33. In teen/young adult magazines, a theory that can be applied is moral panic . In this situation the audience is bombarded with images of the ideal body, the ideal shape, by the media. In response woman and girls around the world face problems such as low self-esteem, poor body image , and even conditions as serious as bulimia and anorexia as a result of this. People worry that the media is to blame for these dramatic health risk and must change, and many campaigns have been set up to fight this cause.
34. Also related to this is the hypodermic injection theory , where the idea that woman and girls need to conform to the perfect body to feel accepted and good about themselves has been injected into the passive audience reading these magazines. Many argue that this is not the case as audiences are not passive, however many vulnerable audiences are. These include young girls, much like many teenagers reading the magazines, and self conscious females, who may also be a large part of these magazine audiences. The hypodermic injection theory can also be applied to the advertisement in both the diabetic and the teen/young adult magazines. In both, advertisement pages take up a huge part of the magazine; audiences flicking through the pages will subconsciously take in all these advertisements, and perhaps even consciously be interested by them and by the product being sold. A further theory is the passive audience theory, present in both the hypodermic injection and moral panic theory where the audience takes in the text without making their own interpretations but accepting the preferred reading. This can particularly be applied to advertisements within the magazine.
35. The two step flow theory , where opinions of a text are passed down through the main media to opinion leaders and then a larger population or group, can be applied in many ways. Firstly cult magazines will rely on opinion leaders to tell others about their magazine such as other diabetics telling their friends/family or doctors telling their patients. A second way this can be applied is through the celebrities on the covers or featured in the magazines. Their appearance on the cover connotes that they approve of the text which may lead to the audience buying the magazine. In this same way the theory can be applied to celebrities used in advertisements to sell a product. Though the use of celebrities rarely appears in diabetic magazines.
41. The results: for non -diabetics 1 gossip and news 1 fashion 1 advice 11 gossip and news 9 fashion 1 horoscopes 1 reviews 5 style tips 1 advice 1 gossip and news 1 fashion 1 horoscopes What do you tend to buy magazines for? (Number of votes for…) Good recipe ideas. Helpful articles Good mix of articles (food, health tips, fashion). Fun to read Fashion pages Interesting articles. Lots of fashion tips. Men overheard section (helps understand men) Why? Good food Red magazine Cosmo More Mari Claire Vogue Heat Look More What’s your favourite magazine? 2 monthly 1 never 4 weekly 4 monthly 4 less than monthly 1 weekly How often do you buy magazines? 40+ years old 26-39 years old 16-25 years old 0-15 years old Responses Questions
42. The results: for diabetics 2 gossip and news 2 fashion 1 style tips 4 gossip news 4 fashion 2 style tips 2 reviews 3 advice 2 gossip and news 2 fashion What do you tend to buy magazines for? (Number of votes for…) Lots of celebrity gossip Fashion Lots of information Lots of fashion pages Interesting articles Great posters/photos Celebrity news Why? Heat Cosmo OK Vogue Elle Grazia Cosmo Mari Claire Sugar Heat What’s your favourite magazine? 1 never 2 less than monthly 1 more than once a week 2 weekly 1 monthly 1 less than monthly 1 monthly 1 less than monthly How often do you buy magazines? (Number of votes for…) Stories from sports people Real life stories and problem letters If yes what do you find most effective? 2 yes 1 no 5 no 2 no Do you subscribe to any diabetic magazines? (Number of votes for…) 40+ years old 26-39 years old 16-25 years old 0-15 years old Responses Questions