Gratifications and readership of women’s magazines in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to expand knowledge about the gratification obtained from women’s magazines using the Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Expectation Confirmation Theory. A mobile-administered survey instrument was used to collect data from 520 magazine readers in South Africa. Key findings indicate that women’s magazines – queens of the newsstands – remain effective mechanisms in delivering inspiration for how females explore ways to improve themselves and for their social-oriented gratifications. The perceived gratification for the inspirational self-oriented dimension was higher than for the social-oriented dimension. There is also a significant difference between the satisfaction levels of readership behaviour groups.