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Understanding the evolving nature of uses and gratifications theory

Nick Lanciani
Professor McPherson
COMM 250 001
15 April 2015
Uses and Gratifications Theory Paper and Presentation

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In the late 1950s communication scholar Elihu Katz began his work on creating and
implementing the uses and gratifications theory within the study of communication. The affects
of his early research and the subsequent adjustments made to the theory have brought forth new
insights and understandings of how people choose media and what they do with it, as well as
their motivation behind using it. The dawn of this objective theory saw research surrounding
early forms of mass communication in radio and television. Currently uses and gratifications
theory can be used for and applied to the Internet, social media, advertisements, mobile phone
usage, online gaming and other videogames, news and entertainment media, and yes, TV and
radio- just like years ago. The revolutionary aspects of social media and the Internet are taking
the ramifications of this theory where it has never gone before in an attempt to further understand
people and their motivations behind the media they choose to use.
Uses and Grats, Katz, and Mass Communication
Elihu Katz is considered the founding father of uses and gratifications theory, but
communication scholars had thought about the interaction between people and media before.
However, whereas Katzs fellow communication scholar, Bernard Berelson, had reached the
conclusion that the future of communication research was bleak (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks,
2015), Katz thought that studying various media choices was too important to pass up and could
preserve the future of the entire field of communication.
Katz, according to Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks (2015), began developing uses and
gratifications theory from rearranging a simple question. Instead of asking, what does media do
to people? he flipped it around to what do people do with media? and thus began his quest to
investigate what would become the uses and gratifications theory. Katz is now a professor
emeritus of both sociology and communication at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but has a

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background steeped in the fields of sociology and communication (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks,
2015). He attended Columbia University in his home state of New York and earned a bachelors
degree in sociology in 1948. He then obtained his masters degree in 1950, and his doctorate in
1956, both while at Columbia University (Spinda, 2014).
Uses and gratifications theory began with Katzs question what do people do with
media? and ended up embarking on the long journey to where it is today. Katz presented the
fundamental assumption that people deliberately use media for particular purposes. Instead of
powerful media messages having uniform effects on large audiences, uses and gratifications
theory emphasizes the personal media choices consumers make to fulfill different purposes at
different times (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015). The early thinking uniform-effects model
displays the old way of thinking as a view that exposure to a media message affects everyone in
the audience the same way, whereas uses and gratifications theory rejects that notion. Uses and
gratifications theory would state that all of the media is out there, however, the consumer
deliberately chooses what to hear and what to pick from.
Uses and gratifications theory specifies that people seek to gratify needs and that people
do so through media use. There is a close connection between media use and gratification from
media, hence the choice a person makes in using media are based on what they seek to get out of
it (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015). In 1974, Katz worked on an essay with Jay Blumler and
Michael Gurevitch and described the aforementioned intricate relation between media use and
gratification from said media as a straight-line effect of media, or a specific effect on behavior
that is predicted from media content alone, with little consideration of the differences in people
who consume the content (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015). In order to be the preferred
media chosen by any consumer, media competes for a persons attention and time.

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The reason why media competes is because media isnt sure of what exactly their
audience is going to be on any given day. This is because, as according to Katzs research and the
uses and gratifications theory, media affects different people differently. The same media
message doesnt necessarily strike a similar chord with everyone. Rather, the message is
interpreted differently by nearly everyone. From this, people know what they enjoy and can
typically pinpoint exactly how much time they spend engaging with something near and dear to
them. People can accurately report their media use and motivation (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks,
2015). The long tradition in mass communication in which people are asked to report the amount
of time they devote to various kinds of media comes from the early research of uses and
gratifications theory, which can lay claim to the genesis of the practice.
Nobody knows why, necessarily, someone is drawn to something or how we are so
willing to kill some time spending it devoted to some form of media. Some academics proclaim
that the simple response, Because I like it, is good enough, while others want deeper reasons or
a more scientific explanation for the motivation behind a behavior. As Griffin, Ledbetter, &
Sparks (2015) point out, a person that spends a substantial part of their day playing videogames
for hours on end, simply because they like it, may be viewed as though they are intentionally
trying to avoid having to communicate with others face-to-face. If that is the reason why the
person plays videogames all day, do they know that is their motivation behind it?
Along the way in 1981, communication scholar, Alan Rubin, came up with a way to
simplify uses and gratifications theory by constructing a typology of reasons why a person
voluntarily selects and interacts with different media, such as television- the largest mass media
unit at the time. A typology is a classification scheme that attempts to sort a large number of
specific instances into a more manageable set of categories (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks,

