Benefit and reward approach

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The benefit and reward approach (also uses and gratifications approach , uses and gratifications approach or theory of selective giving ) is a model of media use research and contradicts the effect approach of the older stimulus-response model . In contrast to or supplementing media impact research, the approach examines the active role of recipients in dealing with mass media .

The term "Uses and Gratifications" was coined in the early 1960s by the American communication scientist and sociologist Elihu Katz . Ascribing an active role in dealing with mass media to the recipient was a decisive paradigm shift for communication science . The benefit and reward approach is the starting point for the work of the German communication scientist Will Teichert , who developed the communication model of the benefit approach based on this .

The aim of the communication-theoretical approach is to find out the motives for the media use of the recipients, i.e. the users. For the first time, the view is placed on the consciously acting recipient (user, recipient). "We no longer ask 'What do the media do with people?', But rather 'What do people do with the media?'"

The recipient decides on the basis of his interests (content, formats, aesthetics) and his needs (e.g. flight from reality, information, entertainment, etc.) whether and what kind of media he uses. The use of a medium is therefore based on the expected benefit and the satisfaction of needs of the media offer.

For science, this approach means that media can take on functions that are dependent on people's needs and expectations. These needs are conscious and can be verbalized and thus empirically researched. Each medium has its standard bonus , which is used depending on the situation. With this approach, the gaze is completely directed to the recipient for the first time. The "black box" research carried out previously was replaced by a sharper and more comprehensive view of the influencing variables in media use and impact processes.

The theory of selective attention suggests that people are more likely to turn to media content that is close to their own point of view. The choice of daily newspaper is based on z. B. according to their supposed political direction. A media effect can consequently only occur where media content reaches a recipient as a result of selective attention.

The next step is selective exercise . Here, content from the selected media offering would be more likely to be perceived as being in line with one's own attitude.

Ultimately, there is selective retention: content that is consistent with one's own opinion is more likely to be remembered than others.

The consequence of selective attention, selective perception and selective retention is a shift in the perceived media image in the direction of one's own point of view.

Basic assumptions

  1. The audience is active and has expectations of the mass media.
  2. The recipient is the central figure, as he decides whether a communication process takes place.
  3. The mass media compete with alternatives for the satisfaction of needs.
  4. The recipients are able to state their goals and needs when asked.
  5. The recipients' motives are determined in their own categories, i.e. in the way they themselves understand their use of the mass media.

Further developments

The benefits and rewards approach is less of a theory than more of a research strategy. Corresponding further developments in models help the approach to a stronger theoretical foundation.

The GS / GO model

The GS / GO model illustrates the effect of bonuses received on the search for new bonuses; GS means Gratifications Sought and GO Gratifications Obtained , i.e. gratifications sought and received. This approach takes into account the alternatives described in point 3 of the basic assumptions. The gratuities received from the medium on the one hand and the alternative on the other are recorded and compared with the gratuities sought. The greater fit then decides on the application.

Embedding the expectation times value theory

Further development was necessary because the expected gratuities were not collected anyway. If the expectation is cherished that a medium / program possesses a certain property, its use depends on the evaluation of the property. If the evaluation is positive, a donation is made; if the evaluation is negative, it is turned away. This model thus also explains media avoidance behavior.

criticism

In research, there are some criticisms of the benefit and reward approach. Although the focus on the recipient is progressive, complications can arise here. The model is largely based on the recipients' self-assessments, but it is not taken into account that the respondent's own behavior can be rationalized, i.e. the behavior is distorted with regard to social desirability. In addition, it is only fixated on the individual, other important factors and aspects that z. B. concern the company or the offer itself, as well as active or passive selection processes, such as. B. the “Selective Exposure Approach” are completely left out. As early as 1984, Schönbach found out that the search for the satisfaction of needs depends more on the (available) stimuli than on a more or less active recipient. This statement also raises a question that is frequently asked in media psychology about the definition of active and passive recipient, or active and passive use, which has not yet been defined uniformly among the researchers.

