Introduction
As a producer when creating a product or service it is always important to define and understand your audience. This is something that should be done long before the design of a product in order to know what will appeal to the individuals whom you are marketing it to. This applies to almost every business and is no different in the media industry. In this report I will be explaining the reasons behind audience research, as well as highlighting the elements used in defining your audience.
Why is audience research important to media producers ?
Every product has some sort of audience in which it appeals to whether it be a large group of people or a niche minority. It is important for producers to first of all know who this audience is in order to tailor whatever they are selling to suit the consumer. The product your are designing may appeal to an audience but if you do not understand who your are selling it to then chances are it will fail. This is because there will already be a countless number of goods already designed for that specific audience. Therefore, the customers already have a good idea of what they like and don't like. Due to this, it is a good idea to conduct market research as well. This could include techniques such as focus groups were you get opinions from the consumer. Although what appeals to the customer is important this is only a small part of it. There is a whole spectrum of variables in which influence the consumer to be interested in a certain service or product. These include things such as place of residence, religious beliefs, race, sex amongst other things which I will cover later on. However, this still begs the question why is audience research important to media producers ? Well the answer is quite simple. You need to understand who you are selling your product to in order to successfully market it. If companies didn't conduct this research then products would not sell. This could be due to the fact that they are marketing it to the wrong audience or have no taken the audiences general psyche into consideration. Overall, audience research is a very important tool for media producer. It help them gain an insight into what needs to be done to make their business thrive.
Profiling audiences
In order to understand your audience you need to profile them by a range of different variables. From this you can start to see links between your audiences profile and what they would like to see in the product. This means you can mould your product/service for the consumer based of what you have discovered from profiling. There are range of different factors to take into consideration when profiling your audience. An array of demographics, psychographics and geo-demographics help you to analyse how your audience think. All of these factors such as region or gender can link to other thing such as peoples values, political views and upbringing. These more in depth factors also need to be taken into account as it can affect what products they buy into.
How audiences are profiled
Socio-economic status
As the name suggests, this category is based around peoples social and financial status. The socio-economic status of an individual can be put into a separate category to help researchers analyse the data.The way in which they are categorised is as follows.
A - Upper middle class - (Higher manegerial, administrative or professional)
B - Middle class - (Intermediate manegerial, administrative or professional)
C1 - Lower middle class - (Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional.
C2 - Skilled working class - (Skilled manual workers)
D - Working class - (Semi and unskilled manual workers)
E - non working - (Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners, and others who depend on the welfare state for their income)
Once the data is collected, these categories can be analysed in order to gain important demographics for your research. These categories can be an indicator of there income and therefore there general psyche based on their social status. For example a 'D Working class' person may share different beliefs to say an 'A upper class' person. Therefore, it is important to understand what each category implies about the audience in order to gain an understanding as to how these people live and how this may affect how they think. Now I will explain what sort of people are in each of these categories and why it is important to take them into account.
A (Upper middle class)
Generally, these are people from the public who work in a professional job with a consistent and substantial income. These type of people are often in a position of power or superiority within there job. For example, a bank manager or CEO of a company. People within this category are often targeted with more expensive material items. Due to their large income they will be willing to pay more for a brand name. For instance, somebody in this category may invest in a Sony laptop over a Dell laptop due to the name of the brand. This is also partly because of the price. Generally, people assume that items which are more expensive are better. Also, due to the professional nature of this class, they are normally more interested in material items which can benefit them. These can include product such as mobile phone apps. For instance, somebody in this class may purchase a stock market app in order to increase the wealth. However, over time things change and the lines between upper- middle class products and working class products seem to blur. As an example, when the television first came out it way only the upper-middle class that could afford to own one. However now, even people in the lowest social class will generally own a television set. Therefore, it is important to keep up -to-date with how products change in terms of their audience.
