Children's Uses and Gratifications of Home VCRs

This study examines gratifications associated with home video cassette recorder use among Israeli school children in order to map the position of the VCR as a “new” medium in the overall media environment of young people. A sample of 576 children in grades 4 through 10, all from VCR households, rated the ability of VCRs and six “old” media (newspapers, radio, television, books, cinema, and records/audio tapes) to gratify twelve social and psychological needs. The study found that while the VCR is often used, it has not achieved any special priority in its perceived utility to gratify various needs. Moreover, based on smallest space analysis, the data suggest that VCRs have neither established a separate “identity” among children, nor created a “revolution” in the mass communication process.