This theory assumes that the audience chooses what it wants to watch for 5 different reasons.

• Information and and Education
• Entertainment
• Personal Identity
• Integration and Social interaction
• Escapism

Understanding why people use certain types of media and what needs do they use, and what gratifications they get from using them.

The strengths of the uses and gratifications theory include its focus on individual motivations and its ability to explain media consumption. Weaknesses include its reliance on self-report data and its limited ability to predict behaviour.