B (Middle Class)
B (Middle Class)
The middle class are usually the type of people who are living comfortably with their income but are not as wealthy as the Upper middle class. Of cause, the classification of these social classes aren't just based solely on income. Although it is a large factor, there are many other variables which affect how each type of consumer reacts to products. In terms of the middle-class they are usually associated with being more educated then lower social classes and live in safe and expensive suburban areas. Therefore, the way in which you sell the product to people depends on how they can relate to it. For example, with somebody in this class may watch sitcoms such as 'Miranda' and 'Peep Show' as they can relate it more to their own lives. The middle class are also associated with being righteous and following rules. Therefore, a show such as 'Breaking Bad' may appeal to this audience as it brings excitement to their own lives without them having to engage in dangerous or illegal activities.
C1 (Lower middle class)
The lower middle class is a sub-division between the lower part of the middle class spectrum and higher part of it. However recently, "skilled working class" have been placed into this as C2 instead in an attempt to better represent the working class. People within this class are often associated with having an average income. this income can be very similar to people within the skilled working class. However, it is suggested that they think differently to the skilled working class regardless of having similar income. This is mainly due to fact that lower middle class people are generally in non manual jobs such as office work. Therefore, they will hold different values to the skilled working class. When referring to the 4 C's (Which I will go into more detail later) many people within this class could be looking for an escape. Therefore, they may get immersed in fantasy such as online multi-player games like 'World of Warcraft' or television game shows such as 'Pointless' or 'Deal or no Deal.'
C2 (Skilled working class)
In terms of financial income and quality of life the skilled working class are generally on par with the lower middle class. However, the difference lies in how they think which is affected by there career and background. The lower middle class are normally people working in offices and non-labour jobs. Whereas individuals in this class usually work in a manual labour job such as plumbing, construction or electrician work. However, due to there knowledge and expertise in the field they will earn a similar income to the lower middle class. In terms of the way they think, it is thought that they share similar values to the working class. A similar social status which refers to people in manual labour who are not as accomplished as this class. Many people believe that there is a split or form of segregation between the working class and middle-class in the UK. This is why the 'Skilled Working class' category was created as a subdivision of the lower middle-class. This split is often depicting in pop-culture and many television shows. When marketing a product to this class it is important to remember that they usually share working class values regardless of there income. Therefore, many products aimed at these classes will not be related to wealthy people. This is because they will struggle to personally build a connection to the product. For instance a tv show or film showing somebody in manual labour work may appeal to this class as they can relate to it. For example the show 'Only Fools and Horses' which depicts a group of working class people trying to earn the money to transcend into the upper class. This is similar to the lower-middle class products that will relate closely to office jobs and non-manual labour work.
D (Working Class)
This refers to people who have the same sort of job as the skilled working class but are not as accomplished. For example they may work for a plumbing company rather than being self employed as a skilled working class person may be. Products aimed at people in this class will generally be the same as the ones aimed at individuals in 'C2.' This is because they share very similar values due to the nature of there work. However it might differ slightly due to there financial income. Therefore, it is important to take this into account and produce similar products that are cheaper.
E (Unemployed)
As the title suggests, this group consists of people who are currently out of work. With this class it is effective to understand that the unemployed will usually have more spare time on their hands. Due to this many T.V shows aimed at this class will be aired during the peak work hours. Also the type of media which is consumed at this time is slightly altered due to this class. A perfect example would be the types of advertisements which are aired during work hours. Many accident claim agencies will air at this time as the person out of work may be in this situation due to an injury. As you can see it is very important to also take into account the reason they are unemployed. When you know this you can tailor certain products to persuade this class to buy them. Due to there financial status many cheap alternatives are aimed at the unemployed to replace expensive products. For instance a company may make a smart-phone similar to the 'IPhone' but cheaper to facilitate the unemployed.
Psychographics
Psychographics cover a wide range of subject matter. Therefore, I am gong to try and split it into different category's and explain each aspects in details. However, in general psychographics refer the analysis of peoples thoughts and feelings. It is important to get inside the consumers head so you know the best way to market a product without offending or losing customers.
