Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratification theory (UGT) is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. 

It is suggested that the UGT has to fulfill one of the following when we choose a form of media:

• Identify - being able to recognise the product or person in front of you, role models that reflect similar values to yours or aspiration to be someone else.

• Cognitive - being able to acquire information, knowledge and understanding.

• Entertain - what they are consuming should provide enjoyment and a form of escapism, enabling an audience to temporarily forget about their worries.

• Social Integrative - The ability for media products to produce ad topic of conversation between other people, spark debates or to enhance the connections with family, friends and so on, e.g. through the internet which provides emails, chatrooms, social media etc.

• Personal integrative - enhancing credibility, confidence and status, e.g. through videos

This can be applied through music videos, a form of media text, as people are likely to watch these videos and feel better about themselves, their lives or feel motivated to do better because of the video they watched. 

Many examples of this would be charity videos, such as One Direction's One Way Or Another rendition made for Comic Relief. 

People select music videos that not only fit one's particular mood but also in attempts to show empowerment or other socially conscience motives. This can be reflected through the genre of the music and what type of video they're choosing to watch.