Stuart Hall - Reception Theory

Preferred reading - The right reading of a text. What the producer wants an audience to think when reading text. A producer may actually have multiple meanings/readings. Audience can get whatever they want out of any media text.

Audience response - Three groups of audience response. These can help us to understand whether or not an audience sticks to the preferred reading, or if they decide to make their own decision as to how to decode text.

Dominant reading - The audience believes with the dominant values in the text, and agrees with the values and ideology it shows.

Oppositional reading - The audience completely disagrees with what they see, and rejects the dominant reading.

Negotiated reading - The audience generally agrees with what they see, but they may disagree with certain aspects.

Dominant reading - That the audience believes the producer's ideology that coca cola means you are successful and attractive

Oppositional reading - The audience hates the idea that coke makes you successful and attractive when they 'know' that it is unhealthy and rots your teeth. It instigates laziness. They use the common ideology that sex sells.

Negotiated reading - They may agree that coca-cola is a symbol of success but may also know that it is unhealthy.

Wateraid advert

Dominant reading - The audience believes with producer's ideology that the audience is meant to feel sympathetic towards people in Africa.

Oppositional reading - May not agree with advert ideology at all. Romanticised poverty. Presents African countries as all the same.

Negotiated reading -The audience may agree with the fact that certain parts of Africa need water but may not feel sympathy for these people.