INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION SCIENCE
WEEK 7: USES AND GRATIFICATION
The “classic” view: Powerful media
1) Powerful media can reach everyone
2) Defenseless and passive audience
3) Strong (and bad) effects
4) Uniform effects (affects everyone in the audience in the same way)
Examples of powerful reactions to media: War of the worlds (1938)
Instead of asking “What do media do to people?” (the default question), Katz flipped the
question and asked “What do people do with media?”
Elihu Katz → Professor of sociology and communication at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. Developed the theory in the late 1950s
The study of how media affect people must take account of the fact that people deliberately use
media for particular purposes. The audience decide which media they want to use and what
effects they want the media to have. Just as people eat to satisfy certain cravings.
Uses & Gratifications Theory Definition
1) The social and psychological origins of needs,
2) Which generate e xpectations of the mass media or other sources,
3) Which lead to differential patterns of media e
xposure (or engagement in other
activities),
4) Resulting in need g ratifications
5) And other c onsequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones.
The social and psychological origins of needs:
● People have needs (e.g. Maslow’s Hierarchy)
, ● Differ from person to person
● Can be influenced by a person’s social environment (family, friends, work etc.) and/ or
temperament/ personality
Expectations:
● Which media activity will fulfill my need best?
● What does a particular medium offer me?
● Links to mood management theory
Mood management: Expectations about which media (content) regulates your current mood
best (affective needs)
People prefer to feel:
● Medium arousal (too little arousal → exciting media, too much arousal/stress →
calming media)
● Positive state
Media exposure
● People actively choose media
● Not everyone chooses the same media (same needs different expectations, same media
different needs)
Need gratifications
● Resulting satisfaction
● What do you get out of media use?
, Consequences
● Gratifications sought versus gratifications obtained
● Desired vs undesired effect
● “What you were seeking from experience" versus "what you actually got from the
experience - whether it was a satisfying experience or not."
● Example: Facebook (instead of connectivity it can create negative social comparison)
Parasocial relationship: A sense of friendship or emotional attachment that develops between
TV viewers and media personalities.
Uses & Gratifications Theory Assumptions
1) People use media for their own particular purposes (active audience)
2) People have needs that they seek to gratify through media use. Much initiative in linking
gratification and media choice lies with the audience member.
3) Media competes with other mediums and activities (sources of satisfaction) for the
consumer’s attention and time.
4) Media affect different people differently
5) People can accurately report their media use and motivation. People have enough
self-awareness of their media use, interests, and motives to be able to provide
researchers with an accurate picture of that use.
A better understanding of the audience provides a better understanding of effects.
Different gratifications = different effects in contrast to “straight-line effect of media”
WEEK 7: USES AND GRATIFICATION
The “classic” view: Powerful media
1) Powerful media can reach everyone
2) Defenseless and passive audience
3) Strong (and bad) effects
4) Uniform effects (affects everyone in the audience in the same way)
Examples of powerful reactions to media: War of the worlds (1938)
Instead of asking “What do media do to people?” (the default question), Katz flipped the
question and asked “What do people do with media?”
Elihu Katz → Professor of sociology and communication at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. Developed the theory in the late 1950s
The study of how media affect people must take account of the fact that people deliberately use
media for particular purposes. The audience decide which media they want to use and what
effects they want the media to have. Just as people eat to satisfy certain cravings.
Uses & Gratifications Theory Definition
1) The social and psychological origins of needs,
2) Which generate e xpectations of the mass media or other sources,
3) Which lead to differential patterns of media e
xposure (or engagement in other
activities),
4) Resulting in need g ratifications
5) And other c onsequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones.
The social and psychological origins of needs:
● People have needs (e.g. Maslow’s Hierarchy)
, ● Differ from person to person
● Can be influenced by a person’s social environment (family, friends, work etc.) and/ or
temperament/ personality
Expectations:
● Which media activity will fulfill my need best?
● What does a particular medium offer me?
● Links to mood management theory
Mood management: Expectations about which media (content) regulates your current mood
best (affective needs)
People prefer to feel:
● Medium arousal (too little arousal → exciting media, too much arousal/stress →
calming media)
● Positive state
Media exposure
● People actively choose media
● Not everyone chooses the same media (same needs different expectations, same media
different needs)
Need gratifications
● Resulting satisfaction
● What do you get out of media use?
, Consequences
● Gratifications sought versus gratifications obtained
● Desired vs undesired effect
● “What you were seeking from experience" versus "what you actually got from the
experience - whether it was a satisfying experience or not."
● Example: Facebook (instead of connectivity it can create negative social comparison)
Parasocial relationship: A sense of friendship or emotional attachment that develops between
TV viewers and media personalities.
Uses & Gratifications Theory Assumptions
1) People use media for their own particular purposes (active audience)
2) People have needs that they seek to gratify through media use. Much initiative in linking
gratification and media choice lies with the audience member.
3) Media competes with other mediums and activities (sources of satisfaction) for the
consumer’s attention and time.
4) Media affect different people differently
5) People can accurately report their media use and motivation. People have enough
self-awareness of their media use, interests, and motives to be able to provide
researchers with an accurate picture of that use.
A better understanding of the audience provides a better understanding of effects.
Different gratifications = different effects in contrast to “straight-line effect of media”
