How to conduct audience research

1. Audience research

2. What is audience research?
• What is audience research?
• What forms can it take?

3. 2 of your evaluation questions
• So we need to be able to answer these:
• Who would be the audience for your
media product?
• How did you attract/address your
audience?

4. Conducting Research
What’s the point of primary research?
What sort of information do you think film
producers would like to know about their
audiences? Write a list in your group.

5. Measuring audience.. Here are some
things demographic profiles include
• Gender
• Age
• Spending power…different types of
households eg professionals,
unemployed, retirees
• Engagement with different forms of media

6. What kind of audience could this picture
represent?

7. Measuring audience..
Demographic profiles
TAGS Target Audience Grouping System
Used by Neilsen, a company that gathers information on
audiences and develops marketing plans.
Groups are based on information on lifestyle, attitude and
media consumption
These are called Psychographics.
AC Nielsen Surveys tens of thousands of people aged 10+
each year to create these profiles.

8. TAGS (7 different groups)
• Liberal Sophisticates – 12% of the 10+
population
• The Young Hopefuls – 19%
• The Affluent Acquirers – 7%
• Struggling Young Families – 12%
• The Comfortable Full Nesters – 10%
• The Settled Seniors – 13%
• The Lonely and Dissatisfied – 18%
• The Next Generation – 9%

9. Self-setting outcomes
In your groups, set 5 outcomes that you
hope to achieve as a result of your audience
research.
This should go on your blogs.

10. Audience Values
• What do we mean by someone’s ‘values’?
• Write down these headings:
Mainstreamers
Aspirers/ Social climbers
Succeeders
Reformers
Individuals

11. These people respond to advertising
which emphasises quirkiness or
individuality. The enigmatic
Guinness commercials target these
people.
At 40% of the market this is the largest
segment of consumers. This group seek
security un conformity and tend to buy
well-established brands such as Heinz
Baked Beans or Kellogg’s Cornflakes.
Match the aspiration
These are people who have
climbed the ladder and now
want to keep control of what
they have. Car advertisements
which emphasise power and
control are aimed at this group.
This group want to make the world a better
place. They tend to be educated
professionals such as teachers,
doctors etc. These people buy eco-
friendly products and healthy foods.
Although this is a relatively small group
of consumers they have an influential
voice with manufacturers.
This group’s motivation is status and they tend to
buy smart high-tech and high-fashion goods
which will help give them a higher status image.
Louis Vuitton have targeted this market.

12. Lets check!
• Pink Individuals
• Blue –Mainstream
• Yellow -Succeeders
• Purple –Reformers
• Green – Aspirers

13. The Simpson’s as audience
• Create a hierarchy of the characters from
‘The Simpson's’ based on all the audience
classifications we have looked at today.
• Stick them to the paper and write
their audience classification.
• Consider: class, profession,
values, aspirations…

14. Next Steps
Write your own questionnaires to meet your
outcomes (and more!)
Create your questionnaire/survey
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Ask away!