Welcome back! Today we’ll be discussing the Uses and Gratification theory, as well as an example of how media can be perceived by different people.
So on to the theory itself
The Uses and Gratification theory was developed by Blumer & McQuail in 1969. It recognizes the audience as individuals with not only control over what media they consume, but also has control over how they perceive messages within the media.
The theory also references Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, so now you know why this may cause a few flashbacks if you were a Mass Comm student.
Cognitive needs
People require knowledge. They may choose media that has information about a topic they care to learn about, or they may simply enjoy the feeling of learning something new. An easy example is infotainment.
Affective needs
We may sometimes choose media to satisfy or express certain emotions we want to feel. I could very well use the example of a soap opera (the ones that your mother watches), however feel-good media is popular as well. I personally find it quite helpful to just watch a 5 minute video about dogs every now and then.
Personal integrative needs
This one will have an example that is a little more controversial. Some may consume media that reassures them of status, or rather gives them an idea of where they stand. This includes comparing yourself to the people suffering on My 600lb life. Acknowledging that their life is suck-ier reaffirms you that your life isn’t all that bad.
Of course, this one goes the other way as well. Ever open Instagram to see that the new standard of living is owning $1500 sneakers?
Social integrative needs
This one encompasses consuming media as a form of integrating yourself in a social setting. If you hang out with people that don’t have personalities, you likely run into this one a lot- the only thing that you have in common is whatever Netflix show you’re keeping up with.
Tension free needs
Lastly, this one is just consuming media to help you relax or get away. Hint: scrolling social media while waiting for someone counts (I think)
So what would Uses and Gratification research look for?
Note that all the points I covered above are not exclusive, meaning you consume for more than one interest.
The theory is typically used to understand why a population or an individual would consume certain media, as well as understand what they receive from it in terms of gratification.
For example, a case study by Weaver (2003) found that those who were more socially inept, received a much greater gratification from certain aspects of television contents, as well as identified social motives for watching television, in comparison to their extroverted counterparts.
A real world example:
If you are fortunate to have not heard about Juul, Juul is/was a tobacco-alternative (hint: vaping) company that controversially targeted kids that were not nicotine addicted.
Up till this campaign, Juul was marketed as a smoke-free alternative for individuals looking to quit smoking.
They also spent USD $1.2 million lobbying against both health and advertising regulations in the US. The whole time claiming that it is for adults who need an alternative to cigarettes.
Let’s break down one of their ads from their Vaporised campaign:
On a denotation level: we see a girl using the e-cigarette
On a conotation level: you could argue that the girl looks extremely young, A Forbes article compared the model to the popular pop singer Ariana Grande.
And on a mythic level: We could say the advertisement is clearly trying to target youth, with trendy clothing, young models and bright colours.
Robert Jackler, a professional that studies e-cigarette use amongst youth, says: “Juul ads are filled with attractive young models socializing and flirtatiously sharing the flash-drive shaped device, displaying behavior like dancing to club-like music and clothing styles more characteristic of teens than mature adults“
While Juul cannot outright make hard sells to kids, it’s quite clear they are trying to start them young.
That’s all I have for you today folks. Hopefully you found something to think about for the rest of the day. See you next time!
shern.health.blog 
Heyy Shern!
What a comprehensive post on Uses & Gratification! As someone who tends to drift off mid-sentence while reading, you were able to hold my attention well & for that, I love your writing style. Neat job!
I’ve heard of Juul by the word of mouth but I was not aware that Juul Labs Inc. invested USD$1.2 million lobbying against both the health & regulations in the US in order to promote their product as an alternative for smoking adults to quit smoking & low-key targeting young adults. I personally feel that it is a pretty shameless act.
I agree with your interpretation of the Vaporised campaign image using semiotics. It would be solid if you could elaborate more on the use of bright colors, young models & trendy clothing. I’ve also observed that Juul published a lot of ‘fun photos’ of young adults vaping probably to show that vaping would make you look as ‘cool’ as them. The venue of Juul’s event was also atrociously colorful like the ad, their use of colors of loud & vibrant may be an attempt to paint an image that vaping is a fun activity distracting young adults on the harmful side effects of vaping.
Great job! I look forward to your next post!
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Uwu Shern! First off, what an informative and to the point write up! I had fun reading your post! Did anyone tell you that you have a flare in writing? I really admire how you use vocabulary!
You have explained the uses and gratification theory nicely and I like how you included your own personal element to it by using real life examples! It goes to suggest that we indeed do have control over the media we choose to consume today. It would have been perfect if you were to elaborate more on the 5 categories of needs more so that I can get a broader idea of the types and to know which category that I might fall under.
In addition, great work for applying what we learnt last week in class to deconstruct the text as seen from the ‘vaporised’ campaign! This is a good representation of posters not being literal as a lot of thought has gone behind construction to bring the message across to the reader.
All in all, great work! Keep writing! 😊
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Hi Shern,
Your post was direct to point. You have explained all the ‘needs’ properly. This is an informative post. The images and illustrations that you have used adds color to your writing. Your writing is effective and comprehensive. The example you have used (vaping) is a very important issue. Describing about the advertisement was effective. You really have given something to think about. On the whole i liked reading your blog.
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Hi Shern, you summarised your points well and provided really good examples. I have been aware of the vape situation esepecially with the Juul brand which gained a lot of traction with young people. I agree with your points as it was clearly targeting much younger teens instead of adults with its flash and trendy ads which appealed to them. If the authorities did not stop them they would continue to advertise their products this way and more teens would have picked up vaping when they otherwise would never have considered it.
If it were really targeted towards adults it would probably have a serious tone which talks about why dropping cigarettes is better for health. Instead we see imagery promoting happy young people using the product, with no mentions of its original intent
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