Audience Research

“Any media text is created for a particular audience and will usually appeal most to this particular target audience” (Hall and Holmes, 1998). 

Basically what Hall and Homes(1998) is saying is that in order to make a successful media product, you need to display the ideas from what the audience want. I am now going to do some primary and secondary research to see what type of language is needed in order to make a profit on my media product.

You must remember the key thing about the magazine is and that is that they are a money making industry. This basically means that each magazine needs to make and then sold to the correct target audience to make a profit. This shows every part of the production process; everything is done with the target audience involved.

Because money is involved and the industries have to invest a lot of money into the audience research, they have to look at different theorists, when considering who they are pitching there product to and how to attract the audience group.

Leading institutions; such as Bauber and the BBC are very good at this. The types of magazines they produce are commercial and are pitched at a mass audience. 

Independent magazine companies tend to produce magazines that no a days are more creative however are less finically viable; this is because they are pitched at niche audiences rather than mass audience.

Types Of Audience

Mass Audience: Mass audience is basically a very large popular audience who consume mainstream or popular culture, such as Hollywood films. Eastenders, Premiership Football, Tabloids, and also film magazines like: Empire, and music magazines like Top of The Pops etc. High Culture by contrast is associated with Opera, Jazz, Broadsheets and BBC four.

Niche Audience: A niche audience is smaller than a mass audience but usually very influential e.g. those Marxist would define as upper class or middle class. There controlled the media in which to see high culture programs, hence the launch of BBC Four for those who intend to hear or see artistic high culture programs. Niche audience do not have to be this group they can be a lot smaller, who advertisers feel are worth targeting or making products for. Examples of Niche audience could include, certain films, Fishing magazine and Farming programs.

Audience Profiling
In order for film makers to profile their audience they need to take in account of 'Audience Demographics' along with their viewing preferences.
In other words, magazine publishers think about the following before developing a magazine;

1) What social class will the primary target audience fall under?

2) What gender is the primary target audience?

3) What age will the primary target audience be?

4) What nationality will the primary target audience be?

5) What ethnicity are the primary target audience?

6) What sexuality are the primary target audience?

7) Audience appeal - what will the primary target audience be looking for in a magazine?

8) Is the magazine for a niche or mass audience and how/why will it generate a profit.

I am now going to conduct my own audience profiling, i am going to take in all these questions needed and create a survey using survey monkey.

The first question I asked was 'How old are you?'. My results show that 60% of my answers are of the 18-23 age group. This is important to know because I would like to know what audience I am pitching my magazine to.

I then asked 'What is your gender?'. This shows that most of the people are men that read rock magazines; however this also shows that there are some women reading them, so I can get from this that rock magazines are unisex.

I then asked 'What is your approximate average household income?'. I asked this purely because I wanted to know what class band they are in and which type of people read them. As the approximate average income was £25,000 - £49,999, I have to take into account the price for the magazine; so I am going to make it reasonably cheap due to these results, and the place we live.

This next one shows that only White British people read rock magazines, however I believe that other ethnic groups would read rock magazines. As I asked people in Cornwall, only White British answered my survey so I didn't have the choice of say Asians or Americans to answer my results. However if I asked people from London then i could of got a wider ethnic group of people.

Next, I asked what sexuality they were; this shows that they are all straight men/women that read rock magazines.

I then asked 'Do you read magazines?'. My results show that a massive 90% read magazines; this is really good to know as I can make my magazine appeal to these people.

I then asked what genre would they like, and they alI am now going to conduct my own audience profiling, I am going to take in all these questions needed and create a survey using survey monkey.

The first question I asked was 'How old are you?'. My results show that 60% of my answers are of the 18-23 age group. This is important to know because I would like to know what audience I am pitching my magazine to.

Audience Profile

Here is my audience profile; this is based on my results from the survey monkey.

Using stereotypes and representation theories to sell magazines

Professional institutions profile people who their target audience is they refer to representation theories, audience research and exciting products to find out what stereotypes the media language they should use to represent their own pacific target audience. Now I am going to look at key theorist to see how they stereotype: OP, Gender, Age, Youth, Nationality, Class, Sexuality and Ethnicity. This will show me how to sell my own magazine.