Uses and Gratifications Theory
The
Uses and Gratification theory is based on the tenet that explains what people
are prone to do with media as compared to initial studies which highlighted the
phenomenon of what media did to its users. The theory proposes that people use
media in order to gratify their own needs. An individual may watch media for
the simple purpose of entertainment or for information. It could also be in
order to escape from boredom or stress or for other human needs. The needs
could vary and so could the choice of Media content.
Mathew Pittman and Kim
Sheehan, (2015) quote McQuail (2010) and say that “In an overview of how
audiences use media, they suggest that audiences tend to look for five basic
gratifications: to be informed or educated, to identify with characters of the
situation in the media environment, to simply be entertained, to enhance social
interactions, and finally, to escape from the stresses of everyday life.”
At a
time when studies were focusing on what Media can do to people, Uses and
Gratifications presented another tenet of highlighting the fact that People are
not passive consumers of media. Rather, they are active consumers, who based on
their need chose the media and the type of content they wish to indulge in
based on their personal requirements.
This perspective of Media being consumed by an active audience as
compared to a passive audience arose due to the research of Elihu Katz, Jay
Blumler and Michael Gurevitch. However, varied scholars have related to this
theory having ideated over the years. Mathew Pittman and Kim Sheehan, (2015)
state that “Although initial attention to the gratifications that media provide
came from Lazarsfeld and Stanton in the 1940s, Katz and others (Katz, et al.,
1973) concretized the guiding theoretical framework of U&G in 1974”.
“Studies
have shown that audience gratifications can be derived from at least three
distinct sources: media content, exposure to the media per se, and social
context that typifies the situation of exposure to different media.” (Blumler
24) It is clear that audiences spend
time using the media in various ways.
Whether they are killing time or using it as a social tool, each medium
is unique in its purpose.
“The
following are the five assumptions made by Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler and Michael Gurevitch:
1) “Audience is conceived as active.”
(Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch 15)
2) “In the mass communication process much
initiative in linking need gratification and media choice lies with the
audience member.” (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch 16)
3) “Media competes with other sources of
need satisfaction.” (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch 16)
4) “Many of the goals media use can be
derived from data supplied by the individual audience members themselves.”
(Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch 17)
5) “Value judgments about cultural
significance of mass communication should be suspended while audience
operations are explored on their own terms” (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch
17).”
(E.Rossi,
2002)
The
above five tenets explain that the three eminent Communication Researchers
highlighted the fact that Media was not consumed by an audience that was
totally passive, rather, the audience was active and chode the type pf media r
communication it wanted to indulge in.
Gratification
or satisfaction could be attained through varied means of communication, media
happened to be one among these choices. Hence, media had to compete with other
sources in order to be in the list of things an audience would want to choose
for the gratification of a particular need.
The
Audience was active and intelligent enough to perceive their need and choose
the media they wanted to. This choice and the data for the choice could be
attained from the active audience themselves. Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch
believed that the audience and the choices they made had to be explored in
their terms rather than including every connotation of “cultural significance
of mass communication” that was available to justify the same.
Ruggiero
(2000) mentions Blumler’s writings from 1979 and says that the “Uses and
gratifications theory mostly focuses on Cognitive needs, (People use media for
knowledge, information etc). Affective needs, (emotions, pleasure and other
moods of the people). Personal
Integrative needs, (people change their life style and media helps them to do
so), Social Integrative needs, (to socialize with family, friends and relations
in the society), Tension free needs, (People tend to relax watching TV,
listening to radio and for satisfying their need for entertainment there by
relaxing from all the tension, people watch films, films on TV etc.).”
