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Uses and Gratification

Week 8

Previous focus:

▹ How media affect people

▹ Effects are uniform

▹ Passive viewers

U & G focus:

▹ How and why people choose their media

▹ Effects are person specific

▹ Active viewers

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Uses and gratification

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How people use media to gratify their needs

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Underlying motives for media use

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Positive and negative effects of individual media use

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Three objectives in developing uses and gratification

Comm 102

5/14/2021

(c) Saleem, M.

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Uses:

What media do you select

Behavioral effect Immediate or long-term

Gratification

How does it fulfill your needs/goals?

What satisfaction do you receive from it?

Emotional effect

Experienced during or immediately after exposure

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Conceptualization of media effect

Why people use media?

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Comm 102

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(c) Saleem, M.

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Distinct from identification Don’t necessarily want to be the target but think of the target as a companion “pseudo friends”

Unidirectional

Mediated

“Seeming face to face relationship” with media personality

Parasocial relationships

Too Descriptive

Too much focus on describing why people use media but not associating it with differential effects

Clarity

Not scientific

What are gratifications? If every individual is affected

differently than how is theory

Needs?

Motivations? Satisfactions?

useful for explaining human behaviors?

Active audience

Do people really make conscious choices all the time about which media to consume?

Faulty measurement

Can people accurately report their reasons for consuming media in a self-report?

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Criticisms

Parasocial relationships

People use media to gratify a need for social connection

Mood management

People use media to manage their mood

Selective perception

People walk away with different perceptions of the same message

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Research based on the uses and gratification theory

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All human beings have a need to belong

Extension of normal social connection to the mediated world

Especially likely for those who are lonely or socially excluded

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Why does this happen?

Parasocial relationships

▹ Behavioral component:

▸ Discussing the target

▸ Defending the target

▸ Attempting contact

▸ Wanting a relationship

▸ Taking action on their behalf

Beyhive

Parasocial relationships

People use media to gratify a need for social connection

Mood management Selective

People use media to

perception

manage their mood People walk away

with different perceptions of the same message

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Research based on the uses and gratification theory

People tend to arrange their stimulus environments so as

to increase the likelihood that bad moods are short lived… that good moods are prolonged… and that bad moods are terminated and superseded by good moods…

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Mood management theory

Mood-management Theory

(Zillmann)

▹ Levels of excitement within a normal range increase feelings of well-being

▹ Excitatory levels must be balanced and maintained

▸ Avoid noxious states

▸ Increases relief and enjoyment

Comm 102

5/14/2021

(c) Saleem, M.

5

Support for Mood Regulation

▹ Link between participants’ mood and media selection

(Bryant & Zillman, 1984)

▹ Stressed

▸ Prefer calming and soothing media

▹ Bored and under-stimulated

▸ Prefer exciting media = increases arousal

What about sad and depressive songs?

“And I'm so sick of love songs

So tired of tears

So done with wishing you were still here

Said I'm so sick of love songs So sad and slow

So why can't I turn off the

radio?”

Relationship status and song selection

Comm 102

5/14/2021

(c) Saleem, M.

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▹ How does relationship status influence song choices?

▹ Examines how song selection can be used to manage mood

▹ If I broke up, do I want to hear love songs celebrating love?

▹ Do I want to hear someone who has been “in my shoes” and “knows what I feel”?

Sad vs. happy love songs

(Knobloch & Zillmann, 2003)

▹ Participants surveyed about romantic satisfaction (among other filler items)

▸ 3 categories:

· Happy Steadies: in a steady relationship

· Happy Daters: presently dating

· Unhappy Roamers: looking but don’t have

anyone in mind, unattached and not looking

▹ Given 10 minutes to listen to music

▸ Time spent listening to song recorded

	Love celebrating	Love lamenting
Female singer
Male singer

Love Lamenting Song

Song choices

(Knobloch & Zillmann, 2003)

Comm 102

5/14/2021

(c) Saleem, M.

7

Love-lamenting songs (Knobloch & Zillmann, 2003)

▹ Results:

▸ Unhappy roamers preferred love-lamenting songs more than the other two conditions.

▸ Significant interaction between sex of respondent X sex of performer in unhappy roamer condition.

Love-lamenting songs

(Knobloch & Zillmann, 2003)

Why?

(Knobloch & Zillman, 2003)

▹ “The presenters of love-lamenting songs might be thought of as ‘soul-mates’ for the lovelorn, possibly evoking feelings of being understood, and thereby providing some comfort”

▹ Social comparison at work

▸ Where I am compared to others

· If others are better off = Sad

· If others are worse off = Happy

Comm 102

5/14/2021

(c) Saleem, M.

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Downward

▸ Comparing to “worse” others,

makes us happier

▸ Terminal cancer patients feel better (and live longer) when in a room with someone whose death is imminent

▸ Moderately depressed people feel better when exposed to severely depressed patients

Upward

▹ Comparing to “better” others

makes us feel sad

▹ Relative deprivation

▹ Ideal-actual discrepancy

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Social Comparison

Downward social comparison

Comparing to “worse” others, makes us happier

Research based on the uses and gratification theory

Parasocial relationships

People use media to gratify a need for social connection

Mood management

People use media to manage their mood

Selective perception

People walk away with different perceptions of the same message

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Selective perception

▹ Media interpretation is subjective

▸ Challenges the assumption that media effects are uniform

▹ Individuals selectively pay attention to things that confirm their pre-existing beliefs

▸ Your beliefs will determine what message you walk away with

▹ Interpretation of sarcasm/comedy

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Selective perception

▹ Case study: Archie Bunker

▸ Vidmar & Rokeach, 1973

Selective perception

▹ High and Low prejudiced viewers

▸ Found show equally enjoyable and entertaining.

▸ However, identified with and liked character that fit existing attitudes.

▹ High prejudice viewers were less likely to believe ethnic slurs were wrong:

"All findings seem to suggest that the program is more likely

reinforcing prejudice and racism than combating it"

Use of race in comedy

Uses and gratification theory

▹ Focused on why people select media

▸ Uses and gratification

▹ How does that affect people differently

▸ Parasocial relationships

▸ Mood management

▸ Selective perception

▹ Focused away from passive to active audience

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