Amy Walker conducted market research to inform the design of a local newspaper. She unintentionally collected more responses from males than females. Most respondents were ages 17-21. The majority of people access newspapers online rather than purchasing hard copies. Respondents preferred tabloid newspapers over broadsheets and the Metro over other local papers. They are willing to pay 40p for a newspaper and are most interested in stories about crime and business in their local area.

1. Amy Walker
Market Research Findings
When I went out to collect my
Gender findings, it didn’t occur to take
0% equal results from males and
females. The following results may
be slightly sexist but completely
40% unintentionally. This will affect my
Male
results as a whole and will not give
Female even and accurate results as I’d
60%
originally hoped.
During the questionnaire, I tried to
Age ask a variety of age groups in order
0% 0% to gain a mixed range of results. I
asked the majority of those
10% between the age of 17 and 21 as I
12 to 16 wanted to see what people of my
10%
17 to 21 age enjoy in a newspapers
22-26 contents and how often they
20% 27-30
actually read one.
60%
31+
It is clear from this pie chart that
How Often Do You Buy a the majority of people today don’t
Newspaper? actually buy a newspaper. I feel
this is due to the large impact of
0%
the Internet and other technology
10% such as; tablets and smart TV’s and
Never
10% phones. It is much easier to access
40% Daily
a daily newspaper via a mobile
10% 2-3 times a week application and via the internet
Everyday rather than to buy a hard copy.
Weekly Only 30% of those who
30%
participated buy newspapers daily.

2. Amy Walker
Almost three quarters of my
participants prefer to read a tabloid
newspaper over a broadsheet. I feel
What Newspaper Do You Prefer that this is due to the initial size of a
to Read? broadsheet newspaper, especially
The Times and The Guardian.
Personally, I feel that it’s off putting
if a newspaper is so large. The
30% articles within a broadsheet are a lot
Tabloid more formal also, making them not
Broadsheet appeal to those of the younger
70% generation. Tabloid newspapers are
more entertaining which is why I feel
that people prefer to read a Tabloid
newspaper over a Broadsheet.
Which of These Local Newspapers Do These results show that the people’s
most favourable local newspaper is
You Prefer to Read? the Metro. I will therefore take some
inspiration from the Metro’s style and
Salford Advertiser layout when designing my own. This
10%
20% also shows me that not a lot of people
Metro like to read the Salford Advertiser and
would rather read the content in the
30%
Manchester Evening Manchester Evening News. It suggests
News that my target audience prefer to
40% Neither read more interesting news in relation
to Manchester as a whole, not just
Salford.
From the results shown, that it is a
How Do You Access Your rather even spread of findings. The
Newspaper? people who filled out my
questionnaire access their
0%
newspapers in a variety of way, which
relates to, as previously mentioned
20% Newspapers
30% the increase of the Internet and other
Internet/Online portable technologies. The vast
Iphone/Android Apps majority of those access a newspaper
20% Radio via an actual hard copy or via Internet
Other sources.
30%

3. Amy Walker
The pie chart shows me that the
How Much Will You Be Willing to people surveyed are willing to pay
Pay For a Newspaper? around 40p for a newspaper. This
is the average price of a newspaper
however some local newspapers
10% 10% 20p are distributed free of charge.
10% 30p
20% 40p
50p
20%
60p
30% 70+
In recent years there has been an
What Kind of Stories Would You increase in crimes due to the
Like to See in a Local Newspaper? recession, this is backed up by this
pie chart which shows that 30% of
those who took part in my
10% questionnaire would like to hear
20% Sports about crime in their local area. I
10% feel that I can use this finding and
Crime
0%
Business take it into account for my
newspaper articles. A further 30%
Political
of those would like to see articles
School
30% 30% about business within their local
Other area also. In addition, the further
10% of those in the ‘Other’
category would like to read and see
information on celebrities,
however I don’t think I will be
putting this forward as part of my
actual newspaper.