UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES
WHY ARE AUDIENCES IMPORTANT
TO MEDIA COMPANIES?
They are important, because an audience are the people who buy
the products, hence why the company will make a profit. It’s important that a
company knows about their audience, because that’s what makes them more likely
to be successful.
DEMOGRAPHICS (WHAT /
WHY)
Demographics are a method of categorising an audience into
their ‘potential audience’. This can include: gender, age, religion, social
grade, and ethnicity/race. They get this information by using questionnaires and
focus groups, and they want to know this information so that they can base
their product upon their potential audience. – And as I’ve already said, an
audience is usually the people who make the company money.
VAL stands for ‘Values and Lifestyles’, and together with
psychographic profiling, they are the type of person you’re based on, in which
involves your attitudes, interests, and values.
Companies use
psychographic profiling to find out what the audience is like, using their different
qualities of being them, including their ‘values and lifestyle’. This helps
with marketing a product because the company now knows what brands and other associations
to the audience, to help them sell their own product.
Why is psychographics
different to demographics?
Psychographics are
based upon a lifestyle, and more about the mind of the audience, whereas
demographics are more based upon a physical standard of the audience.
. . . . . . .
Cross Cultural Consumer Characterization (4Cs for short).
This classification model is presented in the table below
Which of the above
profiles would typically buy a music magazine and why?
I believe that the ‘Explorer’ profile would typically buy a
music magazine, because usually the audience that buys music magazines are
younger and usually students. They also want to experience things because they’re
so young (going to festivals or concerts).
Example of VALS:
State what VALs you are based on your answers to the
questions.
A ‘Striver’, and a ‘Survivor’.
Explain what the titles mean (what is a striver?
Etc.)
Striver – They are active consumers within
the market, and they use video games as a form of fantasy. They are fun loving,
intimate, and rely heavily on public transport. Not only this, but they wear
their wealth.
Experiencers – These are avid consumers,
and they spend a lot of money on fashion, entertainment, and socialising. They
purchase these things in attempt to look ‘cool’. This includes wanting
everything.
Thinkers –
Thinkers usually do their research before
they do something, and enjoy a historical perspective. They are also usually
financially established. Unlike experiencers, they don’t buy what’s new and
cool, but buy proven products. Furthermore, they use technology in functional
ways.
Innovators – Innovators are always taking
in information, and are confident enough to be able to experiment. They also make
the highest amount of financial transactions. Moreover, they are self- directed
consumers, and enjoy the challenge of problem solving.
Achievers
– These are family and job orientated, and
they are fully scheduled, goal orientated, hardworking, moderate, private, and
professional.
Believers –
Believers believe in basic rights and
wrongs lead to a good life, and they rely on being spiritual, and faithful to
provide inspiration. They resort to TV and romance novels for a way to escape.
Makers –
Makers are distrustful of the government,
and have a strong interest of automotive things. They have a sharp belief of
gender roles, want to protect what they perceive as theirs, and want their own
land.
Survivors –
Survivors are cautious and risk averse, and are quite thrifty, but usually the
oldest of consumers. They take comfort
in routine, and are heavy TV viewers. They are also loyal to certain brands and
products.
How far do you agree with the categories you have
been given?
I do agree with the categories that have been given to me, as I love to play video games, and I admit I do love to watch a lot of TV series. Though I disagree partly with being a survivor, because I’m a young consumer.
Questionnaire
This is my questionnaire in preparation for my music magazine:
No comments:
Post a Comment