What is decoding in communication?

Decoding is step two of a process first described by communication scholar Stuart Hall. He first discussed step one-- encoding. Encoding refers to creating or producing a message; decoding refers to the listener or audience interpreting and understanding that message. For example, a company that sells candy bars wants you to buy one of theirs, rather than their competitor's. So they create a fun television commercial (encoding). You see it on TV and you interpret and understand what was being told to you (decoding).