Activities,interests and opinions
This is an essential part of audience profiling as it gives you an insight into the consumers lives and background. Knowing their activities and interests is especially important in knowing what type of product will appeal to somebody. An obvious example would be somebody who is interested in cars is much more likely to buy a magazine or newspaper if it involves cars. Or they will be much more interested in shows such as 'Top Gear' as opposed to somebody who has no interest in cars. The audiences opinions also play a huge part in how the product will be designed. Somebody's opinions shape what they buy and what views they listen to. Therefore, it is imperative to gain an understanding into your markets opinions. If this is not done then your product could offend you target audience or put them of. An example of this would be a person who has left-wing political views. They would generally not buy a newspaper such as 'The Daily Mail' as it primarily shares right-wing values. However, they may buy a newspaper like 'The guardian' which is known to share left-wing values. Another example would be religious beliefs. A Christian may not engage in a product which promotes atheism such as 'The Zeitgeist movie' which gives the view that there is no higher power such as God.
Attitudes
This refers to how the audience reacts to certain situations and circumstances as well as there attitude towards life and the people around them. This affects what products they buy into and how they react to types of marketing. This is were you have to be careful not to offend the consumer. Someone who is quite cynical or open-minded may be offended or annoyed by pushy advertising. This is because they might realise or work out the fact that it is clearly a way of marketing the product and see it as sly therefore dismissing it. In comparison to somebody who enjoys buying into brands who will react well to the advertisement.
Values
This can be related to a persons opinions however values are generally morales which are ingrained within people and it is much harder to shift someone values. An example of a value would be somebody who is against gay marriage as they think it runs the sanctity of marriage and is immoral. This is a value as it is a belief they hold due to a specific morale obligation. The moral obligation here being 'It ruins the sanctity of marriage.' Therefore, you would not market say a documentary promotion gay marriage to somebody who hold this value.
Behaviour
How somebody behaves is important to know as yet again it affects how they react to a product and if it will appeal to them. Somebody who behaves in a certain way will generally hold different view to somebody who behaves in a different way. Therefore, there behaviour ultimately effects what type of media and products they consume. It is ls important to try and understand why they behave like this. It could be due to the background or they may even have mental health problems. For instance somebody may be uptight due to there age and the era they were brought up in. Due to this, they could have old fashioned values and be uptight due to the way people are in the modern age. In order to market to this person you would need to create a product which promotes old-fashioned values. For instance, a cinema may start showing old films in order to cater to this audience. All in all, peoples values,interests and opinions normally shape there opinion.
Geodemographics
This refers to the data collected based on the region people live in and there place of residence. This is important to know as it comes in handy when analysing other aspects of audience profiling. The region somebody lives in tells you a lot about who they are as a person and how they will react to products. Many area of the UK are deprived or consist mainly of working class. Therefore, the products sold in these specific region would be different to ones sold in more richer areas. Also region may effect how people act and the values they hold due to the general morales of people within their community. A very obvious example would be regional newspapers. Somebody from London would not read a local Liverpool newspaper as they don't live anywhere near there.
Age
Age is another major aspect which needs to be taken into consideration when profiling audiences. This is because how old somebody is drastically affects how they think and what appeals to them as a consumer. Generally in audience research ages are split into separate bands such as 20-24.
Alternative is the alternate option to mainstream for the public. It is for people who generally doesn't enjoy mainstream media. People within the mainstream audience normally reject the usual conventions of social codes and popular culture due to many reasons. It is important to create something different when producing an alternative product. It doesn't have to be completely obscure or it would only appeal to a small selection of people (niche.) For instance, an alternative film will generally go against the structure and conventions seen in popular films created for the masses. Due to this, They may not hit the box office and remain independent films as there is a smaller percentage of people within the alternative market. An example of an alternative film would be 'Donnie Darko.' This is due to the fact it does not follow the codes and convention most popular movies such as a romcom might. Rather it is quite obscure with a peculiar storyline and is structured in an unconventional way. Overall, alternative is just going against what the masses think by presenting things which are unfamiliar or different to the general public.
