This document discusses how a media product represents different social groups. It analyzes how the magazine Culture represents three social groups - New Affluent Workers through bright colors and festival plugs, the Established Middle Class through the title and plain backgrounds, and the Elite through featured artists and high-end fashion articles. It also examines how competitor magazines Mixmag and DJ represent social groups through photos - Mixmag portraying the Elite social class and DJ portraying those higher than its reader base of New Affluent Workers.
2. What is a
Social
Group?
“A collection of
people who interact
with each other and
share similar
characteristics and a
sense of unity”
Who is my Social Group?
‘New Affluent Workers’
People with disposable
incomeYoung adult
Large social network
Dance music enthusiast Festival goer
Cultural interests
Night club goer
Most likely from a working
class background
Social Media users
Financially secure –
Without being well off
Keeps up and follows
trends
3. Who does my product represent?
◦ There is a difference between the social group your product attracts and who it represents. The
social group you attract it the type of person you aim your product at while the social group you
represent are who is portrayed in your magazine through your plugs, pictures and text.
◦ I feel as though my product represents 3 different social groups due to the type of artist and articles
that my magazine contains.
4.
5. Colours
The colours represent a young,
fun and outgoing social group
such as New Affluent Workers
which is the social group that
my magazine attracts and the
colours are very bright. This
demonstrates how the
magazine is for them, and
includes them so therefore
they feel part of the magazine.
Title/Name
The name of my magazine is
CULTURE. This represents both The
established middle class and elite due
to their high cultural capital that they
have.
Feature Article Photo
My feature article photo represents
the Elite. An artist like her would
have a high income and therefore
have high levels of all 3 capital. I
used this shot as she is serious
which makes the artist in a way
intimated by her success yet, the
bright colours in her outfit makes
her desirable. The fact that she is on
this front cover makes the reader
desire to be in the same position as
her.
Plugs
The type of article I advertise
in this magazine, through the
use of plugs, is one about
Music Festivals. This type of
activity is a highly cultural
event that New affluent
Workers, Established middle
class and Elite social classes
would all attend, however
they would attend different
types of music festivals for
each social class type.
6. Again, the colours used are bright which represents the New
Affluent Workers as this makes them feel part of a magazine that
portrays artists of higher social classes.
This fashion article would represent the Elite social group as it
would display clothes that famous Dance Music Artists would
wear. This would make the readers desire to wear the same
clothes as them.
On my contents page I use a range of shot of different artists.
‘Sophia Diamond’(065) and ‘Duke’(148) both represent the Elite
social group due to their well-established names in my magazine.
Their pictures show them as serious artists and the types of shot I
used make them seem quite dominant, conveying their higher
social class.
7. The language used in
this article represents
quite a normal social
class such as New
affluent workers
however at some points
language used by the
young established
middle class is used
The plain background
represents the established
middle class/elite as it is
plain, simple and straight
forward.
The pictures in the article represent the type of artists these girls are. ‘Meet The Twins’ shows that this article is about meeting new artists
that have a little bit of recognition. As these girls are just emerging, they represent the lower level of the Established middle class. They are
wearing outfits that the readers would wear, however due to their income as artists, they have higher economical capital. Both pictures show
the girls smiling as having fun which represents the New Affluent Workers and this will engage the reader as they will identify with these
girls more, and potentially become fans.
8. How Do Competitor Magazines Represent Social Groups?
Here the low angle shot creates
a dominant feature article
photo. This represents a higher
social class than the DJ reader
who is a New affluent worker.
The Bright colours show and
represent a young vibe and the
bold text represents a higher
social group thank the reader
too.
In this Mixmag issue, they represent
the Elite social group as the woman is
dressed quite sophisticated and
represents the fashion of the Elite.
The fact that she has sunglasses on
and looking away connotes that she
is superior to the reader who would
be a New affluent worker. The classic
red, white and black represent a
straightforward classic idea.