NOTES ON TARGET AUDIENCE
NICHE AUDIENCES
A niche audience is a small group of people that enjoy something that isn't considered to be mainstream or meets a specific interest.
Aimed at (some more niche than others):
- Certain ages
- Certain genders
- Certain ethnicities
- Certain cultures and languages
eg.
MASS AUDIENCES
A mass audience is a larger group of people that enjoy something, therefore making it mainstream. Aimed at:
- Wide age range
- Any gender
- Any ethnicity
- Certain cultures and languages
eg.
ESCAPISM - Looking for Alaska
A series where people can forget their
lives and become invested in the story.
SURVEILLANCE - Blindboy Undestroys The World
The subject of the show explores the world
and informs the audience of people/their experiences.
PERSONAL IDENTITY - Shrill
The main character can be relatable
or a role model to the audience.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS - RuPaul's Drag Race
Lots of people talk about this
show and also you may identify
with the contestants.
DEMOGRAPHICS & IMAGINARY ENTITIES
To create imaginary entities, you must make sweeping generalisations.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS - Profiling people based on generalisations to create an average audience member, however avoiding oversimplifications (such as "all people in the countryside are poor farmers").
GEODEMOGRAPHICS - Profiling people based on their location (such as "people from Brighton").
IMAGINARY ENTITIES
DR WHO FAN
- Our fan is named Harry Houghton.
- He is male.
- He is white.
- He is unmarried.
- He is a 19 year old student in the UK.
- He visits his family regularly. He likes to watch Dr. Who with them when he visits, as he grew up with it.
- He studies sciences.
- He likes comics.
- He doesn't mind other sci-fi shows, but he loves Dr. Who the most.
- He is in the C1 social class.
DAILY MAIL READER
- Our fan is named Joanna Reading-Pickles.
- She is female.
- She is white.
- She is twice married.
- She is heterosexual.
- She is right wing.
- She is older than 50.
- She is interested in journalism and politics.
- She is in the B social class.
- She has two small dogs.
- She would be advertised expensive supermarkets, Waitrose, cushions, interior design, gardening supplies.
- Our fan is named Joanna Reading-Pickles.
- She is female.
- She is white.
- She is twice married.
- She is heterosexual.
- She is right wing.
- She is older than 50.
- She is interested in journalism and politics.
- She is in the B social class.
- She has two small dogs.
- She would be advertised expensive supermarkets, Waitrose, cushions, interior design, gardening supplies.
SOCIAL GRADE SYSTEM
USES AND GRATIFICATION SYSTEM
1960, more active audiences
actively made decision to watch a thing or do a thing
FOR REASONS
What do people get from media products?
actively made decision to watch a thing or do a thing
FOR REASONS
What do people get from media products?
- escapism/diversion - gratification, distraction, something different from real life
- surveillance - window into others' lives, learning about the world (news etc)
- personal identity - identifying with characters, learn behaviour and values
- personal relationships - watching to talk about with others, connect with character
- Education
EXAMPLES:
ESCAPISM - Looking for Alaska
A series where people can forget their
lives and become invested in the story.
SURVEILLANCE - Blindboy Undestroys The World
The subject of the show explores the world
and informs the audience of people/their experiences.
PERSONAL IDENTITY - Shrill
The main character can be relatable
or a role model to the audience.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS - RuPaul's Drag Race
Lots of people talk about this
show and also you may identify
with the contestants.
AUDIENCE THEORIES
AUDIENCES SHAPE WHAT THINGS BECOME - THEORIES HAVE TO BE UPDATED BECAUSE AUDIENCES ARE VOLATILE.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE AUDIENCES
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE AUDIENCES
ACTIVE AUDIENCE MEMBER
Directly interacting with a media product, such as
a video game, documentary, game show etc. You are
being physically, or intellectually active.
PASSIVE AUDIENCE MEMBER
Just absorbing and consuming the media product,
not challenging it or interacting in any way. You
aren't being physically or intellectually
active.
RECEPTION THEORY
Stuart Hall noted that creators put media into the world with their own meaning, and then that media is free to be interpreted in certain ways. It's always subject to the audience.
DOMINANT/PREFERRED READING
You see the media as intended by the creator.
OPPOSITIONAL READING
The audience rejects the preferred reading and creates their own.
NEGOTIATED READING
The audience takes part of the preferred reading but has their own interpretation of certain parts.
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY
The idea that audiences are passive and will believe whatever they are told, because the media said it and it must therefore be true. Predominantly used to describe the 30s and 40s when new forms of media and Hollywood popped up. Nowadays it is mostly discredited, but we can still see its effects in articles telling us that video games cause violence and such. Parents are prone to believing this theory, in the interest of protecting their children. The term was coined by American political scientist Harold Lasswell in the 1920s.
GAMER THEORY
The idea of four types of people that play games, and that you can market towards them:
ACHIEVERS - People who strive to unlock things and play for achievements. This will reard
EXPLORERS - People who like to find things in games and, as the name implies, explore. It will reward game designers and publishers who include large worlds or secret things.
SOCIALISERS - People who like to play games to talk to people and meet others.
KILLERS - People who like to destroy things in games.
ACHIEVERS - People who strive to unlock things and play for achievements. This will reard
EXPLORERS - People who like to find things in games and, as the name implies, explore. It will reward game designers and publishers who include large worlds or secret things.
SOCIALISERS - People who like to play games to talk to people and meet others.
KILLERS - People who like to destroy things in games.
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