Tom Owen conducted primary research in the form of a questionnaire to determine how to design a soap opera to appeal to its target audience. The questionnaire asked about things like favorite soaps, settings, character preferences, and expectations. Based on the results, the soap opera will feature a male protagonist, focus on crime-related drama, air weekly, and include popular soap opera elements and settings to attract viewers. The trailer and promotion of the soap will also aim to generate buzz through social sharing to increase viewership.

1. Primary Research Results
Name: Tom Owen
Candidate Number: 3103
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135

2. How old are you?
Out of all of the people who answered my questionnaire, all of the people
were aged from between 13-18. Therefore, I will make my soap opera
especially appealing to this age group by adding in popular themes such as
alcohol and drug use. This will definitely be appealing to a target audience of
this age, as this is the main range of age, which stereotypically begins
drinking and drug use.

3. What's your favorite soap opera?
Out of all of the answers for my questionnaire, the most popular
options were Hollyoaks, East Enders and Other. Therefore, I will make
sure that my opera have next to no similar themes to Emmerdale, as
this was the least popular option. Furthermore, I will ‘Repeat’(Steve
Neale-1980) conventions frequently used in Hollyoaks, such as
anything from locations, to themes.

4. What are your favorite settings?
Out of all of the options on this question, Estate was the most popular
setting. Therefore, this is the most likely theme that I will use in the soap
opera. This will hopefully make it as enjoyable as possible, as it will
display clear similarities with stereotypical settings of Soap operas such
as East Enders.

5. How many times would you expect to watch a soap opera?
Most of the people who answered my questionnaire expected to watch their favorite
soap opera once a week. Therefore, I will ensure that the showings for my soap opera
will be once a week, which is clearly the most convenient amount of showings for
consumers, which is also similar to Soap Operas such as Hollyoaks. Three times a week
was also a reasonably popular answer, however, I feel that this will be too often to
create excitement about each showing.

6. Who would you prefer your main protagonist to be?
Judging from my questionnaire, the most popular main protagonist would be a
grown male. Therefore, it would be most appropriate for our main protagonist to
be a grown male, as it seems that this will generate the most popularity. This will
also be effective as it will make the Soap Opera more appealing to female
consumers, who will enjoy watching for the sexual appeal of the strong males
protagonists.

7. What is your favorite theme in a soap?
When examining the data from my questionnaire, it is clear that the public
favorite theme in a soap opera would be crime. Therefore, this is useful as
the main theme in our soap is crime related, such as stalking and drug use.
Therefore we know that our trailer will be found engaging by our target
audience, due to it containing the conventions which we learned are the
most popular for consumers, due to our questionnaire.

8. What do you expect most from a soap?
The thing that most people who answered my questionnaire want from a soap
opera is drama. This is good because our soap opera will not contain comedy or
gossip of any type. Therefore, the fact that most people expect drama from the
Soap Opera is useful as it supports the knowledge that our Soap Opera contains
the features and themes which are most popular for our consumers. We will also
make sure that we ‘Repeat’(Steve Neale-1980) similar issues and societal issues
to include in our multi-0strand narrative.

9. What type of character would you most like
to see in a soap
The majority of people would want to see a villain in a soap opera. This is useful
because our soap opera’s main story revolves around a killer, who qualifies as a
typical villain. We will also have to ensure that our Villain has an important role in our
Soap opera, where he appears frequently. This will be important as by using the
villain in our Soap Opera to challenge the Hero, it will make the Soap Opera much
more engaging for consumers.

10. How likely are you to watch a soap based
on a good trailer
The majority of people who answered the questionnaire, said that they
would watch a new soap based on a good trailer. Therefore, I will have to
ensure that the trailer is as engaging and appealing as possible for
viewers. This will ensure that more people tune in to view my soap opera.

11. How did you find out about your current
soap?
The majority of people who answered this question stated that they heard about
their favorite soap opera through friends and family. Therefore, I will have to
ensure that the credits and adverts for my soap promote sharing on social media
and with friends and family, which will ensure that more people tune in to watch
my soap.