Uses and Gratifications Theory

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.).”