An analysis of the questionnaire I conducted about pop magazines - as media studies

1. Questionnaire Analysis
Shauna Mullen

2. Question #1
My first question was asking the audience what their gender was. 100% of the
answers were female as that is the target audience for a pop magazine so when it
came to handing out my questionnaire I wanted to ask the appropriate audience.
What is your gender?
Male – 0 Female – 20

3. Question #2
The second question was based on age. A range of responses came back, the mean
age was 15 year olds. This has strongly influenced my ideas for my practical work as
most of the girls that read pop magazines are in the higher end of the target
audience age bracket (11-15). This means that I can talk about more mature
themes, as well as less mature themes so it suits both 11 year olds right through to
15 year olds.
HOW OLD ARE YOU?
11
10%
12
10%
13
10%
14
5%
15
35%
16
10%
17
15%
18
5%

4. Question #3
My third question was asking how much people would spend on buying a pop music
magazine. Rather than doing a closed question influencing the audience will price
brackets, I did an open question allowing them to think of a suitable price they would
actually pay. A variety a prices came back, as shown in the table below. The most
popular price was £2.99. This tells me that my magazine itself should be roughly that
price, also it is the same as competitor pop magazines such as We Love Pop.
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
How much would you spend on buying a music magazine?
£1.49 £1.99 £2.50 £2.99 £3.49

5. Question #4
The next question I asked was how often do you buy or read music magazines. The
answer to this question would help me establish weather my magazine should
weekly or monthly. The majority of people that do purchase music magazines said
that they buy them monthly. This helped answer my question and led me in the
direction on how often to publish my magazine. However, quite a few of those that
answered my questionnaire – in the higher age groups: 16, 17, 18 do not purchase
music magazines. Additionally, no one purchases one ‘annually’.
How often do you buy or read music magazines?
weekly monthly annually never

6. Question #5
Next I asked people what their favourite genre of music was. Those in the age
brackets of 11-14 ticked just pop. However, the older ones from 15-18 chose pop as
well as R’n’B and Indie, as well as others. This shows me that pop music is in fact
popular with the younger generation and people would be inclined to buy the
magazine in those age groups. Even though I asked 20 people to answer my
questionnaire, for this question specifically, it had the option to tick more than one if
necessary.
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
What is your favourite genre of music?
Pop Rap R'n'B Hip Hop D'n'B House Classical Indie Rock Metal Other

7. Question #6
Question six was a continuation of question five: “if other, please state”. The only
other genre people mentioned was Country. Despite people mentioning it, no one
ticked it as one of their “favourite” genre of music.

8. Question #7
Question seven asked how often people attend live gigs/festivals/concerts. It was a
closed question so people had to tick which one suited them the most. In general
people attend them every few months – annually. This can help within my magazine
whether the audiences have the opportunity to win tickets or if there should be any
reviews or articles about any of these events.
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
How often do you attend live gigs/festivals/concerts?
Weekly Monthly Every Few Months Annually Never

9. Question #8
Continuing on from this question, I asked those answering it to list a maximum of
three festivals/gigs/concerts that they have been to. This roughly gives me an
indication of their favourite artists and concerts that they like to attend, which
could help my magazine as prizes could be one as well as merchandise and
themes revolving around those artists.
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
List what festivals/gigs/concerts you have been too (max of 3)

10. Question #9
Next, I asked on a scale of 1-10 how strongly does music feature in their lives – 10
being the highest. The answers were all seven and above. This shows that music is a
key aspect in most of their lives and take it quiet seriously. This should be represented
within my magazine.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
On a scale of 1-10 how strongly does music feature in your life?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11. Question #10
Question 10 was “where do you listen to music the most?”, the majority of people said at
home or in the car/public transport. This gives me a rough idea of how people listen to
music, whether its on the TV, the computer, on the radio or of their mobiles. By asking
this, it relates to whether I can offer my audience things like 3 free downloads of iTunes.
My findings show that listening to music on the way to school or at school was the most
common place, therefore I could offer my audience things such as downloads or
headphones!
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Car Home School/on the
way to school
Bus Walking
home
Bedroom
Where do you listen to music the most?

12. Question #11
Question 11 asks the respondents what DEVICE they listen to music of the most. By
asking this, I can work out what sort of devices my target audience use, this way I can
publish my magazine in many different ways. For instance if they have an iPhone or iPod
I could create and app that they could download. My findings showed that most people
listen to music of their mobile phone.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
What device do you use to listen to your music?
Mobile Phone Ipod Radio Computer/Laptop

13. Question #12
Question 12 asks what is most likely to grab your attention first on a magazine front cover.
By asking this it would help to establish what stands out and makes people want to buy
magazines – even if it is on impulse. The majority of people said photo’s (including the main
image). This tells me that the use of images is very important on a front cover and could
decide whether someone purchases it or not.
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
On magazine front covers, what is most likely to grab your
Photo's (including
main image)
Name of the
Magazine
attention first?
Feature Articles Competitons Free Gifts

14. Question #13
Question 13 was asking what music magazines people had purchased
recently, to establish what the most popular magazine is within the people I
asked. The results came back as Top of the Pops – this shows that people do
still purchase pop magazines but not only that, Top of the Pops is a lot older
than We Love Pop – which has only been out for two years, this shows
customer loyalty.
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
What music magazines have you purchased
Top of the
Pops
We Love Pop NME Q KERRANG! None

15. Question #14
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM A
MUSIC MAGAZINE?
Interviews
8%
Ticket Info
7%
Reviews
7%
Images
25%
Quizzes
5%
Competitions
7%
Free Gifts
10%
Latest News
12%
Horoscopes
Gossip
12%
7%
The last question on my questionnaire was about customer expectations, by asking this I would be
able to establish what people expect from magazines to ensure I fulfil their needs when it comes to
making my own. Similar ideas kept cropping up which means that the people I asked to fill out my
questionnaire are aware of what is important in a magazine, all the answers influence those that will
be in my own magazine.