target audience research objective iv

Target Audience Research Objective IV

By Myles Egan

Qualitative Research• Qualitative Research is research based on opinions,

attitudes and preferences rather than hard facts and figures, with the intention of finding out what individuals and groups think and feel about a particular media product.

• Examples: Interviews, Questionnaires, Screening and Q&A.

• I have chosen to use qualitative research in order to receive more detailed longer answers as this will allow me to analyze the responses and create a more in depth conclusion to my target audience research.

Primary Research

• Primary Research is first-hand research, which allows you to obtain new information.Examples: Interviews, Questionnaires, Focus groups.

• I have chosen to use primary research as it will be specific to my script and synopsis which will help me come to a more precise conclusion.

My Questionnaire• When writing my questionnaire the subjects I included were:

themes, issues, character and mood.

1. When reading the script and synopsis what came to your mind and why?2. When reading both the synopsis and script do you feel this will create an effective

introduction?3. Do you notice any clear themes and issues, if so what are they?4. Are you interested in the themes and issues shown?5. Do you feel that this portrays life as it is lived?6. What audience do you feel this script and synopsis attract?7. Did you see any similarities between the synopsis and the script? If so, what were they?8. Did you see any differences between the synopsis and the script? If so, what were they?9. Do the situations that Jay has gotten himself into interest you? If so, why?10. Referring back to paragraph three in the synopsis do you think drinking and smoking is seen

as a realistic way of copping with gambling?11. Referring back to the forth paragraph of the synopsis do you think the way that Leah behaves

in their relationship is realistic?

Questions targeting Themes and Issues

3. Do you notice any clear themes and issues, if so what are they?

4. Are you interested in the themes and issues shown?

Questions targeting Character

9. Do the situations that Jay has gotten himself into interest you? If so, why?

10. Referring back to paragraph three in the synopsis do you think drinking and smoking is seen as a realistic way of copping with gambling?

11. Referring back to the forth paragraph of the synopsis do you think the way that Leah behaves in their relationship is realistic?

Questions targeting Mood

1. When reading the script and synopsis what came to your mind and why?

2. When reading both the synopsis and script do you feel this will create an effective introduction?

5. Do you feel that this portrays life as it is lived?

6. What audience do you feel this script and synopsis attract?

Evaluative Questions

1. Who's the audience for the media product?

2. How do I attract/ address them?

Who's the audience for the media product?

The question I included in my interview to find out the answer to this evaluative question is:

‘What audience do you feel this script and synopsis attract?’– This question very obviously asks the participants the characteristics they believe that

the audience who would be attracted to this film would have.

• Interview 1 response: "People who are interested in social realism films and are of a higher education level and people who have taken media"

• Interview 2 response: "I think it attracts an 18 to 25 year old because the character is 18 years old so its more likely that people that age will be able to relate"

• Interview 3 response: "I think the script and synopsis will attract social realism fans and people that know of people in those situations"

• Interview 4 response: "I think it attracts a male audience because the main character is a male and the age range is 18 to 30 because you're easily influenced between those ages“

Evaluation• When looking through my results and gathering them together, a conclusive response to

the characteristics of my audience were generally male, aged 18-25's and educated to media.


4. Are you interested in the themes and issues shown?– Yes, because I’m interested in realist issues.

• This answer shows specific media terminology, therefore shows that she is educated to media and fits the criteria to my target audience.

5. Do you feel this portrays a sense of life as it is lived?– Yes, because gambling addiction is a real issue in life.

• My participant believes that this shows a sense of life as it is lived and therefore expresses that it can be relatable as gambling is a real life issue, this shows that my film can easily relate to an audience who are interested in real life issues or specifically gambling issues.


1. When reading the script and synopsis, what came to your mind and why? – Addiction came into my mind when reading about the man and alcohol problems.

