Uses and gratification theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people” (Katz, 1959). It assumes members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds audiences responsible for choosing media to meet its needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfill specific gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for the viewer’s gratification.

This theory can work well for me when designing my front cover, there are 4 points to this theory that can all be included within my cover.

a) The need for information about our geographical and social world (news and drama)

b) The need for identity, by using characters and personalities to define our sense of self and social behaviour (film and celebrities)

c) The need for social interaction through experiencing the relationships and interaction of others (soap lives and sitcom)

d) The need for diversion by using the media for purposes of play and entertainment (game shows and quizzes).

I believe B is the one that will benefit me the most when coming to design my front cover. I could use this theory to decide just want I want to have on the cover, but also when deciding what story to use. With music magazines often publicising famous people, the public will often notice there idols or people they admire on the front cover. I could use this to my advantage and if I was to use a famous person, then it is more than likely to get noticed. This theory states that people have a need to identity that they may model themselves on that person or people, whether it is by their actions, the clothes they wear, or what they say. It also says that the public will take an interest into the lives of the famous person, (e.g. relationships, feuds, friendship) so my story could relate to these and maybe attract a wider range of people. I could also use C to my advantage, this says that people will often talk about what they have heard in the news or about some famous people, so if my story is interesting and has a major talking point then it could sell a lot more and get more attention.

Target audience

Target audience

My target audience is going to be very male oriented, with the ages being 16 and over’s, although I do think that women and younger males could take an interest into my magazine. The music genre is indie and rock, I believe this has a wide audience and many people will take an interest in this genre of music. i have done a questionnaire to help me see what my target audience maybe, although I did have a good idea before I did the questionnaire, so really the questionnaire has gave me a good idea into what they like, take an interest in and want to see in a magazine. I will be using conventional features to make sure I can draw my target audience in and hopefully they will see the magazine cover and want to read more.

Although I have targeted males above 16, I could and probably will include things which females and younger people may like as I know a wider range of people will look at my magazine and maybe take an interest. So people outside my focus group may also be targeted but not specifically.

I believe knowing my target audience will help me when deciding on my front cover and what to include on it and the layout etc. so now I have come familiar with my target audience by doing a questionnaire I think I know what things will work well on my cover such as the colour scheme and main story. Also conventional features will play a big part, as I will want to find out what my target audience like the most and what is conventional about them. So including things like love hears and romantic things will not work at all as my target audience are males and 16 and older.

Looking at uses and gratifications theory, and using the four points, which are:

a) The need for information about our geographical and social world (news and drama)

b) The need for identity, by using characters and personalities to define our sense of self and social behaviour (film and celebrities)

c) The need for social interaction through experiencing the relationships and interaction of others (soap lives and sitcom)
d) the need for diversion by using the media for purposes of play and entertainment (game shows and quizzes).

I believe my magazine can relate to each point in good detail, although I think that point B is the most accurate assessment of my magazine cover. As it says the need for identity by using characters, I believe that using music starts and pop stars people will want to identify themselves and model themselves upon them, for example a pop star could be someone’s idol, so if that person will see the pop star doing a certain thing or acting a certain way, they could do that themselves. i think that everything the pop star does, wears and says are all closely followed by the public and my target audience will no doubt want to see what their favourite singer or band are up to. With this theory is has helped me a lot with thinking about what to put on the cover and what to write about, as I can use the uses and gratification theory in each little detail I do, especially on the actual image itself, as if it is of a famous singer, then people will pay very close attention to detail and I will need to think about each detail of how that person is represented to make sure they aren’t portrayed in a certain way. I also think that C could be used in my magazine as if people are wanting to interact with others about what a famous person has done or said, then if a famous singer has done something which grabs the headlines, then it will surely be a good talking point and with my magazine being a music one, it will surely feature that story. Also with using interviews and exclusives etc. I will need to choose a story which grabs the attention of my audience; this theory is exactly that, a talking point is needed in my opinion and to do that I need to think long and hard about what the story is about. I also don’t want to be deceiving the audience in anyway, for example if I run a story which is totally untrue and people find out, then my magazine would lose a lot of credibility and a lot of my audience.

First mock up of front page and contents

Here i have draw up a mock up of what my front page could look like, i have drawn it on the computer so it wont be as accurate as i want just yet, although this is my first mock up so i will have many more to come.

it is a very conventional front page with the main image and story in the middle, the masthead at the top, with side stories at the side. also with the contents page its very simple and i beleive with the images i will be adding as well as the colour, things will start to shape up and look how i want them to.