thriller genre research

1. Andrew Goldman A-LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES Pre-production
TARGET AUDIENCE FOR THE THRILLER
GENRE

2. BROAD TARGET AUDIENCE
• Generally the target audience for many thrillers are a viewership of over the age of 15.
This is primarily down to the connotations and sub-genres which the Thriller genre has,
for example Action Thrillers will likely feature violent action sequences which would be
inappropriate to a young audience. Same for the popular Psychological Thriller genre, the
psychological issues presented on screen will almost certainly be too disturbing,
unappealing and again inappropriate to an audience of under 15.
• Thankfully with this target audience being outlined on trailers, DVD covers and pure
common sense, there isn't much danger of the target audience being met.
• The most popular subgenre of Thriller however is Horror and as such the Horror genres
audience is incorporated within the Thriller which gives the genre an easier task when
making a thriller, as audience member can expect a bit of everything including their
favourite subgenre.

3. MALE AUDIENCE
For the Thriller genre, the primary target audience is that of young adult males likely to be
ranging from ages 15 – 25.
• This area of target audience would likely have common interests within the Thriller
genre. For example Action Thrillers, Crime Thriller and Spy Thrillers would likely be the
subgenres of Thriller that would resonate attention and interest from this young adult
male target audience. This can be associated with other forms of media which
establishes common genres such as Video Games and TV shows which males of this
age variety all have common interest in. This male age group would likely have the
same tastes and ideas about entertainment and as such Thrillers like ‘Spectre’ will
have great appeal due to their many conventions that males of this age would find
greatly appealing such as: cars; women; action and humour.
• Research has concluded that both male and female Thriller audiences favourite
subgenre of Thriller is Horror, this is as a result of the thrill attached to being scared at
something and its content is appealing to that age group.

4. FEMALE AUDIENCE
While arguably not the primary target audience for this singular genre, the
audience of young adult females of ages 18-25 would garner appeal to certain
subgenres within the Thriller tag.
• For example research has shown that this audience has a preference for
subgenres like Erotic Thriller, Horror Thriller and Comedy Thriller. These are
preferred as a result of their less psychologically dominating element, while
still being impactful and thrilling enough to be labelled as a Thriller.
• The female audience are likely to be enticed into a film based upon certain
actors that will be in films also an influx of social factors which may also
influence their viewing.

5. CLASS STATUSES PREFERRED GENRE
These are likely to be the preferential subgenre of different class statuses in
accordance with what class takes interest in. For example Class A or upper class
may prefer Psychological as it would logically give them a test of the brain and
could possibly relate to a field of occupation they’re involved in, or Political as it
may be something they take a direct interest in – in terms of enjoyment as
politics may be a enjoyed topic of discussion for people of a certain class.
CLASS GRADE + STATUS BROAD OCCUPATIONS POSSIBLE PREFERRED
SUBGENRE OF THRILLER
A – Upper Class Higher
managerial/administrative/professional
Political/Psychological Thriller
B – Middle Class Intermediate
managerial/administrative/professional
Crime/Action Thriller
C – Working Class Supervisory, clerical, manual, junior
managerial/administrative/professional
Action/Comedy Thriller