Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall is a media theorist on audience. He states the reception theory - the idea that communication is a process involving encoding by producers and decoding by audiences.
He states the idea that there are three hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded:
- The dominant-hegemonic position:the encoder's intended meaning (the preferred reading) is fully understood and accepted. (you agree and believe what its telling you)
- The negotiated position: The legitimacy of the encoder's message is acknowledged in general terms, although the message is adapted of negotiated to better fit the decoder's own individual experiences or context. (You wont do what the ad says but you agree with it)
- The oppositional position: The encoder's message is understood, but the decoder disagrees with it, reading it in a contrary or oppositional way. (You completely decline what the ad offers becasue it is useless or wont work)
*encoder = producer
*decoder = audience