Week 2 – Media Processing and Retention
The basic principles of the Entertainment Model of Vorderer et al. (2004)
“Enjoyment” only happens when the information is seen, accepted and processed
by the consumer
→ How can media information be processed?
1. Hypodermic Needle Model
Message Medium Receiver Effect
Magic Bullit/Stimulus Response Theory: Intended message is directly received and fully accepted by
the receiver. Messages are not filtered by the consumer. Known for its use in WWII.
2. Uses & Gratifications Model
How people use media for satisfying need
Many theories on what needs, e.g. Maslow or Katz,
Gurevitch & Hass:
o Cognitive: info
o Affective: emotional/pleasure
o Personal/social integrative: self-image
o Tension release: escape/diversion
Types of Gratifications:
Uses & Gratifications linked to:
o PSI / Twitter:
o Celebrity: Maintaining their popularity/image, giving their followers the illusion of
‘Backstage’. Fan: Insider information. → Actor-observer effect becomes weaker. Actor
becomes more familiar to observer.
o Social Media
o Esteem (respect and self-respect)
o Social contact = Love/Belonging
Criticism of U&G research
, 1. It is strongly individualist (or even ‘too psychological’)
a. cultural scholars, from a psychological perspective it is entirely appropriate
2. It fails to reflect the influence of the overall media environment
a. U&G approach can only account for specific media at any given time, so that is fails
to capture the overall influence of media on behaviour → parasocial interaction
3. Limited Capacity Model
Message processing is limited. Picking up stimuli is not so much the problem but integrating and
decomposing stimuli and making sense of the stimuli takes time and energy. The human mind is not
able to propose all the stimuli that are being exposed to.
Miller (1965): short-term memory can only hold 7 chunks of information
(plus/minus 2) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. A chunk could refer to digits,
words, chess positions, or people’s faces.
Message processing is a bottle neck. Not everything is selected to begin with because not everything
can be processed anyway. You decide what you want to memorize/pay your attention to.
Attention A process you can steer (paying attention)
A conscious, intentional process
Something automatic
The Entertainment Model
Entertainment is understood as “a response to a media product”
1. User Prerequisites
a. Suspension of Disbelief – The reader needs to perceive the events described in the
narrative as if they were “real”, despite being obviously “unreal” to enjoy it.
b. Empathy = caring about the characters
c. Parasocial Interaction – the audience’s capability and desire to relate to the
characters and personae featured in media products.
d. Presence = user’s sense of being there / describes what happens in the mind of
media users, when they are absorbed by some interesting content
e. Interest = user’s interest in a specific topic, problem, or knowledge domain
The basic principles of the Entertainment Model of Vorderer et al. (2004)
“Enjoyment” only happens when the information is seen, accepted and processed
by the consumer
→ How can media information be processed?
1. Hypodermic Needle Model
Message Medium Receiver Effect
Magic Bullit/Stimulus Response Theory: Intended message is directly received and fully accepted by
the receiver. Messages are not filtered by the consumer. Known for its use in WWII.
2. Uses & Gratifications Model
How people use media for satisfying need
Many theories on what needs, e.g. Maslow or Katz,
Gurevitch & Hass:
o Cognitive: info
o Affective: emotional/pleasure
o Personal/social integrative: self-image
o Tension release: escape/diversion
Types of Gratifications:
Uses & Gratifications linked to:
o PSI / Twitter:
o Celebrity: Maintaining their popularity/image, giving their followers the illusion of
‘Backstage’. Fan: Insider information. → Actor-observer effect becomes weaker. Actor
becomes more familiar to observer.
o Social Media
o Esteem (respect and self-respect)
o Social contact = Love/Belonging
Criticism of U&G research
, 1. It is strongly individualist (or even ‘too psychological’)
a. cultural scholars, from a psychological perspective it is entirely appropriate
2. It fails to reflect the influence of the overall media environment
a. U&G approach can only account for specific media at any given time, so that is fails
to capture the overall influence of media on behaviour → parasocial interaction
3. Limited Capacity Model
Message processing is limited. Picking up stimuli is not so much the problem but integrating and
decomposing stimuli and making sense of the stimuli takes time and energy. The human mind is not
able to propose all the stimuli that are being exposed to.
Miller (1965): short-term memory can only hold 7 chunks of information
(plus/minus 2) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. A chunk could refer to digits,
words, chess positions, or people’s faces.
Message processing is a bottle neck. Not everything is selected to begin with because not everything
can be processed anyway. You decide what you want to memorize/pay your attention to.
Attention A process you can steer (paying attention)
A conscious, intentional process
Something automatic
The Entertainment Model
Entertainment is understood as “a response to a media product”
1. User Prerequisites
a. Suspension of Disbelief – The reader needs to perceive the events described in the
narrative as if they were “real”, despite being obviously “unreal” to enjoy it.
b. Empathy = caring about the characters
c. Parasocial Interaction – the audience’s capability and desire to relate to the
characters and personae featured in media products.
d. Presence = user’s sense of being there / describes what happens in the mind of
media users, when they are absorbed by some interesting content
e. Interest = user’s interest in a specific topic, problem, or knowledge domain
