1.
TWENTY ONE PILOTS
AUDIENCE RESEARCH

2.
4C Characterisation: THE STRUGGLER
Strugglers live for today, and make few plans for tomorrow.
Others often see them as victims, losers and wasters- aimless, disorganised
people with few resources apart from their own physical skills.
If they get on in life, it will depend more on a winning lottery ticket than anything
to do with themselves.
They are heavy consumers of alcohol and junk food.
Visual impact and physical sensation are an important element of their
brand choices.
In essence, they seek escape.
ASSUMPTIONS

3.
BAND ASSUMPTIONS
• Punk/rock/emo vibe seen through the skeleton costumes and
masks/balaclavas, crazily dyed hair, black and red face paint
• Therefore these type of qualities can mirror audiences who listen to
their music.

4.
Predominantly females but there is
a sense of mixed genders.
Quirky and inspired style from the band
that aren’t afraid to express new styles

5.
OVERALL ASSUMPTIONS
Based on images of fans and popular lyrics, we made these final assumptions:
• Mostly females and teens aged around 15-22 year olds “angsty teens”
• Would have crazy dyed hair/multiple piercings/wear black (typically
angsty/grunge look)
• Quite rebellious and loud, somewhat outgoing and life for the day

6.
Q1
By posting the survey on a music video on
YouTube we had limited control over the
gender demographic we could reach.
However, I think we have gotten, as far as
possible, a good split between male and
female. We did however put on the
comment to only complete the survey if
they were a fan of the band Twenty one
pilots so we could see what 4C the
audience of the band was. Due to this, it
could mean that there are more female fans
of the band, however we cannot conclude
this as there are too many confounding
variables to consider.
This shows our assumptions were correct,
to some extent, as we thought that the
majority of the audience would be female.

7.
Q2
Similar to the previous question, for
determining twenty one pilots we had
limited control over the ages we could
reach to make the survey fair. In our
research we found that the majority of
people which responded to the survey were
of 12-15 which gained 48% and 16-20
which gained 42%.
Due to this, our assumption that the
audience would consist of 15-22 years old
was accurate. However it also showed that
they had a younger following than we
expected. This may however be due to the
survey being posted on music videos and
these ages frequent music video site more
often that others.

8.
Q3 Our assumptions of the
audience of Twenty one Pilots
was that they would be
heavily pierced however our
research showed that our
assumptions were wrong as
large majority, 58% of people
had no piercings at all and
only 4% had 7 or more, which
we expected to be the most
popular.
This shows that our
assumption were wrong, as
the audience didn’t have
many piercings.

9.
Q4 We asked what their current
hair colour as we thought that
the audience of twenty one
pilots would have either dyed
hair of obscure colour like
pink or green. We however
were shown through our
research that our
assumptions were wrong as
the colour brown was by far
the most popular with brown
getting 50% of responses.
The eccentric colours we
expected only received 4 for
purples, 2 for pink and 1 for
green.
This shows our assumptions
were wrong as the most
popular answers were brown,
black and blonde.

10.
Q5 We wanted to see what genre of
music audiences of Twenty one
pilots listened to as we felt twenty
one pilots feel under alternative
so we wanted to see if the
audience just listened to
alternative or had other influences
and genres.
We thought that as Twenty one
pilots fell under alternative this
would be popular. We were
mainly correct as alternative was
the most popular however rock,
indie and pop proved also
listened top by fans.

11.
Q6
Our research showed that
the most popular item of
clothing worn by twenty one
pilots fans were black skinny
jeans and a plain tee. We
thought that the fans would
be minimalist with black and
dark colours being
favourable.
Through the results it was
shown our assumptions were
correct as black skinny jeans
gained 22.22% and plain tee
getting 23.23%.
This shows that the audience
for twenty one pilots do
favour simplistic so our
assumptions were correct.

12.
Q7
We thought that as “Panic!
At the disco” have been
compared to Twenty one
pilots before that this would
be popular. We were correct
as it proved most popular
with it gaining 69.07%.
Alongside this, fallout boy
was chosen 69.07%
This shows our assumptions
were correct, but because of
the large variation it shows
that the audience of Twenty
one pilots are into many
different kinds of artists as
well.

13.
Q8- Why do you like twenty one
pilots?
They seek escape. This shows that our assumption that the audience of twentyone
pilots would fit into the category of “the struggler” is true as their motive is to find a
release.
They respond to brands that offer new sensations, indulgence and
instant effects.

14.
Q9- What makes twenty one pilots different
to other artists?
Admiration and awareness for physical appearances.
They respond to brands that offer new sensations, indulgence and instant effects
Uniqueness is key, mirroring ideas between both top and fans. This new mix of genres
is living for today without any consideration of society’s need to have a genre and
behave a particular way.

15.
Q10- ‘twenty one pilots has a predominantly younger
audience’. How far do you agree with this and why?
This links to our assumption of “angsty teens”.
Relatability seems to be key when strengthening bonds between fans. Some fans see
themselves as outcasts and strugglers in society, which fits with our assumptions that
they want to seek escape due to their personal issues.
Despite people mostly agreeing that their music is most responded by younger audiences,
top also appeals to a wider variety of ages.

16.
Overall findings
We found we were generally correct with our assumptions matching with ‘the
struggler’ but also found were off and that at times, twenty one pilots fans
matched ‘the explorer’, particularly with these criteria:
• Need for discovery, challenge and new frontiers
• First to try out new ideas and experiences
• Difference is what they seek out.

17.
Challenging new aesthetics and creating new experiences for audiences seem to be important.
Difference is key. All these seem to strongly match the 4C for the explorer.
Difference compared to other bands is important, individuality and uniqueness in talents makes the
band attractive to fans.
Evidence to support 4C of THE
EXPLORER: