Hypodermic Needle Theory or Magic 'Bullet theory' in Communication theories

Hypodermic Needle Theory or Magic 'Bullet theory'

In the 1920s and 1930s, Mass Media and its effects garnered a huge interest. It was around this time that Harold Lasswell proposed the theory termed as ‘Hypodermic Needle theory’. This theory was also addressed as ‘Bullet Theory’ (Schramm, 1971).

Hypodermic Needle Theory- It spoke about media injecting information directly into the minds of people who are basically passive recipients.

Bullet Theory- The message was considered as a magic bullet fired by a Mass Media gun into the ‘Head’ of the Recipient/ Audiences.

Through this theory Harold Lasswell propounded that Mass Media had a direct effect on its audiences from his era. Mass Media was considered to be like a needle that injects information or a bullet of information that directly influences an individual and the effect can cause immediate effects. Harold further added that just like a bullet, messages are shot in the minds of the people, who are the direct audience and there are desired effects.

The period between 1940’s to 1950’s gradually saw the rise of Mass Media and its power to influence. This was in the background of the gradual discovery of radio and television. World War II also saw the massive propaganda done by Hitler using mass media. It was also a time when there was an emergence on the study of persuasion and the persuasion industries of advertising and propaganda.

The effect of Mass Media also became an issue of concern due to the Payne Fund Studies in 1930’s which focused on the impact of Motion pictures and Children.

A classic example of the Magic Bullet theory or the Hypodermic Needle theory effect was seen in a Radio Broadcast that occurred in 1938 in the US. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and his theatre group broadcasted their ‘Radio Edition’ based on the story by H.G Wells, ‘War of the Worlds’.

On Halloween, the Radio Programme was intercepted by a ‘news Bulletin’ for the first time announcing the invasion from Martians in a place called Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. It was called a Panic Broadcast and around one million people from among the 12 Million people who read the broadcast were affected. There was a pandemonium of sorts where people rushed out to rural areas and raided shops to stock food out of fear of war with aliens. There were interrupted religious services, traffic jams and communication systems seemed to have got clogged. This is how the theory was considered to have been proved successful as information had been directly shot at the public. This theory proved that Mass Media could be used to manipulate the thoughts patterns and mindsets of gullible and passive recipients of Mass Media.

However, newer discoveries occurred between 1940 to 1968, wherein during the election of Franklin D Roosevelt in 1940, the Propaganda done through Mass Media did not affect voting Patterns, on the contrary people were influenced by Interpersonal Communication, opinion leader circles, etc. This was the result why the theory was replaced by other theories.