The theory of cultivation establishes a link between television and social life; the blending that takes place between television as a technology and an institution and how these segments affect a person's perception of the real society. The concept of cultivation has been growing since its inception in the 1960s. The twenty-first century has marked important improvements and growth in this sector as demonstrated in research and publications of 625 works related to cultivation (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). The primary hypothesis, on cultivation, is that the more one spends watching television, the more likely he is to perceive the actual world. The events on the television become a standard by which he judges the real world scenarios.
Gerbner made an influential contribution to this field. He argued that the objectives ought to have received a comprehensive analysis for a democratic decision in a time when institutions focused on disguising policies to achieve an objective. Gerbner reasoned that the television was a means or platform of transforming coded messages that had the potential to arouse a shared heritage. He further noted that the manner in which and the content of these messages are conveyed affects the society by superimposing new understandings to older ones (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). Therefore, the institutions using television convey messages, which later change the society and these impacts each other. The general observation from that period and other works revealed that the impact of television on a viewer’s perception was based on the viewing time; those who view longer are highly affected than those with short viewing hours of the same content.
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Occurrence of Cultivation
Cultivation is real both resulting in both long-term and short-term impacts. The effects can be demonstrated through advertisements (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). Companies compete for consumers through advertisement, and the ability of a company to influence a greater percentage of consumers is based on the quality if the advert through television. Consumers are thereby influenced to purchase a given product even without having an encounter without in real life.
The role of Cambridge Analytica in influencing Trump's 2016 presidential election is also an example of the reality of cultivation. Cambridge Analytica used special messages tailored and delivered to audiences in social media and other Media to influence the voters in favor of Trump, which was successful (Hilder & Lewis, 2018). In conclusion, the power of cultivation is used in day-to-day television and other media broadcasting to educate the audience to behave in a particular way.
Reference
Hilder, P., and Lewis, P. (2018). Leaked: Cambridge Analytica’s blueprint for Trump Victory. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/23/leaked-cambridge-analyticas-blueprint-for-trump-victory
Morgan M. & Shanahan, J. (2010). The State of Cultivation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 54 (2): 337–355.
