AS MEDIA

1. PSYCHOGRAPHICS
AND
DEMOGRAPHICS
BY DEANA KENT

2. WHAT ARE DEMOGRAPHICS AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS?
• Demographics are used in marketing to classify audiences into segments into categories such as age,
race, class, sexualities, education levels, employment statuses, income levels etc. These factors are used
in order to direct advertising of a product towards a certain demographic – for example, fashion
magazines are often directed at middle class, early twenties/late thirties women, or can be directed at
teenage girls. Demographics break audiences up into A, B, C1, C2, D, and E [see table]. A, B, and C1
audiences, for example, have newspapers such as the Telegraph directed at them, while C2, D, and E
audiences tend to have newspapers such as the Sun advertised towards them.

3. WHAT ARE DEMOGRAPHICS AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS?
• While demographics are purely statistical, psychographics are more personal, and focus on the values, opinions,
personality, lifestyles, attitudes, and interests of an audience and individuals. As it focuses on the behaviours
and interests of an individual/audience, an advertiser can assess how likely their product is to appeal to that
audience, and how to adapt it to make it appealing to their target audience. If demographics are who your
audience is, psychographics explain why they would buy/engage with your product. Psychographics in media are
broken up into 7 categories – mainstreamers, aspirers, succeeders, resigned, explorers, strugglers, and
reformers (see table).

4. WHO WOULD BE THE TYPICAL TARGET AUDIENCE OF
CRIME THRILLERS?
• Crime thrillers would typically have a rating of 12 at a minimum due to common contexts and plotlines of the genre
that could upset younger viewers – however they do tend to appeal to a wide range of age groups (over 12), especially
late teens/early twenties. However, most crime thrillers have a 15 rating (on average).
• Although crime thrillers are typically targeted towards men, both men and women tend to enjoy crime thrillers, either
due to the mystery and suspense, or due to the adrenaline that crime thrillers cause. However, as most protagonists in
crime thrillers are men, they may feel they are more able to relate to the character possibly than women.
• The most likely psychographic categories to be targeted would be ‘mainstreamers’, ‘aspirers’, ‘explorers’, and
‘strugglers’. The least likely group would be the ‘resigned’, as older, more traditional people could be shocked or
offended by the content of crime thrillers (especially those like Se7en). However if the content of a crime thriller is not
too graphic, the genre is more likely to be more mainstream instead of niche.
• Although crime thrillers can be appealing to all classes, they tend to be more popular in the C2, D, E audiences (as the
film could follow a relatable, ‘underdog’ character, or could just be an exciting film to watch).

5. EXAMPLE TARGET AUDIENCES
SE7EN:
18 rating
Aimed at men (many of
the positive reviews on
imdb are from men)
Aimed at all classes
Niche film
Explorer psychographics
JOHN WICK:
15 rating
Aimed at men (well
received on imdb)
Aimed at all classes – well
received among C2, D, E
Mainstream film
Mainstream, struggler,
explorer demographics
RESERVOIR DOGS:
18 rating
Aimed at men (many of
the positive reviews on
imdb are from men)
Aimed at C2, D, E
Niche film
Struggler psychographics

6. WHAT IS MY TARGET AUDIENCE?
• I have decided to advertise my crime thriller at an age 15 rating to both men and women across all
classes, with a focus on C2, D, E demographics. For psychographics, I will be aiming my films at people
interested in crime and revenge, and will focus on the psychographic groups ‘explorer’,
‘mainstreamers’, and ‘strugglers’. I do not think people in the ‘resigned’ psychographic will be attracted
to my film, due to the genre and the plot. Mainstreamers tend to be attracted to the thriller genre,
while explorers and strugglers may both enjoy the mystery and adrenaline attached to the genre.