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2015). Rubin established eight motivations for most explanations people give for why watch
television. Rubin claimed that people watched TV for the gratification of 1) passing time, 2)
companionship, 3) escape, 4) enjoyment, 5) social interaction, 6) relaxation, 7) information, and
8) excitement.
Again, Rubins efforts should be stressed that his typology can only describe most of the
explanations people give for their media consumption. Bradley Greenberg, in 1974, found out
that many kids in Great Britain reported they watched TV simply because it became a habit and
breaking the habit was too difficult (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015). By that notion, it is
quite possible that there may be more than just eight motivations. There may be, in fact, a much
larger reason why people use media- to have a fantasy friend.
Parasocial relationships are a sense of friendship or emotional attachment that develops
between TV viewers and media personalities and they are totally a thing (Griffin, Ledbetter, &
Sparks, 2015). It has been noted time after time that actors and actresses on hit shows have often
received fan mail asking them questions that only the character they play on the show would be
able to answer. Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks (2015) note that the death of Cory Monteith in July
2013, can be a means of studying uses and gratifications theory in relation to social media.
Monteith, a star on the TV show Glee, tragically died from a lethal mix of heroin and alcohol.
Weeks later, many tribute pages on the Internet and social media continued to function with a
flurry of activity, so much so, that Monteiths followers on Twitter increased by over half a
million after he passed away (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015).
In the end, uses and gratifications theory inherently fits as an objective mass
communication theory, given its broad appeal to a large, seemingly endless, audience. Critics
claim that the theory is perhaps too heavy on description rather than explanation and prediction

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of the data analyzed. Perhaps uses and gratifications was intended to offer specific predictions
about media effects, but still, critics cannot collectively decide on the theorys explanation and
prediction qualities. As long as one boils all motivations behind the use of media down to
Rubins eight motivations, then the theory checks out as a relatively simple theory, otherwise
discussion remains as to how simple is simple and whether or not uses and gratifications are to
broad on accuracy.
If there isnt any accuracy in the motivations, then there is no reliable testability, critics
argue. At the very least, there are some redeeming qualities of practical utility in uses and
gratifications theory as it can bend to the theory applicators needs. Ethically, there may be issues
surrounding how manipulative media can become and whether that is justifiable or not.
According to viewers who favor that media, theyll have no issue with it, but those opposed
certainly will. And last but not least, there is obviously a large body of quantitative research that
has been generated on uses and gratifications theory since the 1950s, so all critics agree the
theory carries quantitative weight.
The Ever Changing Face of Uses and Gratifications Theory
A lot has changed in the world since the 1950s when Elihu Katz was just starting to glance at
the tip of the uses and gratifications iceberg. For one thing, television has a huge emphasis on
reality TV programs as well as celebrity contestant programs, with less and less family
appropriate or family emphasizing shows. The Internet has come into fruition and radically
changed the presence of media, as well as introducing an entirely new frontier- the digital realm.
Social media has also come into play within the last decade and has completely revolutionized
the field of communication and the way we communicate. Gone are the times when telegrams,
pieces of mail, phone calls, or smoke signals were the only ways of reaching someone. Here in

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the now, uses and gratifications theory is ever changing and shifting to conform to our new
media, while certainly, some aspects remain the same. Katzs initial question, for instance, still
holds true to this day, what do people do with media?
The uses and gratifications theory is being used these days to figure out things of the utmost
importance- why do we watch talent-based reality television? Finally, uses and gratifications has
figured out that people enjoy watching talent-based reality television, like Dancing with the
Stars and American Idol because of its enjoyment, social interaction, excitement, and passing
time gratifications. However, two gratifications that were never before observed in other
gratifications research were identified- TV personalities and schadenfreude (Barton, 2013). As it
turns out, watching talent-based reality TV to see someone give a bad performance or make a
fool of themselves is a perfectly valid motivation to choose that media to watch on a weekly
basis, communication scholars are finding out. This could lead to further exploration into what
compels us to watch winners, losers, underdogs, and ones that clearly dont have a chance within
all aspects of made for TV entertainment.
But apparently, schadenfreude might not have to be something that is only related to
talent-based reality television. It might have a place in coming across for the reason why some
tune into shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on a nightly basis. If schadenfreude is
level on the terms of watching a show for its humor or entertainment, then Jon Stewarts
extravagantly boisterous style of satirizing the news might be on par with watching Dancing
with the Stars solely for the purpose of seeing someone make a fool of themselves or making
someone else look like a fool (Young, 2013).
Yet, uses and gratifications theory has graduated from television into the Internet age,
covering Internet usage and social media motivations. In a study of new media and old media,

