Media

1. Who are the primary and secondaryaudiences?(Commenton
demographics,psychographics, socio-economicgroups and geo-
demographics.

2. The magazine I have chosen to analyse for this question is Cosmopolitan which
although isn’t a regional magazine, will give me a deeper understanding of how
magazines target certain audiences through use of language, style, and imagery which
I feel will be highly beneficial when deciding what the main audience for my magazine
will be and how I will present this through use of techniques. In regards to audience
demographics, this magazine is primarily targeted at white, British women as the
woman featured on the front cover is Paloma Faith who is white and British, hence
attracting a certain audience. Cosmopolitan is predominantly aimed at females
specifically, following the common stereotype that women like fashion, men, makeup
and appearance in general. Though, they primarily target white women, they have
ensured that any secondary audiences feel welcome; maximising potential audience,
therefore money. This cover targets people of white origin, as the female used in a
positive manner is white; this would not primarily attract people of other diversities, as
they cannot relate to the cover star. The social grade is A-C2, as the audience need to
have a disposable income to indulge in luxuries such as this magazine. The feature
represents the target audience in a positive way, of which they are pleased with and
feel as though the magazine represents them correctly; therefore the features are able

3. to attract the correct audience demographic. It is clear to see what the primary target
audience for Cosmo is, due to the fact that when targeting audiences, stereotypes are
used to widen the
variety of readers. The
psychographic profile
which Cosmo targets is
aspirers who seek social
status, materialism, are
orientated to image and
interested in fashion,
who are typically young
people. Aspirers are
likely to be interested in
this magazine due to the
high fashion contents;
Cosmo are renowned to
be a magazine focused
on fashion and
appearance. Another
psychographic group
that would read
Cosmopolitan is
Explorers who seek
discovery, energy and
individualism and are
typically students. The
demographic age for
cosmopolitan is 17-25
and therefore students will likely read Cosmopolitan as it is a fun and energetic,
enthusiastic magazine which Explorers seek.
How is the text appealing/attracting its target audience?
On the front cover of this magazine, the masthead ‘Cosmopolitan’ is written is red,
bold writing. The fact it is written in red indicates a female target audience as red is the
colour of love/sex/relationships etc which is usually associated with Females. The fact
the writing is written large and bold suggests a young audience demographic as a

4. magazine targeted at a younger audience is usually enthusiastic and exciting to grab
the audience’s attention which is shown through the use of bold writing and different
fonts. Magazines for older audiences usually have a more formal style of text such as
Lincolnshire Life.
Who/whatis being represented and how? (Look at people (individuals
and/orgroups), places and objects)
Cosmopolitan is representing a young demographic, predominantly females aged 16-
25. They have represented a young female audience by using Paloma Faith as the cover
star as a lot of young people will be a fan of her as she is young. Cosmopolitan shows
representations of female appearance as it focuses on fashion, makeup and a woman’s
body. Cosmopolitan also represents women as a whole, this is shown though the
headline stories used such as ‘how it feels to give birth.’ The fact that Cosmopolitan
uses slogans such as ‘Love yourself, love your body, love your man’ creates the
stereotype that all young females are body aware and are interested in relationships
etc. Cosmopolitan may also be seen to create the impression that all Females are girly,
like fashion etc which is the stereotype that is being put across due to the choice of
feminine colours, fonts, and the focus on fashion and makeup on the front cover.