2. Male
22%
Female
78%
What gender do you identify
with?
Male Female
Overall the proportion of males to females put me at a disadvantage
due to the majority of my survey audience being female. However
the comparison of the respondent’s answers revealed that females
produced more detailed responses which are more useful for
making decisions for my magazine. The male responses overall are
less descriptive, but due to similarities in their answers I feel
confident that the information I have received correctly represents
both genders.
17
56%
18
11%
21
11%
24
11%
44
11%
Age
17 18 21 24 44
I was happy with the range of ages I received answers from. As I want to
produce a magazine relevant to a late teen audience, I wanted to focus
on receiving responses from this audience. However, I thought older
audiences may be more aware of regional magazines, and so opted for a
range of ages to receive feedback from, to find out what most ages
like/dislike in magazines.
Audience
demographics
3. Yes
22%
Not
bought, but
received
11%
No
67%
Have you previously bought a
regional magazine?
Yes Not bought, but received No
I found that the majority of respondents hadn’t previously bought
a regional magazine. By then finding out what they would want to
find in a regional magazine, I decided to try and work out how I
could change this, and instead appeal to the late teen audience.
However, few respondents had previously received regional
magazines voluntarily/involuntarily (one respondent claimed to
have received them in the mail). I decided to look at the
respondents’ reasonings for why they would potentially buy a
regional magazine, to include these features in my own magazine.
Local known
people
37%
Both
25%
The public
38%
Do you think a regional magazine should
focus on local celebrities or the public?
Local known people Both The public
Magazine
experience
and
opinions
Overall, there was an close division between those who would prefer to
have the public be the focus of a magazine and those who would prefer to
read about local celebrities. However, some respondents claimed to prefer
to read about a mixture. Based on some of the respondents’ reasonings
(e.g. “the public to help promote their business” and “known people for
recent coverage”), I decided it would be best to feature articles based on
both. I think that by featuring the public, the magazine audience receive a
more accurate depiction of the region, and by featuring local celebrities,
local fans of the magazine can keep updated on what is occurring within
the area.
4. Empire
12%
Weekend
national papers
12%
Vogue
37%
OK
13%
Sports genre
13%
Kerrang
13%
What magazines have you bought in the past?
Empire Weekend national papers Vogue OK Sports genre Kerrang
Magazine
experience
The respondents described a variety of
magazines between them, which
suggested that I should opt for a magazine
style which would appeal to a wide
audience. Despite enjoying such a variety
of magazines, the respondents gave similar
answers for the questions based on
regional magazines which suggests that
despite the differences in magazine tastes,
a regional magazine appealing to the
majority of them could be achievable.
5. Shopping centres
37%
Sport
12%
Local events
13%
Countryside/
greenery
25%
Restaurants
13%
What features of your region appeal to you?
Shopping centres Sport Local events Countryside/ greenery Restaurants
Regional
preferences
The most popular answer for the most
desirable features of a region was “shopping
centres”, then “countryside/greenery”. To
appeal to the majority of audiences, I should
opt to feature local shops etc and to possibly
feature markets for audiences to visit. I could
also feature multiple images of landscapes
within the region to appeal to audiences who
are nature lovers. By including both natural
and man-made features such as the
countryside and buildings, audiences can
receive a better depiction of the region and
have both sides to the location. By including
both, I can achieve a balanced magazine which
focuses on all sides to the region, with and
without nature.
6. Interviews
Competitions
Mostly images
Mostly text (articles)
Mixture of images and text
Events within the area
What would you prefer a
regional magazine to consist of? (Choose all
options which apply)
22.2%
22.2%
33.3%
0%
11.1%
77.7%
Magazine
preferences
I found it interesting that most people preferred a
mixture/balance of images and text within a regional
magazine, and then the second most popular option
was that respondents would prefer a magazine of
mostly images. Furthermore, no respondents
claimed to enjoy a regional magazine of mostly text.
I thought this was understandable and I decided that
to ensure my magazine is appealing and not boring, I
should try to find a balance between the images and
articles I present to audiences. By featuring too
much text, audiences can quickly become interested
in reading it and the information can become
overwhelming, however images of the region can
provide visual aids with the articles, and enable the
reader to become more engrossed in the magazine
as they are able to visualise the area.
7. Vibrant
56%
Black and White
11%
Pastel
33%
What colour scheme would you prefer to see
in a regional magazine?
Vibrant Black and White Pastel
Formal
11%
Informal
67%
Mixture
22%
Would you prefer a regional magazine to be
written in a formal or informal style?
Formal Informal Mixture
Magazine
preferences
I thought it was interesting how nobody claimed to
prefer a monochrome colour scheme, despite the range
of ages and preferences seen so far from the
respondents. This revealed that I should completely
avoid a monochrome colour scheme in order to appeal
to these audiences. The most popular colour scheme
was a vibrant colour scheme, which I thought would
work well for a regional magazine in order to promote
the area and to attract audiences to read the magazine.
I found that over half of the respondents would prefer a regional
magazine of an informal style. However, some respondents claimed to
enjoy a mixture of informal and formal style with similar reasonings
(depending on the subject matter). I agree with this as some more
serious articles (e.g. articles focusing on an issue within the region)
would most likely be inappropriate in an informal style. After
considering this, I decided that I should opt for an informal style to
appeal to younger audiences, however include a more formal style if
the subject matter is more serious.
