How is the Uses and Gratifications Theory Used in Public Relations?
Addison Dombrowiak & Mia Hollie
Penn State University
Renea Nichols, COMM473
February 10, 2020
Abstract:
This paper will explore the Uses and Gratifications Theory, giving background of the theory and its history in the communications sphere. The application of this particular theory in Public Relations will also be given with two different campaigns that have used this theory successfully in the past. The Uses and Gratifications Theory will also be discussed in detail regarding how Public Relations professionals can use this theory in their daily work now and in the future in a world that is becoming increasingly virtual.
Introduction:
The uses and gratifications theory is a theory that we encounter each and every day, especially when logging into our multitude of social media applications. Although this theory has been around for some time, it has seen a recent explosion in popularity with the advent of social media platforms and companies using this theory to further expand their brands. This paper will seek to give a concrete description of the uses and gratifications theory and provide how it has been and can be applied to public relations practices today. This paper will also discuss how the uses and gratifications theory has been used for branding in two particular public relations campaigns (Starbucks and HelloFresh) in the past and how it can be implemented for other brands in the future. The vast usage of the internet also plays a popular role in this particular theory and will be discussed in terms of the topic of user-generated content and how major companies and businesses are using consumer’s own content to sell their products and create successful consumer-brand relationships.
Description of the Theory:
The uses and gratifications theory is exactly as it sounds, as according to Anita Whiting et al. (2013), “the basic premise of uses and gratifications theory is that individuals seek out media that fulfill their needs and leads to ultimate gratification” (p.362). This is why social media has become so popular as many platforms offer the opportunity for users to communicate with people all over the world, requiring this theory to have an active audience participation. By being able to seek out people from all over, people have become fascinated with social media because it provides them with the chance to communicate and reach their ultimate needs, two major aspects of life that human beings crave. People turn to social media not only to fulfill basic needs, but to also reach a type of social recognition and acceptance of their needs or choices. This is a quick exchange nowadays with social media, but the question is how was uses and gratifications theory used before all of these technological advancements?
According to the European Journal of Communication (2017), There were multiple studies occurring as early as the 1920’s, but it wasn’t until 1969 that researchers such as Denis McQuail, Joseph Trenaman, Elihu Katz and Jay Blumler developed the uses and gratifications theory that is known today by conducting research both together and separately on how audiences view and consume media of the political nature and the motivation behind this. McQuail and Trenaman teamed up in 1959 to observe the election in the United Kingdom, which “established many of the key tenets and insights for political communication research in the succeeding decades (European Journal of Communication, 2017, p. 511). According to the European Journal of Communication, “it is now a cliché that we should examine what people do with media not what media do to them. This truism became the demarcating mantra of uses and gratifications research, but refining and operationalizing the idea took a lot of work” (European Journal of Communication, 2017, p. 512). Researchers such as McQuail may not have been one of the originators of this particular theory, but his and others’ work observing political campaigns and messages in the media is central to the understanding and further development of how the uses and gratifications theory works and how audiences react to media today.
To further understand the uses and gratifications theory in relation to today’s active consumption of social media, the models below highlight the theory in a more visual format:
From these models above, it displays the direct path of the uses and gratifications theory. Fig.1 explains the gratifications in this theory, more simply put, the benefits of consuming media, while Fig. 2 explains the three main reasons people use media: social, achievement, and pleasure. Yu-Wei Chuang (2015), developed Fig. 1 seen above and further explained this model by stating, “drawing upon uses and gratifications approach, people contact and interact with others to reach a sense of belonging. In particular, prior Internet research has demonstrated that social gratifications will prompt them to use the Internet and take the virtual community as an alternative to interpersonal communication” (p. 474).
After researching some more models, these terms can be interchangeable with other words in different models, but they all comprise the same idea that media is consumed rapidly for one or more of these reasons at a time. Whatever the usage of media may be at any particular time, research models such as these can be applied to scenarios such as the ones discussed in the next section.
Application of Theory in Public Relations
With the rise in internet access in formally disconnected places, the world has transformed into a global community. This transformation, coupled with the growing scope of social media outlets, creates a new task for public relations specialists: communicate how the product, or company, will satisfy the needs of its publics, and choose a medium to communicate through that, too, will gratify the publics’ social needs.
The uses and gratification theory creates the foundation of all public relations specialists’ work. Failing to apply the concepts of this theory to a campaign can result in a failure to connect with the intended audiences. Optimization of media in Nigeria confirms this notion (Egede & Chucks-Nwosu, 2013). A Nigerian business entity, the Bureau of Public Enterprises, held the misconception that a sense of nationalism in its citizens would prompt them to seek country-related policy and messaging no matter the medium, and therefore “couch[ed] all communication messages in a generic way” (203). Through a content analysis of stories published by BPE in newspapers, the researchers actually found that BPE had been publishing its stories in the general interest sections of the newspapers, even though its targeted publics would be more likely to subscribe to business-related publications (210).
