Applying the Uses and Gratifications Theory to Compare Higher Education Students’ Motivation for Using Social Networking Sites - Experiences from Iran, Malaysia, United Kingdom, and South Africa

Oct 15, 2026

Drawing on the Uses and Gratifications Theory, this quantitative study compares Gratification Sought and Gratification Obtained from using Social Networking Sites among higher education students in Iran, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. Data were collected in 2013 via online and paper-based questionnaires with a representative sample (N=320). Results reveal country-level differences in student motivations to join and use SNSs and suggest cultural differences shape how uses and gratifications operate across contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

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Abstract

Introduction

The Uses and Gratification Theory

Applying the Uses and Gratifications Theory to Compare Higher Education Students’ Motivation for Using Social Networking Sites: Experiences from Iran, Malaysia, United Kingdom, and South Africa Leila Karimi International Islamic University, Malaysia Rouhollah Khodabandelou Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia Maryam Ehsani Payame Noor University of Saveh, Iran Muhammad Ahmad University of Salford, United Kingdom Abstract Drawing from the Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study examined the Gratification Sought and the Gratification Obtained from using Social Networking Sites among Iranian, Malaysian, British, and South African higher education students. This comparison allowed to drawing conclusions about how social networking sites fulfill users’ needs with different cultures. Data were collected through a quantitative study applying online and paperbased questionnaire carried out in 2013, using a representative sample (N=320) . Findings showed differences in students’ motivation to join to and to use of social network sites in each country. Interestingly, the researchers found that cultural differences may determine the uses and gratifications of social networking sites. Keywords: Uses and Gratification Theory; Social Networking Sites; Higher education students; Motivation Introduction Social networking sites (SNSs) have entered people’s daily life with amazing rapidity to become an important social platform for computer-mediated communication (Correa, Hinsley, & de Zuniga, 2010) . Due to the increasing popularity of SNSs, personal social interaction with friends, family, and professional contacts has transformed itself from the offline realm into an online entity (Gallion, 2010) . Hence, SNSs enable users to present themselves, connect to asocial network, and develop and maintain relationships with others (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007) . Facebook and MySpace are successful examples (Kang & Lee, 2010; Lipsman, 2007; Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert, 2009) . One of the successful theoretical frameworks to examine questions of “how” and “why”individuals use media to satisfy particular needs has been the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) Theory. Herzog (1944) and McGuire (1974) suggested that the U&G theory has been quite successful in understanding consumers' motivations and behaviors in the context of traditional media such as radio and TV (cited in Eighmey & McCord, 1998) . Recent studies have applied the framework to new media (Flanagin, 2005; LaRose, Mastro, & Eastin, 2001; Leung, 2001) . The extensive distribution and growth of SNSs, has drawn the attention of researchers, leading to a wide range of studies focusing on uses and social implications of SNSs. In this regard, researchers are using the U&G theory to provide an explanation on what makes this new form of media to be so enticing, what motivated users to join in SNSs and the gratifications received from ongoing use. Applying the U&G theory to SNSs is of vital importance in today’s mass communication research because this form of mass media is relatively new in relation to radio, television, and film (Gallion, 2010) . The present study is a comparative work which employs the U&G theory in order to understand what motivated different countries’ higher education students to join SNSs and the gratifications received from ongoing use. This article also seeks to understand to what extent students seem to exhibit patterns of differences in their motivations for using SNSs. Despite the increased interest, most studies have focused on SNSs users in general or in one country neglecting to compare different countries’ SNSs users mainly higher education students. The present study fills this gap by comparing four country’s university students using SNSs in terms of the gratification sought and obtained that SNSs provide to them. In addition, to date the most studies in the field of U&G theory have focused on obtained gratifications, while

FAQs

What theory guides the comparison in this study?

The study applies the Uses and Gratifications Theory to examine Gratification Sought and Gratification Obtained from Social Networking Sites usage.

How was the data collected and what was the sample size?

Data were collected in 2013 using online and paper-based questionnaires. The representative sample size was N=320.

Do students’ motivations differ across the four countries?

Yes. The findings show differences in students’ motivations to join and use social network sites in each country.

Oct 15, 2026

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