bads. For example my target audience are aware that these shooting games contain violent graphic contents of killings and shootings which can be very effective. But because they enjoy playing the game, they ignore these factors. Many of our target audience preferred to play violent/ shooting games more than other game genres because they find it very entertaining and fun. 

Many of our target audience are aware of the effects of exposure to explicit sexual or violent content. In the game GTA there are explicit sexual content. According to my survey results and statistics it shows that 94% of the audience meet the legal age requirement to play these violent games which is 18. They are fully aware of the sexual contents and it does not affect them. 

In terms of effects of advertising the creators of the game advertised the game in a way which they know the audience will like. When watching these game adverts they include the shooting parts, fights and sexual contents. What they see is what they get. The adverts are not deceiving , they portray exactly what Is in the game. The adverts are advertised on different platforms such as , Youtube, being an ad before the videos that views have to actively watch. It is also advertised on TV, at bus stops , on buses and twitter. The pictures used for the adverts are eye catching and make the audience want to know more about the game.