Uses and Gratifications Theory:
"The public actively seek out specific media outlets and content for gratification purposes. Knowledge enhances as well as fulfils certain needs"
People watch thriller movies for enjoyment and to seek thrills for their own personal gratification. Fans of thriller movies seek out specific films within the genre and challenge themselves with anticipation and are able to identify with the on screen characters through catharsis.
Reception Theory:
"Emphasises the reader's reception or decoding of a text. Focuses on the preferred, negotiated or oppositional readings"
Audience members' reactions to thriller films varies from individual to individual. How each person receives the text will depend on their own personal understanding.
Two-Step Flow:
"The intended message is directly received an, more importantly, wholly accepted by the receiver"
By using the conventions effectively, the audience should receive the film in the way the film-makers intended. In a thriller, audience members will experience anticipation and danger.
Hypodermic Needle Model:
"The public form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, that in turn are influenced by the mass media. Ideas flow from the mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population"
Film-makers use conventions to manipulate audiences into believing their ideologies and changes audiences' perceptions of the world.
