Uses and Gratifications Theory

The Uses and Gratifications approach is a theory proposed by Blulmer and Katz (1974). It is a theory that states that audiences of the media have certain psychological and social wants and needs that are supposed to be met by texts produced by the media they consume. And because the audience is active, people use and buy the media texts offered to them for their own gratification or pleasure.

Blulmer and Katz then went on to state that, because it is the audience who get gratification out of consuming media texts, it is them that decide whether to buy these texts, and therefore the power is in the audience’s hands. This means that for these texts to fulfill the audience’s needs, the producers of media need to make sure that the texts they produce are things that will meet their target audience’s needs, (For example, creating the type of music their intended audience listens to, keeping them updated on current issues within the news etc.) as it is whether the audience consumes the product created that determines how much money those who produce it make, and whether they succeed in making useful texts.

They also said that audiences have certain expectations that media texts must live up to, and so producers in media must meet these expectation to fulfill the audience's needs.

They went on to expand on their idea, and said that an individual may consume a media text for these purposes:
 - To escape from everyday life
 - As emotional/personal interactions, the audience would view the interactions that happen within something such as a TV programme as their own personal interactions
 - For personal identity, seeing themselves reflected in texts, learning norms and values from media texts
 - For information that is useful for living, for example finding out the weather