The Uses and Gratification Theory
karaagarman
The theory relates to the publication of the magazine as the four needs of the basic model are all going to be relevant to the publication. The consumer should be able to identify some of the locations used in the magazines such as certain landmarks/cities, e.g. The London Eye or Big Ben. The magazine will be able to educate them so that they are able to gain knowledge of the area from the publication. It will also entertain the readers and spark social interaction and discussion points between the audience of the magazine.
The uses and gratification theory has an automatic link to the construction of the music magazine. The uses and gratification theory says that the audience uses media material to gratify certain needs. The music magazine will need satisfy certain needs, such as the content within the magazine. In order to suit the target audience, of mainly females within the age bracket of 13-25, the information will need to include a sense of learning; self education. This will occur through finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world. However, the news articles are mainly linked to celebrity life rather than ordinary people; hence the pop magazine is based on well-known artists. Also, the audience may well want to seek advice and opinions on practical matters and decision choices.
Moreover, the teen pop magazine will have a lot of focus on personal identity. This will be due to the representatives on the magazines who will model behaviour, as well as generally identifying with media role models. Also, the aim of the magazine will be to overall gain and insight into one's self as well as finding reinforcement for personal values of the audience/readers of the magazine.
The audience will then more likely become a lot more active if its media use is goal orientated. People will also gain self-awareness of their media use, interests, and motives to be able to provide researches with an accurate picture.
The uses and gratification theory will come in a lot when focusing on the double page spread. This is because all of the different criterias will be able to be met. For example, in terms of the information included, there will be the chance to create small articles which would appeal to the target age group because they are either personal issues and problems that they have of their own, or they are things that they can refer to/understand. All of the criterias within the theory are linked to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs , which is the prime aspect to be met by business that rely on a certain demographic because they are necessary to keep the audience satisfied.