Niche
Niche is the smallest market. It refers to things which are designed for a very specific group of people or sub-culture. Therefore, people who are not a part of the group it is aimed at may not find any use in the product. A perfect example would be a smart phone app designed for golfers. 'Swing by swing' is as app which calculates the yards of the course you are on and helps the players keep score. Somebody who doesn't play golf would find no use in this product therefore it is specifically designed for this group (people who play golf.) Due to this it would be considered niche due to the small and very specific group of people who would enjoy it.
As you can see from the screenshot above, BARB can tell you the percentage of people who watch certain channels as well as the average time each person watches each one. This is an 'All time' view. BARB can also show you data from the past few weeks or months which can be useful in telling producers what is popular at the moment.
RAJAR
RAJAR is almost exactly the same as BARB except the context of their data is different. Rather than recording television viewing figures they collect radio listening figures. They gather this information through a range of methods including surveys. When conducting these surveys they make sure to try and get a fair representation of the UK. To do this they collect data from an array of people from various ethnic backgrounds or circumstances such as people with disabilities.
C1 (Lower middle class)
The lower middle class is a sub-division between the lower part of the middle class spectrum and higher part of it. However recently, "skilled working class" have been placed into this as C2 instead in an attempt to better represent the working class. People within this class are often associated with having an average income. this income can be very similar to people within the skilled working class. However, it is suggested that they think differently to the skilled working class regardless of having similar income. This is mainly due to fact that lower middle class people are generally in non manual jobs such as office work. Therefore, they will hold different values to the skilled working class. When referring to the 4 C's (Which I will go into more detail later) many people within this class could be looking for an escape. Therefore, they may get immersed in fantasy such as online multi-player games like 'World of Warcraft' or television game shows such as 'Pointless' or 'Deal or no Deal.'
C2 (Skilled working class)
In terms of financial income and quality of life the skilled working class are generally on par with the lower middle class. However, the difference lies in how they think which is affected by there career and background. The lower middle class are normally people working in offices and non-labour jobs. Whereas individuals in this class usually work in a manual labour job such as plumbing, construction or electrician work. However, due to there knowledge and expertise in the field they will earn a similar income to the lower middle class. In terms of the way they think, it is thought that they share similar values to the working class. A similar social status which refers to people in manual labour who are not as accomplished as this class. Many people believe that there is a split or form of segregation between the working class and middle-class in the UK. This is why the 'Skilled Working class' category was created as a subdivision of the lower middle-class. This split is often depicting in pop-culture and many television shows. When marketing a product to this class it is important to remember that they usually share working class values regardless of there income. Therefore, many products aimed at these classes will not be related to wealthy people. This is because they will struggle to personally build a connection to the product. For instance a tv show or film showing somebody in manual labour work may appeal to this class as they can relate to it. For example the show 'Only Fools and Horses' which depicts a group of working class people trying to earn the money to transcend into the upper class. This is similar to the lower-middle class products that will relate closely to office jobs and non-manual labour work.
D (Working Class)
This refers to people who have the same sort of job as the skilled working class but are not as accomplished. For example they may work for a plumbing company rather than being self employed as a skilled working class person may be. Products aimed at people in this class will generally be the same as the ones aimed at individuals in 'C2.' This is because they share very similar values due to the nature of there work. However it might differ slightly due to there financial income. Therefore, it is important to take this into account and produce similar products that are cheaper.
E (Unemployed)
As the title suggests, this group consists of people who are currently out of work. With this class it is effective to understand that the unemployed will usually have more spare time on their hands. Due to this many T.V shows aimed at this class will be aired during the peak work hours. Also the type of media which is consumed at this time is slightly altered due to this class. A perfect example would be the types of advertisements which are aired during work hours. Many accident claim agencies will air at this time as the person out of work may be in this situation due to an injury. As you can see it is very important to also take into account the reason they are unemployed. When you know this you can tailor certain products to persuade this class to buy them. Due to there financial status many cheap alternatives are aimed at the unemployed to replace expensive products. For instance a company may make a smart-phone similar to the 'IPhone' but cheaper to facilitate the unemployed.
