The origins of UGT can be traced back to the 1940s when communication scholars initially sought to

study why specific media and content appealed to different people. The theory was further expanded
in the 1970s when researchers started examining not just the gratifications that consumers sought but
the gratifications they actually obtained.

Today UGT remains one of the most prevalent theories used in media effects research.2 In
fact, communication scholar Ruggiero argued that the rise of new media makes uses and
gratifications theory more important than ever as this perspective is especially useful for
explaining why people adopt new mediums.

Assumptions of Uses and Gratifications

Theory
A cornerstone of UGT is that audiences are active in choosing the media they consume. Moreover, audiences
are aware of the reasons they want to consume media and consciously use those reasons to make media
selections that will fulfill their needs and desires.2

Five Assumptions
Based on these notions, uses and gratifications theory specifies a set of five assumptions about media
consumption.

The assumptions are:3

1. Media use is motivated and goal-oriented. People always have a reason for consuming media, even if
it's simply habit or entertainment.
2. People select media based on their expectation that it will satisfy specific wants and needs.
3. Media use is driven by individual social and psychological factors.
4. Media compete with other forms of communication, especially in-person communication, for selection
and use in the fulfillment of needs and desires.
5. Because people are active media users, media messages don't exert especially strong effects on people.

People are in Control of Their Media Consumption

These assumptions make it clear that UGT places the media consumer at the center of media use. That means
that not only do consumers have the power to actively choose and take in specific media, they are also capable
of interpreting media messages and utilizing those messages in their lives as they choose. As a result, people
control how much and in what ways media impacts them.