The lesson to be learned from this study in relation to the uses and gratification theory is two-fold. For one, the Nigerian public relations practitioners did not fully understand the importance of knowing their audiences’ needs and, as a result, did not target a specific audience. For practitioners globally, the uses and gratification theory should be thought of as inherently ingrained in the practice of public relations. In other words, practitioners must consider how will the message being communicated, the product being sold, etc., fulfill and gratify the needs of the public. Further research on the general public could then lead to a targeted audience, one that will find the messaging and services being provided as useful. The second lesson to be learned here is the importance of medium selection to reach this audience. Similar to observations made in another African country, Mauritius, companies have seen the potential in social media as a marketing and public relations tool (Froget, J., Baghestan, A. G., & Asfaranjan, Y. S., 2013). Some of the uses in social media in this country include “filling up free time, acquisition of information, for keeping in touch with previously established relationships” (136) and more. Although social media and newspapers satisfy different needs, both do satisfy acquisition in information. When considering which channel to communicate through, BPE should have taken this into account, and published its stories in the business section, as the researchers suggested.
The researchers who conducted the aforementioned research sought to promote the uses and gratification theory in Nigerian public relations practitioners’ practice, however, many companies already implement the theory in their marketing strategies, such as HelloFresh and Starbucks.
HelloFresh, founded in 2011, is a Berlin-based meal delivery service, serving nearly 67 million meals to over 2 million customers every day (“HelloFresh”). In a study conducted through a survey on working mothers’ perceptions and opinions of HelloFresh (Torrellas, J., Abrams, S., Soboslay, S., & Hollie, M., 2019), mothers were more likely to purchase HelloFresh based on its convenience. Convenience, then, serves as a tension-free need: a concept under the umbrella of the uses and gratifications theory that refers to the need to feel relieved from tension or stress. According to its present media communications, the meal kit service seems to already hold a firm understanding on what its publics need:
On the other hand, the American coffeehouse chain Starbucks employs brand engagement (Yu, 2012), a technique that intrinsically manifests from the uses and gratification theory. Brand engagement is more so about establishing a relationship, measurable via follower count, number of likes and comments, and number of user-generated content (2), than it is about promoting the actual products the brand offers. In this way, through brand engagement, brands such as Starbucks are able to gratify its publics’ social needs. In a 2012 cross-cultural content analysis of the social networks Facebook (USA only) and the Chinese network Kaixin, researchers found that the two different cultures utilized their respective Starbucks fan pages in differing ways — American users used the page as a means of self-expression, while the Chinese users engaged with the page for the purpose of “relationship-involvement” (2). Regardless, it is clear that Starbucks implements uses and gratification in a way that, too, works to the brand’s advantage.
Conclusion
Brands, government entities, and people alike apply the uses and gratification theory into their decision-making processes everyday. The theory, really, merely explains an innate trait in all people, and therefore all enterprises — that is, to satisfy all needs. This rings true especially in today’s digital age, where citizens around the globe use media, particularly social media, to gratify their need to acquire information and build relationships. From government institutions in Nigeria, such as BPE, to globally recognized businesses, such as HelloFresh and Starbucks, organizations recognize these needs and work to serve them through public relations techniques. For public relations practitioners globally, the ultimate task for the future will be to successfully intertwine theory and practice to satisfy both organizations and their publics.
References:
Chuang, Y.-W. (2015, June). Toward an Understanding of Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Sense of Virtual Community on Knowledge Sharing in Online Game Communities International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 5, No. 6, June 2015. doi: http://www.ijiet.org/papers/552-T048.pdf.
Denis McQuail 1935–2017. (2017). European Journal of Communication, 32(6), 511–534. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323117739172.
Egede, E. A., & Chucks-Nwosu, E. (2013). Uses And Gratification Theory And The Optimization Of The Media In The Privatization Of State Owned Enterprises In Nigeria . Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development , 202–212. Retrieved from https://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEDS/article/view/8488/8411.
Froget, J., Baghestan, A. G., & Asfaranjan, Y. S. (2013). A Uses and Gratification Perspective on Social Media Usage and Online Marketing. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 134–145. doi: 10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2013.15.1.2127
Hello Fresh, #1 Meal Kit Delivery Service: Fresh Meal Delivery. (0AD). Retrieved from https://www.hellofresh.com/
Torrellas, J., Abrams, S., Soboslay, S., & Hollie, M. (2019). Looking into the Lives of Working Mothers: A Survey On How Pre-made Meals Benefit Mothers. Unpublished manuscript, The Pennsylvania State University.
Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why people use social media: A uses and gratifications approach. Qualitative Market Research, 16(4), 362-369. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1108/QMR-06-2013-0041.
Yu, Jusheng. (2012). Promotion Mix and Consumer Engagement on Social Networking Sites: A Cross-Cultural Case Study of Starbucks Posts on Facebook (USA) and Kaixin (China). Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies, 2(1), 1-17. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/32267435/compressed.QJCS_v2.n1.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DIs_The_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo_DRC.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20200202%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200202T162112Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=3468df5144fb9ee3f6c95d0c720646c1d746d8f82590976f456915bbe1516a78#page=4