Psychographics
Psychographics cover a wide range of subject matter. Therefore, I am gong to try and split it into different category's and explain each aspects in details. However, in general psychographics refer the analysis of peoples thoughts and feelings. It is important to get inside the consumers head so you know the best way to market a product without offending or losing customers.
Activities,interests and opinions
This is an essential part of audience profiling as it gives you an insight into the consumers lives and background. Knowing their activities and interests is especially important in knowing what type of product will appeal to somebody. An obvious example would be somebody who is interested in cars is much more likely to buy a magazine or newspaper if it involves cars. Or they will be much more interested in shows such as 'Top Gear' as opposed to somebody who has no interest in cars. The audiences opinions also play a huge part in how the product will be designed. Somebody's opinions shape what they buy and what views they listen to. Therefore, it is imperative to gain an understanding into your markets opinions. If this is not done then your product could offend you target audience or put them of. An example of this would be a person who has left-wing political views. They would generally not buy a newspaper such as 'The Daily Mail' as it primarily shares right-wing values. However, they may buy a newspaper like 'The guardian' which is known to share left-wing values. Another example would be religious beliefs. A Christian may not engage in a product which promotes atheism such as 'The Zeitgeist movie' which gives the view that there is no higher power such as God.
Attitudes
This refers to how the audience reacts to certain situations and circumstances as well as there attitude towards life and the people around them. This affects what products they buy into and how they react to types of marketing. This is were you have to be careful not to offend the consumer. Someone who is quite cynical or open-minded may be offended or annoyed by pushy advertising. This is because they might realise or work out the fact that it is clearly a way of marketing the product and see it as sly therefore dismissing it. In comparison to somebody who enjoys buying into brands who will react well to the advertisement.
Values
This can be related to a persons opinions however values are generally morales which are ingrained within people and it is much harder to shift someone values. An example of a value would be somebody who is against gay marriage as they think it runs the sanctity of marriage and is immoral. This is a value as it is a belief they hold due to a specific morale obligation. The moral obligation here being 'It ruins the sanctity of marriage.' Therefore, you would not market say a documentary promotion gay marriage to somebody who hold this value.
Behaviour
How somebody behaves is important to know as yet again it affects how they react to a product and if it will appeal to them. Somebody who behaves in a certain way will generally hold different view to somebody who behaves in a different way. Therefore, there behaviour ultimately effects what type of media and products they consume. It is ls important to try and understand why they behave like this. It could be due to the background or they may even have mental health problems. For instance somebody may be uptight due to there age and the era they were brought up in. Due to this, they could have old fashioned values and be uptight due to the way people are in the modern age. In order to market to this person you would need to create a product which promotes old-fashioned values. For instance, a cinema may start showing old films in order to cater to this audience. All in all, peoples values,interests and opinions normally shape there opinion.
Geodemographics
This refers to the data collected based on the region people live in and there place of residence. This is important to know as it comes in handy when analysing other aspects of audience profiling. The region somebody lives in tells you a lot about who they are as a person and how they will react to products. Many area of the UK are deprived or consist mainly of working class. Therefore, the products sold in these specific region would be different to ones sold in more richer areas. Also region may effect how people act and the values they hold due to the general morales of people within their community. A very obvious example would be regional newspapers. Somebody from London would not read a local Liverpool newspaper as they don't live anywhere near there.
Age
Age is another major aspect which needs to be taken into consideration when profiling audiences. This is because how old somebody is drastically affects how they think and what appeals to them as a consumer. Generally in audience research ages are split into separate bands such as 20-24.
"A graph depicting the different age bands in the UK"
Age is a huge factor in terms of how you tailor the product as well as market it. How old someone is generally is associated with maturity. Therefore, it is important to make sure you make your product the right level of maturity for your audience. For example, somebody aged 16-18 would have a much different view on what is entertaining as opposed to somebody who is 50-60. This can be down to many reasons such as the era they grew up in as well maturity level which I have already mentioned. For instance, a teenager is much more likely to buy a gadget like an 'IPad' than an elderly person. This is because the teenager have grew up in the technological era. Whereas, the elderly person sees the product as unfamiliar and confusing due to growing up before the smart-phone era.