• Automatically, the participant picks out that alcohol and addiction are key features to this story, with these two strong characteristics of a film and that they’re easy to pick out from just a synopsis and script shows the effectiveness of these features, this tells me that anyone who is interested in these types of issues would definitely be an audience to my media product as it shows that it expresses these issues clearly.

4. Are you interested in the themes and issues shown?– Yes because I feel they’re very realistic and they’re relatable to a lot of people.

• This tells me that my audience will be attracted the elements of being able to relate to things like the themes, issues, storyline and character; with this in mind, features like age, love, class and status, language etc. will all play a part in whether my film in relatable to a wider or more niche audience. It will attract the social realist fans, although it depends on whether I want to attract a bigger audience.


11. Referring back to the forth paragraph of the synopsis do you think the way that Leah behaves in their relationship is realistic?

– Yes, because this is a way a lot of people would react and he’s obviously been treating her like she wants to be treated – but she still likes him.• ‘Yes, because this is a way a lot of people would react’ – this shows

that it is emotionally relatable to a lot of people who have relationship troubles.

6. What audience do you think this script and synopsis will attract?•I think it will attract social realist fans and people who know of people in those situations.

– This tells me that the social realist genre in my script and synopsis is strong enough to shine through and for the participant to understand that it is based on a social realist genre; also this response tells me I have not only catered for social realist fans but also for a wider range of audience and could attract the younger audience as my characters are young and will therefore know of people in those situations.

How do I attract/ address them?

Sight & Sound Magazine

• When looking at my responses it seemed that in order to be interested in my film you’d have to have a good level of media education or be a fan of social realism; therefore I feel that an appropriate way to attract my target audience would be to advertise in Sight & Sound Magazine as they’re a niche magazine that attract an audience who are media educated.

• When looking at their site, it shows they have attracted a big audience for a niche magazine and have made a strong reliable reputation as they currently have 13,000 UK and 6,000 international subscribers ‘all of whom love film and film culture’

• This shows me that advertising here would attract a media educated audience to my film.

How do I attract/ address them?

Social networking• Social Realism films are often known for having smaller

budgets compared to mainstream ones; this is why social networking felt like an appropriate way to attract my audience as social networking is one of the cheapest ways to advertise; also the fact that when I gathered the responses together I found that my film would attract a 18-25 year old fan base and most 18-25 year olds use social networks - therefore I feel this would be a sufficient way to attract my target audience.

Analysis of my methodsStructure

• The way in which I structured my questions was to ensure that it flowed smoothly between each category, therefore making for less confusion to the participant.

• Also I started the questionnaire with more basic questions, this made sure that they didn’t feel to pressured and eased them into the more complex questions which allowed them to become more confident in expressing detailed opinions.

Analysis of my methods

Biased • The problem with primary research is that it

can sometimes be biased and I think in my method my participants were all similar ages and all the same gender, this could mean that I didn’t get a varied opinion on who my target audience are and that I’ve only got an answer from one perspective.

Analysis of my methods

Creating Detail10. Referring back to paragraph three in the synopsis do you think drinking

and smoking is seen as a realistic way of copping with gambling?11. Referring back to the forth paragraph of the synopsis do you think the

way that Leah behaves in their relationship is realistic?

• By taking them to a specific point in the synopsis, it makes them give a more detailed opinion on what they thought about key elements of the film.

Analysis of my methodsTaste and Preferences

1. When reading the script and synopsis what came to your mind and why?4. Are you interested in the themes and issues shown?9. Do the situations that Jay has gotten himself into interest you? If so, why?

• By asking for a specific answer personal to the participant it makes them more engaged in the interview and story, which makes them express how they personally feel about the media product and why it has this effect on them.

• Also I have spread these types of questions out throughout the interview as if they get bored of answering questions that relate only to the script and synopsis, they can answer something which requires a response personal to them; this stops the participant becoming fatigued through the interview - as if this happens answers can begin to lack in detail.

target audience research objective iv

Education