Thinking about the media: A review of theory and research on media perceptions, media effects perceptions, and their consequences

Abstract

This review explicates the past, present and future of theory and research concerning audience perceptions of the media as well as the effects that perceptions of media have on audiences. Before the sections that examine media perceptions and media effects perceptions, we first identify various psychological concepts and processes involved in generating media-related perceptions. In the first section, we analyze two types of media perceptions: media trust/credibility perceptions and bias perceptions, focusing on research on the Hostile Media Perception. In both cases, we address the potential consequences of these perceptions. In the second section, we assess theory and research on perceptions of media effects (often referred to as Presumed Influence) and their consequences (referred to as the Influence of Presumed Influence). As examples of Presumed Influence, we evaluate the literature on the Persuasive Press Inference and the Third-Person Perception. The bodies of research on media perceptions and media effects perceptions have been featured prominently in the top journals of the field of mass communication over the past 20 years. Here we bring them together in one synthetic theoretical review.

Perceptions of Minority Discrimination: Perspectives of Jews Living in Germany on News Media Coverage

“…One implication of the concept is that an individual’s perception of unfavorable news media coverage can lead to concerns about the effects of this coverage on third persons and on public opinion more broadly. Vice versa, McLeod et al (2017) state that “part of the motivation for developing perceptions of the media comes from concerns about the potential negative effects that media have (or the potential positive effects that they fail to have) on oneself, on others, and on society” (p. 52).…”

“…Media (influence) perceptions have been intensively studied (McLeod et al, 2017; Perloff, 2009; Sun et al, 2008) among a variety of political actors, ranging from ordinary citizens, such as voters (e.g., Cohen & Tsfati, 2009), to politicians (e.g., Cohen et al, 2008; Pfetsch, 2014) and journalists (e.g., Bernhard & Dohle, 2014, 2018; Strömbäck, 2011). Research has also investigated media perceptions among members of religious minorities, particularly Muslims in Western countries (Neumann et al, 2018; Saleem & Ramasubramanian, 2017; Saleem et al, 2019).…”

The origins of media trust in a young democracy

“…It is frequently noted that a widely agreed-upon definition of media trust does not exist. Some have questioned its distinctiveness from media credibility which has a long research history in communication studies (see McLeod et al, 2017). Whereas the research on credibility has primarily investigated how properties of either the source, message, or media channel influence the course of communication, media trust is a relational concept focusing on the audiences' attitudes regarding the news media (Kohring & Matthes, 2007).…”

“…Many democratic countries across the world have experienced a significant decline of public trust in news media in recent decades (Hanitzsch, Van Dalen & Steindl, 2018). Consequently, a great deal of research effort has been directed towards understanding the causes of such decline (for an overview, see McLeod, Wise & Perryman, 2017). In line with cultural and performance theories regarding institutional trust, previous studies have commonly analyzed media trust as a function of audience characteristics and/or media performance (Hanitzsch et al, 2018;Hopmann, Shehata & Strömbäck, 2015;Ladd, 2012;Pjesivac, 2017).…”

Digitalization of Politics; Deconstructing the Role of (Social) Media in Democratic Strengthening: A Situational Analysis of Pakistan

“…A contentious association between both the government and the media is a requisite & wholesome element of properly operational democracies in certain civilizations (Couldry, Nick, Hepp, Andreas, 2013). Rather than any kind of clear motivating factors of professional responsibility for the consequences of news reporters, the elements often used for shaping the narrative are explanatory of political inclinations & "game framing, wherein the process that influences are regarded as organizational strategic contests" (McLeod et al, 2017). This might result in a rise in people's perceptions of biased media.…”