Gender
When dealing with this classification it is generally based of stereotypes and assumptions based of the masses. This due to the sheer size of each gender. Therefore, it would be in-practical to take into account each and every different person within each gender as other methods of audience profile usually cover these aspects. To put it into perspective the general census is that men prefer sports,violence and fast cars were as women like romance films, shoes and pretty things. Obviously it is NOT as black and whit as this although producers have a tendency of painting everyone with the same brush. As mean as this sounds it is the most effective way to do it when dealing with mainstream productions. For example a channel like 'Dave' is aimed at men. Therefore, it mainly airs shows about cars and sports. Products aimed at women on the other hand will generally share the values and morales that the largest percentage of females are believed to have. It is not as straight-forward as this which is why there are other aspects to profiling such as sexual orientation which I will explain about next.
Sexual Orientation
With this category you mainly have to worry about representation. It is important to represent all sexualities as there is much controversy over discrimination in terms of sexual orientation. Also certain products may appeal to people of different sexuality. This is probably why there is a huge section on netflix titled "Gay and Lesbian Films."
"A category on an instant T.V and film application dedicated to gay and lesbian films."
Regional Identity
This is how a person identifies themselves based on were they are from. This can vary from person to person as some people identify themselves based on were they were born others on were they grew up. There are many cliches based of people from certain regions which are to be used or avoided depending on who you are marketing it to. For example you could mock the Scottish stereotype in a film and somebody from that region. However, someone else from that region could take it likely and find the joke funny or see it as satire. This part (how they will react) is entirely down to the rest of the data collected such as psychographics. An example in media would be the game 'GTA V' which mocks L.A and american pop culture. It is important that although they joke the writers get there facts right as to not offend people who identify themselves in this region. It can also be effective mocking regional identity as people from that region can relate to it. For example shows such as 'Geordie shore' may be popular with people from the north east of the UK as they can relate with the people on it. Or they may know people that are like it and be able to build a connection with the characters.
Mainstream
The mainstream consists of popular culture and media which the majority of the population enjoy. The mainstream media are interested solely in selling and appealing to the masses. Therefore, products are created that are generally quite conventional and have been successful for a long time with the larger majority of people. For example 'The X Factor' is regarded as a mainstream television programme in the UK. This is because it holds a huge number of viewing figures and generally does not try anything experimental or new. They just remain within the same conventions and techniques which drew viewers in the first place. Most mainstream consumers are looking for familiarity. Therefore, it is important to understand what is already successful within the mainstream media. Trying something different of un-conventional is normally shunned by the mainstream audience and should be categorized as 'alternative.'
Alternative
The mainstream consists of popular culture and media which the majority of the population enjoy. The mainstream media are interested solely in selling and appealing to the masses. Therefore, products are created that are generally quite conventional and have been successful for a long time with the larger majority of people. For example 'The X Factor' is regarded as a mainstream television programme in the UK. This is because it holds a huge number of viewing figures and generally does not try anything experimental or new. They just remain within the same conventions and techniques which drew viewers in the first place. Most mainstream consumers are looking for familiarity. Therefore, it is important to understand what is already successful within the mainstream media. Trying something different of un-conventional is normally shunned by the mainstream audience and should be categorized as 'alternative.'
Alternative
Alternative is the alternate option to mainstream for the public. It is for people who generally doesn't enjoy mainstream media. People within the mainstream audience normally reject the usual conventions of social codes and popular culture due to many reasons. It is important to create something different when producing an alternative product. It doesn't have to be completely obscure or it would only appeal to a small selection of people (niche.) For instance, an alternative film will generally go against the structure and conventions seen in popular films created for the masses. Due to this, They may not hit the box office and remain independent films as there is a smaller percentage of people within the alternative market. An example of an alternative film would be 'Donnie Darko.' This is due to the fact it does not follow the codes and convention most popular movies such as a romcom might. Rather it is quite obscure with a peculiar storyline and is structured in an unconventional way. Overall, alternative is just going against what the masses think by presenting things which are unfamiliar or different to the general public.
