Vicki conducted a focus group with Ellie, Holly, and Niamh to get their opinions on preferences for a pop magazine targeted towards 16-25 year old girls. When asked about colors, the group agreed darker colors like reds and blacks would be best to appear more mature than bright colors. They also felt magazines should still have many images but fewer than those for younger audiences. Regarding cover lines, opinions varied between having many to attract readers versus fewer being sufficient for regular subscribers. The group expected to see gossip articles about celebrities' personal lives as well as quick Q&A pieces. Finally, they agreed contents pages should list page numbers and descriptions along with related images and possibly an editor's paragraph.

1. Task 8- Audience Research using Focus Group
To find out some preferences and opinions on pop magazines aimed at 16-25 year old girls, I
arranged a focus group to ask my target audience what they would like and wouldn’t like in a pop
magazine.
Members of focus group:
Ellie Hawkins
Holly Lincoln
Niamh Walsh
Me (Vicki Padgett)
Q1- What types of colours would you expect in a pop magazine aimed at teenage girls/young
adults?
Ellie: I'd expect colours which aren't too bright because then it'll look like it's aimed at a younger
audience.
Holly: Yeah, darker colours like reds and black.
Niamh: I agree, I'd say darker colours, but still have a wide range so that it's more interesting and
appealing to the eye.
Q2- Would you still expect to see lots of images on a magazine aimed at a older target audience?
Holly: I would because however old you are pictures are always nice to look at.
Niamh: I think still have lots of images but just a few less to make room for more text which an
older audience would be interested in.
Ellie: I disagree because I feel like when you get older, pictures become less important and you
want to know the facts instead.
Q3- How many cover lines do you feel should be on the front cover of a pop magazine aimed
towards late teens/early 20 year olds?
Holly: I'd expect to see a lot so that it encourages the audience to purchase the magazine if they
are interested in the content.
Ellie: I feel like there doesn't need to be too many because usually older people prescribe to the
same magazine so it doesn't matter what's advertised on the cover because they'd read it anyway.

2. Niamh: I think there still needs to be a fair few in order to attract the reader into buying the
magazine.
Q4- What kind of articles would you expect to see in the magazine?
Niamh: Free flowing articles about pop starts personal lives as everybody loves the gossip.
Holly: Yes free flowing, but I'd also say Q&A articles because they are quick and easy to read and
simple to understand.
Ellie: Either free flowing or Q&A because they are typically what you'd find in a pop magazine.
Q5- Final question, what would you expect to see on the contents page?
Holly: Page numbers, and a sentence describing what's on that page is almost compulsory for a
contents page.
Niamh: Yeah, and images which are related to the stories to make the page look more attractive.
Ellie: I agree with them both, but personally I like the paragraph written by the editor. In pop
magazines they are usually fun to read but are informative at the same time.
Me: Thank you for your time, you've been very helpful.