Differentiating Uses and Gratifications Between Online and Print: Case Study of Men’s Health Magazine

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Differentiating Uses and Gratifications between Online and Print: Case Study of Men’s Health Magazine Abstract To test the hypothesis of whether print and online versions of a magazine offer different uses and gratifications to their readers, a case study of uses and gratifications between readers of online and print editions of Men’s Health magazine will be employed. The comparison between both online and print aims to explore why users would choose one over the other and aims to find the different kinds of gratification that both mediums provides. Introduction This case study utilizes the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory to understand why and how the differing mediums of print and online version of Men’s Health magazine gratify their readers. First, by exploring the reasons behind using the U&G theory by discusses its strengths and weaknesses. Followed by outlining the methodology used for this report which is case study and content analysis, and using both methods to analyze the research of Men’s Health magazine. Next, the report will compare the findings with other similar research and compare them to our report before finally concluding. Theoretical Perspective The U&G theory focuses on the reasoning that gratifies why people select a particular media over another and also what people do with the media. The main advantage of U&G, as summed up by Ruggiero (2000), is that it is still “embraced as a central psychological concept”. One of the reasons is because, as Samuels (1984) suggested, “physiological and psychological needs such as self-actualization, cognitive needs (such as curiosity), aesthetic needs, and expressive needs are inherent in every individual and central to human experience. Additionally, human needs are influenced by culture, not only in their formation but in how they are gratified”. However, detractors of the U&G theory,
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