Niche
Niche is the smallest market. It refers to things which are designed for a very specific group of people or sub-culture. Therefore, people who are not a part of the group it is aimed at may not find any use in the product. A perfect example would be a smart phone app designed for golfers. 'Swing by swing' is as app which calculates the yards of the course you are on and helps the players keep score. Somebody who doesn't play golf would find no use in this product therefore it is specifically designed for this group (people who play golf.) Due to this it would be considered niche due to the small and very specific group of people who would enjoy it.
How producers carry out audience research
Understanding how audiences are profiled is all well and good, but without knowing how you actually get the data, this knowledge is practically useless. After all, without the data you have no audience in which to profile. In this section I will outline the difference types of research and also how producers go about carrying out this research.
Quantitative audience research
Quantitative data is based of hard facts and statistics. When conducting this sort of research you are not getting the audiences opinion,thoughts or feelings. In fact, you probably won't have any relation to the people within your audience in this process as most of it consists of statistics and numbers. Quantitative data is important as it give you an insight into your audiences habits as well as seeing what is successful and what isn't based of the data. Generally, this type of data heavily covers the demographics section of audience profiling as this section are things that we know for certain abut our audience It is a very important part of research and is essential to understanding the people you are marketing your product to.
BARB
BARB is a website and organisation which provides the viewing figures for every channel and it's programmes. Obviously, it is impossible for them to record every households viewing habits so a long process is used in order to get an approximation of the T.V viewing habits of the UK public. There methods consist of carefully selecting a sample of households and monitoring there television viewing using certain devices and technology. This data is then analysed and an average is created based of the data collected from the sample. Producers use this in order to see what shows a viewed the most and the least. This is important to know as it shows you what type of shows are successful and then you can figure out why they are so successful. This data also includes demographics which can be helpful when profiling your audience.
RAJAR
RAJAR is almost exactly the same as BARB except the context of their data is different. Rather than recording television viewing figures they collect radio listening figures. They gather this information through a range of methods including surveys. When conducting these surveys they make sure to try and get a fair representation of the UK. To do this they collect data from an array of people from various ethnic backgrounds or circumstances such as people with disabilities.
"A RAJAR graph showing the listening figures of every radio station in the UK"
Qualitative audience research
Quantitative research is were you collect data in order to understand peoples opinions and the way they thing. All data under this type of research is analysed so that it can become psychographics. There are countless methods of getting this data so I will explain a few of the ways in which producers will carry out the this type of research.
Focus Groups
This is were your gather a group of people and discuss our product with them. They then voice their opinions on it and discuss any issues or improvements for the product. It is important to get a diverse range of people in order to get an accurate representation of your audience. This involves gathering people from a range of backgrounds and types of thinking. This is very effective as it allows you to get a first hand view from an outsider who is not developing the product. Therefore, it is less biased and you can get an understanding as to what works and what doesn't. However, there are also disadvantages to this process. These include aspects such as the group arguing or not co-operating. Or maybe they don't want to offend you so they lie about enjoying the product. Focus groups also often consist of a very small amount of people so it is not an effective method of gaining a large ample of opinions.
Questionnaires
A questionnaire is when you distribute a document with a series of questions regarding the product as well as information about the audience. This can also be used to gain quantitative research on the person giving the answers by asking them questions on their age, gender, financial status etc. This method is effective as it allows you to gain opinions from a large sample of people. This is because questionnaires are very easy to distribute due to methods such as the internet. However, it is harder to gain an in depth response as you are not dealing with the person face-to-face like in a focus groups. Therefore, it is harder for the audience to elaborate on he reasoning behind their answers.
Face-to-face interviews
This is when you personally interview individual people in order to get an insight into the consumers habits and the way the think. This is even more effective in getting in-depth responses than focus groups as you are dealing with one singular person. Therefore, they will be more comfortable to elaborate on their answers. However, this s not a practical method in getting a large number of responses. Rather it is more used to get in depth views and opinions from a number of people on your product r existing products.
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