1. Audience Research
When analysing my results I have been provided with 23 responses from a
range of demographics such as age, gender, lifestyle and spending power. The
most popular gender which answered my questionnaire
was male, however there was an almost even split
between my audiences which represents the wide
range of audience that now enjoy Star Wars. This could
be potentially due to the new main character Rey. The
use of Rey may providean increase in female watchers due to a highly male
population in main charcaters, with only princess Leia
being a main character in previous Star Wars. I could
infer this due to when asking whatpart of the film
appealed to my audience there was a large amount of
replies stating that Reys appearancewas a significant
factor. Furthermorethe age of Rey and Finn also have
provided a reason behind why this would appeal to the
secondary targetaudience. When answering my
questionairrethe audiences prodominant age was
around 15-25, this represents thatthis may be a new
type of audience and providing reasons for the
secondary audienceto watch the new Star Wars. Dueto the fact that Rey and
Finn are around similar ages it can potentially mean that the younger audience
see her as a type of role model, or furthermoremay be able to relate to her
situation. According to the psychographicsand the 4C’s scalethis secondary
audience would be ‘The Explorer’ due to the fact that
they are probably new to the Star Wars scenebecause
they respond to brands that offer new sensations, which
can be relateable to the new character of Rey and Finn.
Whilst the secondary audience are able to relate to the
newer charcaters in Rey and Fin the primary audience are also interested in
Star Wars The ForceAwakens dueto the return of an iconic charcater Han Solo
and the return of an iconic item in the Milleniulm Falcon. Through the use of
the data gathered I can see this due to some of the reasons behind why the
primary audience have returned to watch Star Wars. Thereturn of Han Solo
and the Milleniulm Falcon, which appeared in the very firstStar Wars, means
the primary audience havesomething to relate to similar to the primary
2. audience with Finn and Rey, providing the primary audience with excitement
and anticipation of what the future will hold. Accoriding to the psychographics
and the 4C’s scale the primary audience are ‘The Resgined’, this means that
they are predominantley older with constant, unchanging values built over
time, relating to the fact they get enjoymentout of the seeing iconic
characters.
During my questionairrewhen asking what partof the trailer increased the
interest in the full film and would intise them to watch it, many answers were
through the useof iconic characters such as Han Solo meaning the
relastionship such as Han Solo and Chewbacca. The return of
this iconic relastionship can providethe audience with a
feeling of warmth and relif aboutthe fact that they will be
able to see their favourite characters in a Star Wars movie
again together. Furthermoreduring the trailer when Han Solo is in association
with the new characters Rey and Fin it enables both primary and secondary
audiences to have something to relate to for both representing different
angels of the characters personallity and role in the film. Also the use of the
new characters Finn and Rey were further reasons in which why the trailer
appeals to the audience. I am able to infer this because the when asking what
characters are you able to relate to there was an high amount of votes for Finn
and Rey. The fact that Rey and Finn were relatable to
the target audience through the trailer it means that it
provides further and extra excitement and anticipation
for the audience.
The primary and secondary targetaudiences will have different levels and ways
of using their spending power. Although when conducting my survey, when
asking how often the audience would go to the cinema, many decided they
would go very often. For example 39% of responses
said theyd go once every fortnightand 30% would go
once every week. This represents the fact that the
potenial audiences of Star Wars areregullar film
watchers and are willing to spend money on the films release showing that
some of their spending power is used in watching films. This can further be
supported becausewhen asking if the audience would
buy Star Wars merchandise, 78% of people answered
yes they would. Potentially thi could be becauseStar
Wars haveexpanded their rangeof merchandise
3. through the new charcaters of Rey and Finn, also with the return of Han Solo
reuniting the character with the primary older audience. The spending power
of the audience was futher explauned when asking
how much would they spend on merchandise for Star
Wars. With 35% of people answering that they would
spend around £10-£50 on merchandise, representing
that the audience would havea large spending power meaning they are able to
promote their products higher priced and to a wider audience. The fact that
the audience would spend money on merchandisefor the film represents the
fact that they haveenjoyed the film and will mostlikely watch the new one.
In conclusion I havefound that Star Wars is a very popular film with a highly
engaged fan base. As this fans base is highly engaged then they return to
watch the next franchiseof Star Wars which will increase the engagement film
after film. Furthermorethe fact that the high proportion of viewers are15-25
means that they are more likely to re-watch and watch the new films on
release dates as they are more likely to have moretime to watch it than the
primary audience.
