Defining an Audience

Patrick Gouldsbrough

Quantitative Research

Qualitative Research

Socio-economic status

Psychographics

Geodemographics

Age

Gender

Mainstream

Niche

Quantitative audience researchExpressed as numerical figures

Digital as well but doesn’t make assumptions about the socio-economics of consumers

Just print media but makes assumptions about peoples socio-economics after analysing the reader figures

How many people purchased a product

Closed questions

Gives limited feedback

Increase, decrease, change or axe

Qualitative audience research

Opinions and views Open questions

Who they are, What they like, What they don’t, Where they live and How much they earn.

Great detail

Qualitative audience research

Questionnaire – generate a number of questions to ask

Focus group – observer overlooks a group talking about a product

Face-to-face interview – An interviewer will ask a person/group of people about a product

Socio-economic status

The percentage of individuals in each category:A – 4%B – 23%C1 – 29%C2 – 21%D – 15%E – 8%

calculates an individual or family’s economic and social position in relation to others.

figures are based on income, education and occupation.

help the media producers select a target audience

Money to spend

amend it’s products

Disposable income

NRS conduct to differentiate

Psychographics

values, interests, personality, attitudes and lifestyle

in essence, different target audiences for media products.

aspirer demographic, the aesthetic features of a product are more important than the content

Advantage• It can identify different groups that could be targeted by the media producers• The questionnaires that find out this information are easy to produce and also cheap to produce

Disadvantage• It goes into specific detail, but doesn’t give percentages of society, like socio-economic findings. This will make it more difficult for the company to find the most popular psychographic category and therefore the best group to target. • Questionnaires could be unreliable, people could be untruthful with their answers and the reliability could be compromised.

Geodemographics

National census same neighbourhood may have similar lifestyles & spending tendencies

It will tell you what sort of group live in that particular area

which areas maybe best to advertise their product

market their product in the correct places

Advantage • An easy way to find information about peoples spending patterns, education and income. This will help media producers identify their target audience easily.• Saves time and money investigating each individual from every household using a questionnaire.

Disadvantage•This is an average, this research and theory exists with a lot of assumptions of people. This could backfire on companies if they are misinformed.

Loss in profit if generated wrong

LS1 – affluent achieversLS2 – Thriving GreysLS3 – Settled suburbansLS4 – Nest buildersLS5 – Urban venturersLS6 – Country lifeLS7 – Senior citizens LS8 – ProducersLS9 – Hard pressed familiesLS10 – ‘Have-nots’ (economically disadvantaged)

Geodemographics

The affluent achievers out buy the economically disadvantaged by 23% on broadsheet newspapers. Even though it doesn’t apply to all financially disadvantaged individuals/families, it applies to the majority and therefore equated to an average (shown right).

AgeThe youthful cover stars, intertwined with the bright colours and modern layout, NME Magazine is aimed at a younger demographic.

The ageing cover star, dull colouring and simple layout suggests this product is aimed at an older demographic.

Same genre, different demographic

Advantage •It tells a media producer about different age demographics likes and dislikes, therefore enabling them to make a more suitable product.•It gives the company a better understanding of the audience they are trying to appeal to.

Disadvantage•While establishing different groups likes and dislikes, this goes on an average and doesn’t apply to all of the demographic.•If the questionnaires are not filled in correctly by the consumer, the feedback will be incorrect and the product will instead be changed for the worse. This is also a disadvantage to qualitative research methods.

make assumptions about people of a similar age having similar likes and dislikes

Q average age of 29 like it shows on the Qualitative research slide

GenderVogue is more tailored to a female audience with it’s choice of colours, layout and tends to have famous females on the front.

Men’s health is, as expected, a male dominated viewership. This magazine will have, if not 100%, a high percentage of male readership. It tends to have simple colours, simple layout and a celebrity that most men aspire to be to try and hook them into buying the magazine.

Advantage •Can find out very specific details on gender specific media products and techniques that could be used to appeal to both or one gender.

Disadvantage•Similar to age demographic, it is an average and the reliability of the research maybe compromised.•Also like age research, questionnaires that are used to find this information maybe filled in untruthfully, affecting the results and the media producers changes to products.

Gender that reads a particular product most and how?

Gender readership per product

Generated using both qualitative and quantitative research methods like questionnaire and surveys.

Q’s ratio

MainstreamReader’s digest is a mainstream magazine because it doesn’t focus on one topic or genre, it covers a lot of interests.

Like Reader’s digest, ‘people weekly’ is also a mainstream magazine. This is due to similar reasons to Reader’s digest, it discusses more topic/interest areas than one.

Advantage•Can give very clear percentages of mainstream audience types as well as identifying the techniques to choose if you were to produce a mainstream magazine.

Disadvantage •Some techniques that work for one magazine won’t always work for another so the mainstream techniques that are suggested to a company may do more harm than good in terms of finance.

large audience/majority of the audience

aware of it or consuming

Whether a product is mainstream

The percentage of mainstream compared to niche audience and the techniques of mainstream product,

How do they draw the audience in?

What should go in to make it mainstream ?

NicheEven though the good selling figures, Top Gear would still be considered a niche marketproduct because of the specific interest/topic inside the magazine.

Four Four Two would also be considered niche market, due to the single interest area covered within the media product.

Advantage •If you want to produce a niche market magazine, this research will help you produce a magazine that interest an audience, while enticing them to buy it.

Disadvantage •Like the mainstream slide, one niche market magazines techniques won’t work for them all. However, if the techniques don’t work they will then know what features to avoid in the future.

Smaller audience

Large portion of that small demographic

Avoid

Emulate

• http://www.thedrum.com/uploads/drum_basic_article/100333/main_images/download%20

• http://www.techjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Audit-Bureau-of-Circulations-01.jpg

• http://image.slidesharecdn.com/musicmagazinequestionnaire-130322074418-phpapp02/95/slide-1-638.jpg?1363956293

• http://miaspicerx.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/picture2.png

• http://3.bp.blogspot.com/8QsqFPNEBN8/UoOGF24lvYI/AAAAAAAAAJA/vouF9wvnRQo/s640/SocialClasstable.png

• https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/v8jweHVy2H4/TXo1ShktBqI/AAAAAAAAIPI/pZmslMA7Dto/s1600/psyco.jpg

• http://oliverobrien.co.uk/files/2012/02/boothoac.png

• http://cybergeo.revues.org/1546?lang=en

References

• http://sgriffithschs.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/nme-front-cover-29308.jpg

• http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Guitarist-Magazine-Summer-2007-inc-CD-Jeff-Beck-Devin-Townsend-New-York-Dolls-/00/s/MTAyNFg3MjE=/z/9~YAAMXQiFxSAV6G/$(KGrHqYOKo0FH,tDVjshBS!V6GFIMg~~6035.JPG

References

• http://press.petspyjamas.com/uploads/2012/10/vogueCover-545x750.jpg

• http://h0memadecinema.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/ryan-mens-health-magazine-march-2009-ryan-reynolds-4045159-928-1222.jpg

• http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2011/5/4/1304508374877/Readers-Digest---May-2011-001.jpg

• http://svapicsandmags.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/people-1981-august-3.jpg

• http://www.thecoolwall.co.uk/images/Magazines/to_gear.jpg

• http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/27/article-0-18D4CDB0000005DC-477_634x641.jpg