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Hypodermic Needle Theory
Hypodermic Needle Theory
a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behavior change.
Harold Lasswell was the prominent theorist of the Hypodermic
Needle Theory. Lasswell (1927) theorized that the new mass media could directly influence and influence public opinion.
The fact is, he wrote, that propaganda is one of the most
powerful instrumentalities in the modern world" capable of welding millions of human beings into one amalgamated mass of hate and will and hope .
of communication, including:
The fast rise and popularization of radio and television.
The emergence of the persuasion industries, such as
themselves to those mass communications which are in agreement with their attitudes and interests.
Selective perception and retention i.e., peoples inclination to
organize the meaning of mass communication messages into accord with their already existing views.