Two-Step Flow Theory

The Two-Step Flow theory is where information from the media moves in two steps. First the mass media will give the information to opinion leaders. The information then goes from opinion leaders to the public. But their information is interpreted with their own ideas and opinions. 

Examples of this are Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. They were spread by word-of-mouth and by people telling other people about them- not by big advertising campaigns. 

Hypodermic Needle

The Hypodermic Needle theory means that the mass media can influence what the audience does. The message the media wants to be heard is "injected" into the audience's mind which would cause a response. There are three main types of this theory:

• TESTIMONIALS: A type of endorsement which is when the media plays off admiration and respect of celebrities to influence the audience. 

These are some examples of testimonials (celebrity endorsements). They influence the audience to buy their products because a well-loved celebrity is approving of them. 

• FRAMING: This is when the media are bias and deceptive. They leave out information that may make you change your mind about certain media issues or what they're trying to sell.

These are two examples of Framing. They both advertise their products but there is a lot of missing information. For example, on the advert above, there are starts next to 'free' and 'bottle' so there must be more to the advert. On the advert to the right, it says "results not typical" as they are advertising but not giving out all of their information- just one success story. 

• BANDWAGON: Bandwagon has a mass appeal and readily attracts more and more followers. This is because everyone else is doing it and the audience wants to feel part of the community. 

These are examples of bandwagon advertising. The McDonald's one says that 'over 99 billion served' stating that a lot of people are getting McDonald's burgers that everyone else should too. This causes people to go to McDonald's because they don't want to be missing out. The mascara advert states that it's the number 1 mascara worldwide which makes people believe it is very popular and that they should also get it because many other people have. 

Uses & Gratifications