1. LESSON 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS METIN ERSOY FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA STUDIES JOUR 484 Sociology of Journalism

2. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS How Individual used the media What People do with media U & G looks at the ways individuals use mass communication to gratify their needs. U & G studies asks some questions like “Who is using media”, “How much these individuals consume”, “What type of media they use” and “When they are using it” In contrast with the previous media effects tradition which are focuses on What media do to people Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

3. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS ACTIVE AUDIENCES · This model viewed people’s media consumption patterns as intended actions on the part of the viewers. · It suppose that individuals do make conscious choices about what they see and read in the media. Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

4. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS  Early uses and gratifications research beginning the 1940s concentrated on how audiences used different media.  Laswell investigate: Why people attend to the media. His research put forward some functions of mass communication 1. Environment 2. Correlation of events in the environment, 3.Transmission of social heritage Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

5. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Wright added the entertainment function to the list in 1960 He proposed four functions of the media for society, individuals and subgroups. 1. Surveillance 2. Correlation 3. Entertainment 4. Cultural transmission (or socialization) Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

6. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch summarily describe the uses and gratifications approach as 1. The social and psychological origins of 2. Needs, which generate 3. Expectations of 4. The mass media or other sources which lead to 5. Differential patterns of media exposure, resulting in 6. Need gratifications and 7. Other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones. Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

7. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Katz, Gurevitch and Hass in 1973 “On the Use of the Mass Media for Important Things” it is seen as significant study because of two reason. 1. It was the first study which compare gratifications across different media They identified different uses for different media 2. They introduced multidimentional scaling to the approach. They demonstrated that auidiences members differentiated among five media on the basis of the perceived gratifications obtained Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

8. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Palmgreen summarized uses and gratifications research in six main areas in 1984 This study is momentous because it advanced some new concepts to the Uses and Gratification perspectives as gratification sought and obtained or expectancy-value. And this six divisions are still using by researcher. Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

9. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS 1. gratifications and media consumption 2. social and psychological origins of gratifications 3. gratifications and media effects 4. gratifications sought and obtained 5. expectancy-value approaches to uses and gratifications 6. audience activity Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

10. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS In 1985 Palmgreen, Wenner and Rosengren create generalized assuptions which incorporated many important assumptons on uses and gratifications. 1. The audience is active, thus 2. much media use can be conceived as goal- directed and 3. competing with other sources of need gratification, so that when Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

11. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS 4. substantial audience initiative links needs to media choice 5. media consumption can fulfill a wide range of gratifications although 6. media content alone cannot be used to predict patterns of gratifications accurately because 7. media characteristics structure the degree to which needs may be gratified at different times, and further because 8. gratifications obtained have their origins in media content, exposure in and of itself, and or the social situation in which exposure takes place. Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

12. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Active Audience The fundamental critics on uses and gratification paradigm focuses on the notion of active audience of uses and gratification paradigm which suppose that audiences made conscious decisions about the consumption of media content. Some argues that media can be forced on some people rather than freely chosen. Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

13. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Another critics on uses and gratifications is it pays too much attention to the individual and ignore both the social context and role of media. Levy and Windahl respond to this critics with conceptualize activity of audience. They use three levels of audience activity 1. Audience activity-selectivity 2. Involvement 3. Use Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

14. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS In 1973 Katz, Gurevitch and Hass gound 35 needs which are social and psychological functions of the mass media and they put them in five categories. Cognitive needs – Acquiring information, knowledge and understanding Affective needs – Emotion, pleasure, feelings Personal integrative needs – Credibility, stability, status Social integrative needs – Family and friends Tension release needs – Escape and diversion Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

15. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS In 1987 Denis McQuail offers the some typology of common reasons for media use Information Finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world Seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices Satisfying curiosity and general interest Learning; self-education Gaining a sense of security through knowledge Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

16. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Personal Identity Finding reinforcement for personal values Finding models of behavior Identifying with valued other in the media Gaining insight into one’s self Integration and Social Interaction Gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

17. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction Having a substitute for real-life companionship Helping to carry out social roles Enabling one to connect with family, friends and society Entertainment Escaping, or being diverted, from problems Relaxing Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment Filling time Emotional release Sexual arousal Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009

18. Lesson 5: USES AND GRATIFICATIONS DISCUSSION TOPICS FOR THIS WEEK: Sizce hedef kitle aktif mi pasif mi? Medya bir amaç mı, araç mı? Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009