A psychographic profile of a target audience member

1. Target Audience Profile-Liam Hodson
Psychographic profiles can help us better understand our target audience and what
they would want to see from a thriller.
An example of a target audience member could be Matthew, 17. He began his A
levels around a year ago and is settled in to the course, however the longer it has
been going on the less enthused he feels for the upcoming lessons. He has a small
group of friends he knows well and trusts, however the increased workload of school
leaves less time for socializing. Outside of school his interests mainly consist of
Netflix and other TV; his preferred genres are action and other popular series
including The Walking Dead, Daredevil and Stranger Things, as these make great
topics of conversation both online and in person, as well as being well made and
openly available. This is the primary type of media that Matthew engages with,
enjoying the action and the interesting storyline and characters. For him, characters
make the media good or bad and he tends to hold the idea of having a clear
protagonist and antagonist in the story, however for more serious viewing Mathew
likes if these lines are blurred and the programme/film invites the audience to
engage and make their own mind up on the characters. For films, action and crude
comedies are the preferred genres for Matthew, as they can be seen casually with
friends as part of a day out. He appreciates the special effects and set pieces that can
be talked about later. For a thriller to retain his attention, it needs to have action to
drive the plot forward, though he doesn’t mind if the action takes the form of
stereotypical thriller action e.g small, centralized violence/gunfights. Ideally he likes
(as with most males) a male main character, a professional of some kind of leads an
exciting, even dangerous life that he aspires to lead in a fantasizing sort of way.
Alternatively, a relatable, younger character can catch his attention, someone who is
out of their depth as Matthew can project themselves onto them and see how they
would handle a tense situation.
Overall Matthews absolute favourite genre is not thrillers, however by incorporating
elements from other genres and bearing in mind what the, and the rest of his target
audience wants to see, their attention can be caught and held by good film,
especially its opening sequence.