Print magazine sales dropped 5% in last half of 2017, while online readership for magazines increased 37% (Stuart-Turner, 2018). Could this be due to members of Gen Z not purchasing print magazines? Will these young adults switch entirely to digital-only publications, or have they already? Studies have shown conflicting results that both support and dispute this idea and the media usage habits of Gen Z. The uses and gratifications and constructivism theories could be useful in determining what magazines have done correctly and incorrectly, and what they can do in the future, to ensure that they remain relevant to the post-millennial generation.
In the past several years, magazines have tried to offset their declining print sales by turning to online advertising. This attempt has failed and, instead, advertising revenue has continued to fall steadily. This has led to major industry events such the sale of Time Inc., a legacy company in the magazine industry, and numerous editors stepping down. Kurt Andersen, a former editor of New York Magazine, said the industry was in “more of a dusk, a slow dusk, and we’re closer to sunset” (Ember & Grynbaum, 2017). This could be due to the next generation of magazine readers (or lack thereof) growing in age, size, and ability to make their own media selection choices. Members of Gen Z know what they want, and they know that their media options today are endless. This makes it increasingly harder for magazines to become the top choice of Gen Z.
Teen magazines, in particular, have struggled to meet their goals and reach their target audiences. Last year, Condé Nast closed the print version of Teen Vogue altogether, after already reducing frequency from monthly to quarterly. Hearst’s Seventeen also cut their frequency from 10 issues per year to 6 in 2016, after completely eliminating CosmoGirl in 2008. However, magazines geared toward teen girls are amping up their online content and seeing their efforts pay off (Griffin, R., 2018). A seemingly conflicting report by MediaPost claims that Gen Z prefers magazines and newspapers to other types of media. A 2018 study was conducted studying more than 2,500 college students that says that members of Gen Z spend more time reading print publications than they do on social media, blogs, and websites. This report also states that Gen Z finds print publications more credible than other media sources.
To continue to sell copies of their magazines and revive advertising revenue, magazines must find ways to differentiate themselves from their competition: not only other magazines, but other forms of media altogether. To do this, magazines can provide things that other sources of gratification do fail to provide. For example, providing reliable content on a dependable schedule and being the most credible source of information could be a possible solution and help magazines triumph over other forms of media. It is crucial that magazines determine their readers’ wants and needs and not only meet them, but exceed them. Magazines must determine what they can do better than other forms of media, and use this as advantage over their competition to combat declining print sales. The uses and gratifications theory could be useful to discover the reasons that members of Gen Z choose magazines and how those magazines satisfy their needs. Using the constructivism theory could help to determine the ways magazines need to communicate with Gen Z in order to maintain their readership. Applying these theories to the issue of declining print magazine sales will ultimately help to determine what strategies magazines can take to combat the problem of potentially losing their Gen Z readers to digital-only formats. If print magazines do become completely obsolete, thousands of jobs will be destroyed globally and magazines could become nothing more than collectors’ items only.
Theory and Application
Uses and Gratifications Theory
The uses and gratifications theory is useful in communication in general and in the application of determining Gen Z’s media usage habits because it analyzes why individuals select certain mediums and how they connect with them. With many new forms of media taking the world by storm, the reasons that people select magazines over other types of media may have changed or shifted. It would be useful to find out reasons that people select magazines so that editors can ensure that these unique gratifications remain in place.
A growing number of articles has emerged, examining the uses and gratifications theory in modern media contexts. For example, in 2013, Sundar and Limperos introduced the idea of an “active” versus “passive” audience in terms of media usage habits. After comparing the results of 20 other uses and gratifications studies, they said that the concept of an active audience is the reality we are facing since the development of newer forms of media (for example, the Internet). Instead of using the term “audience members,” many have turned to the term “users” instead, because the activity is more engaging and interactive with certain types of media versus older, more traditional ones. The nature of these newer forms has transformed the media experience into something individuals can take part in more actively. This new nature leads to the birth and discovery of new gratifications that other forms of media previously did not have. Not only does new media (such as the Internet and smartphones) give people the chance to experience content in new ways, people can also create and submit their own content. Although it was previously possible to submit one’s own content in some formats (for example, a newspaper’s letter to the editor) newer media, such as social media and blogging, has created a space for users to engage with content in more interactive ways. Does the ability to create one’s own content provide for a greater gratification? Do newer forms of media create new needs to be satisfied? Does this new media create new modes of gratification, or is the gratification they provide simply greater than before? All of these are questions previous studies have attempted to answer but none been able to conclude.
Generally speaking, the uses and gratifications theory states that individuals have certain needs that media can meet, and it attempts to understand why people choose these particular types of media to meet those needs. Plenty of research has been done on newer types of media (social media, for example) and the needs that it seeks to meet, but little has been done to understand how magazines can meet these needs. In previous studies, it has been found that the reasons people have for using new media are almost identical to the reasons they choose more traditional media (Sundar and Limperos, 2013). This suggests that needs can be met equally, no matter the type of media that is selected. Although newer forms of media, like social media, do provide additional forms of gratification (i.e. enhancement of personal identity), many gratifications that are found in new media were already available in traditional media. For example, reasons that individuals select new media, such as entertainment, relaxation, escape, information seeking, and passing time, were already available and readily found in traditional media such as books, magazines, and television. This leads the authors, Sundar and Limperos, to believe that new media does not provide new gratifications that older forms lack. This may be due to the idea that reasons for using media in general are fairly consistent.
The MAIN Model (Sundar, 2008) identified four main concepts that have been shown to produce major psychological effects: Modality (M), Agency (A), Interactivity (I), and Navigability (N). These elements are present to some degree in most types of media. Sundar states that it is unclear what particular meanings they hold for young users of digital media. Something conflicting in previous research is the finding that young users are enthusiastic toward technology’s structural features, but when they actually have to use the features, their reactions are somewhat unpredictable.
It is possible for any of the 4 elements to contribute to a positive or negative perception of any type of media. An example Sundar used is interactivity navigability: If a website is conveniently and easily navigated, it will cue a positive association. If it is troublesome to interact with and leads to constant navigation, it is likely to cue a negative association. The uses and gratifications theory says that each of these elements and their contexts can lead to different gratifications for different people: personality, background, class, and social roles determine the needs each individual needs to fulfill. The motivation to use mass media is affected by how much the user relies on it and how well it satisfies their needs. People want to feel that a medium “cares” about them and wants to meet their needs specifically (Ruggiero, 2000). Could older media, such as magazines, provide the same gratifications that new media provide? Would this ensure that members of Gen Z continue to use magazines in addition to new media?
Constructivism Theory
According to A First Look at Communication Theory by Em Griffin, constructivism theory seeks to explain individual differences in people’s ability to communicate skillfully in social situations. It is obvious that there are certain skills needed to effectively communicate with others. Constructivism theory could tell us what these skills are and if magazines use them correctly, it could be the difference between losing an entire segment of their readership and maintaining their loyalty. As previously stated, people want to feel that a medium “cares” about them, and magazines are no different. It is important that magazines have and maintain a “relationship” with their readers and that they care about what their readers want and need. Although constructivism looks at how individuals succeed in communicating with other individuals, it can be applied to how magazines (and all members of their teams) communicate with their readers as a whole.
Those who are able to create “person-centered messages” have a greater chance of successfully communicating. In A First Look at Communication Theory, person-centered messages are defined as “messages which reflect an awareness of and adaptation to subjective, affective, and relational aspects of the communication contexts.” This means that one is able to anticipate how their listener(s) will respond to their message(s), and modify their communication fittingly. People who possess sophisticated communication skills are able to create person-centered messages more easily than those who do not. A three-stage process of message production is often used to explain why certain people communicate better than others: they assess their goals, choose the plan they need to reach their goals, and then carry out the necessary actions. These are the steps magazine writers and editors can take with Gen Z specifically in mind to better reach their audience.
One of the most important aspects of communicating well with listeners (or in this case, readers) is that of relationship maintenance. Readers sometimes feel that they have a sort of “friendship” with a magazine. Just as friendships must be maintained to remain healthy, so do relationships between magazines and their readers. Periodic affirmation and conflict resolution are crucial to relationship maintenance (Griffin, E., 2011). This can be done, in part, by continuing to reach out to readers on a regular basis by sending magazines out to newsstands or subscribers at a consistent pace. Conflict resolution can be executed by allowing readers to contribute their thoughts to the magazine and its writers. In the past, this has been done by readers sending letters to the editor through the mail, among other things. Now, the process has been made easier by the Internet allowing readers to submit their thoughts online and through social media. A reader can simply tweet at their favorite magazine in order to contribute their feedback. In this way, the use of new media has made it easier for magazines to maintain relationships with their readers. This also provides an added value to gratifications that already existed, such as self-expression.