Advertising Discourse Analysis

MASTERS

Communication and Advertising

Mass Media effects

on

individuals and society

The omnipotence of mass media 2
Media influence of society and individuals 3
Empirical studies on campaigns 4
Uses and Gratifications Theory 5
Broadcasting studies (the adaptation theory) 6
Studies on socialization 6
Studies on reception 7
Studies on the ideological effects 8
Theories of technological determinism 8
Spiral of silence theory 9
Studies on the agenda setting function 9
Wrapping it up 10
Bibliography 10

In 1938, after a radio broadcast of a show called „War of the Worlds”, an Orson Welles adaptation of H.G. Wells’ famous book, in which the USA was being invaded by Martians, general panic took over all over the United States. People left their houses terrified by the imaginary invasion, thousands of crimes were committed and for many the Apocalypse had arrived. Luckily the show did not last! Even so, that spectacular chain of events enforced the scientists’ belief that mass-media effects are not only immediate but also direct and constant.

The omnipotence of mass media

By the time World War I had ended, mass manipulation through communication was already a well known fact and it represented a more or less accepted idea of the age. The arguments were based on what is called the conditioned reflex: an individual submitted to a stimulus (in this case, the message of a radio broadcast or a film), will react more or less instinctively and always the same. Studies conducted in the Unites States between 1929 and 1932 revealed that children for example, may end up developing sleep disorders or even try to copy the behavior of their heroes due to certain films. Mass-media is always growing and developing, expanding its territory, developing new grids and ways of transmitting information, but also diversifying its shows and constantly adapting to international competition and

Bibliography: 1) Bernard Voyenne - La presse dans la société contemporaine, 1971, (Paris, A.Colin) ; 2) Melvin L 3) Claude-Jean Bertrand - Introduction to written and spoken press, 2001, Media, Collegium Polirom; 4) Ioan Dragan – Mass communication paradigms 5) Paul Lazarsfeld & Elihu Katz - Personal Influence, 1955; 6) Everett M 7) Mireille Chalvon, Pierre Corset & Michel Souchon - L’enfant devant la télévision des années 1990; 8) Elihu Katz & Tamar Liebes - The Export of Meaning, 1990; 9) Herbert Marcuse - L’homme unidimensionnel, 1964; 10) Marshall McLuhan - Pour comprendre les médias, 1964; 11) Élisabeth Noëlle - Neumann, La Spirale du silence, in Hermès, no. 4, 1989; 12) Bregman Dorine - La fonction d’agenda: une problématique en devenir, in Hermès, no ----------------------- [1] Bernard Voyenne - La presse dans la société contemporaine, 1971, (Paris, A.Colin) [2] Melvin L. DeFleur, Sandra Ball-Rokeach – Theories of mass communication [3] Claude-Jean Bertrand - Introduction to written and spoken press, 2001, Media, Collegium Polirom [4] Ioan Dragan – Mass communication paradigms [5] Paul Lazarsfeld & Elihu Katz - Personal Influence, 1955 [6] Everett M. Rogers - The Diffusion of Innovations, 1962 [7] Mireille Chalvon, Pierre Corset & Michel Souchon - L’enfant devant la télèvision des années 1990 [8] Elihu Katz & Tamar Liebes - The Export of Meaning, 1990 [9] Herbert Marcuse - L’homme unidimensionnel, 1964 [10] Marshall McLuhan - Pour comprendre les médias, 1964 [11] Élisabeth Noëlle - Neumann, La Spirale du silence, in Hermès, no [12] Bregman Dorine - La fonction d’agenda: une problématique en devenir, in Hermès, no. 4, 1989