Blumler & KatzTheory of Uses and Gratification

Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratification theory is an approach to understanding that media users play an active role in choosing and using the media and they believed that people use the media to fulfil specific gratifications. This theory focuses more on what people do with media, and how they use it in their lives, rather than what the media does to people.

Reasons why people engage with the media:Diversion- Escape from reality (Films)Personal Relationship- This aids in forming a

personal relationship with the reader (soaps/ talk shows)

Personal Identity- Can help the user find out something about themselves or to reassure their self-understanding (magazines/ articles)

Surveillance- Using the media to find out what is happening around us (news/ documentaries)

The theory suggests that people’s needs influence what media they would choose, and it allows the audiences personal needs to use the media and respond to it by determining their social and psychological background.

Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratification theory suggests that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theorists say that a media user seeks out a media source that best fulfils their needs and, its uses and gratifications assume that the user has alternate choices to satisfy their needs. Overall the theory also states that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs, and that the approach suggests people use the media to fulfil specific gratifications.