I believe that this theory occurs on
a day-to-day basis and all of us are witnesses to it and never even know
it. Unlike the 1930’s, media is a part
of our daily lives. Every turn we make,
whether driving down the highway, walking down the street, reading the
newspaper, or turning on our TV, we are being exposed to some form of media. It feels that sometimes we are constantly
being informed how to look better, feel better, save money etc. I feel that the theory is in some ways accurate,
but at the same time this proverbial hypodermic needle is also a communication
tool. Instead of being looked at as
influencing individuals, it can be viewed as a tool to attract attention, spark
interest, explain ideas, trigger emotions, create desire, initiate action, or
influence what people feel and remember.
The theory can be looked at in two ways I guess. One being that we are being controlled by
corporate media or two, that corporate media is simply trying to sell a product
or service in a creative way that will leave a mark in our mind.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Hypodermic Needle Theory
The Hypodermic Needle Theory
During
the mid 1930’s, experts discovered the first theory on how media affected
behavior. During WW2 media played a
vital role in both the US and Germany to influence people’s mind set. Germany used the film industry for propaganda
and they produced movies showing their achievements, which made a great impact
in the German people’s mind. Later the US also used Hollywood and produced
films like “Its Happened one night”, “It’s a wonderful life” and Mr. Smith goes
to Washington” to portray Germany as an evil force which also made an impact in
American people’s mind. In these cases,
the audience accepts the information the media is providing with out
refusal. The media broadcasted the
message directly into audience head without their own knowledge. The message
caused an instant reaction from the audience mind without any hesitation and
this was referred to as the “Magic Bullet Theory” or the “Hypodermic Needle
Theory”. The media, who is acting as the
needle, injects the message into audience mind, which causes changes in
behavior towards the message. Both
theories deal with the impact of media messages in audience’s mind and how they
react toward the message. The
"Magic Bullet" theory graphically assumes that the media's message is
a bullet fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's
"head" (Berger 1995). Similarly, the "Hypodermic Needle
Model" uses the same idea of the "shooting" paradigm. It
suggests that the media injects its messages straight into the passive audience
(Croteau, Hoynes 1997).
Cherry, K. (2011, September) 28% Persuasion Techniques [Web Article] Retrieved from:
http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/persuasiontech.htm
Underwood, M. (2010) The
Hypodermic Needle Model [Web Article] Retrieved from:
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