Furthermore, the approach shows weaknesses in theory, as viewed in this way any media usage behavior can be combined with any type of need. There is also a lack of reference to human needs, which shed light on relationships and enabled concrete predictions. More precise statements about the selection of individual media (offers) are required, whereby the need is reinforced by the emergence of new mass media.

Studies

The following studies are some of the best-known studies on the uses and gratifications approach:

  • Israel Study (Katz, Gurevitch, Haas 1973)
  • Sweden study (Rosengren, Windahl 1973)
  • KtK study in the FRG (Infratest 1975)
  • Zurich study (Saxer, Bonfadelli, Hättenschwiler 1975)

and historically seen as a forerunner of the uses-and-gratifications approach:

  • Daily Soap Opera Study (Herzog, 1944)
  • The Berelson Study, in which the two-week strike-related failure of the entire daily newspaper system was analyzed (Berelson, 1949)

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A particularly clear presentation of the GS / GO model can be found in Palmgreen, Philip (1984): The "Uses and Gratifications Approach". Theoretical perspectives and practical relevance. In: Rundfunk und Fernsehen, 32, 1984, pp. 51-62
  2. ^ KE Rosengren, S. Windahl: Mass Media Use: Causes and Effects. In: Communications. 1977, 3 DOI: 10.1515 / comm-1977-0306
  3. ^ Infratest media research (1975): communication behavior and communication benefits. Volume 5: Analysis, Munich.
  4. ↑ U. Saxer, W. Hättenschwiler, H. Bonfadelli: The mass media in the life of children and young people. A study on media socialization in the area of ​​tension between family, school and comrades. In: Zurich contributions to media education 1975, Zug: Klett and Balmer.
  5. ↑ Herta Herzog: What Do We Really Know About Daytime Serial Listeners? In: Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Frank N. Stanton (Eds.): Radio Research 1942-1943. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York 1944, p. 33.
  6. ^ B. Berelson: What missing the newspaper means. In: P. Lazarsfeld, F. Stanton (eds.): Communication Research 1948–1949. New York: Harper and Brothers, pp. 111-129.

literature

  • Elihu Katz, David Foulkes: On the use of the mass media as 'escape' - Clarification of a concept . (Pp. 377-388) In: Public Opinion Quarterly , 26/1962
  • Gerhard Maletzke: An overview of communication studies - basics, problems, perspectives . (P. 118ff) Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1998
  • Michael Schenk: Media Effects Research. 3rd edition . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007
  • Will Teichert: Television as social action . (Pp. 421–439) Radio and television 20, (1972)
  • Will Teichert: Television 'as social action (2) . (Pp. 356–382) Radio and television 23, (1973)
  • Will Teichert: Structure of Needs and Media Use - Issues and Problems of the "Uses and Gratifications Approach" . (Ch. 3–4, pp. 269–283) Radio and television 23, (1975)
  • Klaus Peter Treumann: Media competence in the digital age - how the new media are changing the life and learning of adults . Leske and Budrich, Opladen 2002
  • Ines Vogel, Monika Suckfüll, Uli Gleich: Media trading . In: Ulrike Six, Uli Gleich, Roland Gimmler (eds.): Communication psychology and media psychology . (Pp. 335–355) Beltz-PVU, Weinheim 2007
  • Martin Leber: The relationships between media usage behavior and non-media leisure activities: Approaches to a leisure-sociological extension of the "Uses and gratifications approach" . European University Theses, Basel 1988
  • Daniel Schultheiss: In the realm of interstellar retailers: Internet games as an innovative form of play - a longitudinal study on game motivation, player life and gaming behavior using the example of a long-term browser game , Ilmenau University Press 2009
  • Nicole Krämer, Stephan Schwan, Dagmar Unz, Monika Suckfüll: Media Psychology. Keywords and Concepts . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2016.