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1) measures designed for older media are used to capture gratifications of newer media; and 2)
gratifications are conceptualized and operationalized too broadly, missing the nuanced
gratifications obtained from newer media (Sundar & Limperos, 2013). Newer media, such as
online newspapers, political blogs, and the Internet share similar gratifications with old media
(radio talk shows, print newspapers, television). Gratifications ranged from information-seeking
to pastime, socialization to learning, and even included some educational and entertainment
qualities (Sundar & Limperos, 2013). While some newer media outlets are able to reach many
aspects of the older media, effectively implementing and replacing their brand with the attention
of the consumer, social media continues to be the latest craze.
In Sundar & Limpeross (2013) findings, social media, like Twitter and social networks in
general, propose blends between what old media always brought to the table and blurs the line
between what new media actually is. Twitter and social networks like Facebook offer users a
chance to seek gratifying means of self-documentation, self-expression, sharing identity and
photographs, creating content, as well as connection like never before, all while maintaining
elements of older media gratifications, such as passing time, social interaction, informationsharing and seeking, and convenience (Sundar & Limperos, 2013). While all of these
gratifications that exist are similar and universal of all users, the motivation behind it differs.
Young adolescents and college students these days have only lived in a world with the
Internet and the recent social media, Wi-Fi and LTE access from anywhere, lifestyle and standard
of living in developed countries. College students motivations for Facebook use are vastly
different from people that are 50 or older. College students have four motivations for using
Facebook, according to Park & Lee (2014). Students use Facebook for entertainment,
relationship maintenance, self-expression, and communication. While the impacts of the

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psychological consequences werent well measured, impression management was significantly
associated with Facebook intensity.
College students are about being visible in their existence on the social media platform,
whereas people that are 50 or older are not as visibly involved on the social network. Older
adults utilize Facebook for two primary factors- mood management (entertainment and
emotional connectivity) and social action (express opinions and news, and establish
relationships) argues Ancu (2012). College students are drawn to establish a presence and exist in
the world, while older adults merely seek to pass the time with some satisfaction. In fact, among
adults 50 or older, the most popular activity is playing games, followed by browsing friends
profiles and photos, while content creation and communication only struck a chord with 30% of
the respondents (Ancu, 2012).
So In the Future
The outlook of uses and gratifications theory is rather sparkling, with numerous social
media programs to sort through and study to understand the motivations and gratifications
behind them all. Katzs original question what do people do with media? has stood the test of
time and bares relevancy even with the changing landscape of media and constant content in a
digital world. Further analysis must be done to fully comprehend the longstanding traditions of
newer media and only time will be able to make sense of such longitudinal studies. Prediction
remains shrouded in the changing scope of communication in the current age, however.

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References
Ancu, M. (2012). Older Adults on Facebook: A Survey Examination of Motives and Use of
Social Networking by People 50 and Older. Florida Communication Journal, 40(2), 112.
Barton, K. M. (2013). Why we watch them sing and dance: The uses and gratifications of talentbased reality television. Communication Quarterly, 61(2), 217-235.
Griffin E., Ledbetter A., & Sparks G. (2015). Chapter 28 Uses and Gratifications of Elihu
Katz. A first look at communication theory (Ninth ed., pp. 353-361). New York, New
York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Park, N., & Lee, S. (2014). College Students' Motivations for Facebook Use and Psychological
Outcomes. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 58(4), 601-620.
Spinda, J. (2014, March 23). Elihu Katz | biography - American sociologist. Retrieved April 10,
2015.
Sundar, S. S., & Limperos, A. M. (2013). Uses and Grats 2.0: New Gratifications for New
Media. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 57(4), 504-525.
Young, D. G. (2013). Laughter, Learning, or Enlightenment? Viewing and Avoidance
Motivations Behind The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Journal Of Broadcasting
& Electronic Media, 57(2), 153-169.