Audiences

Audience

·         Age

·         Interests

·         What they look for in a film

·         How often they watch films

·         What genre of television programmes/film they are interested in

·         Favourite film

·         Occupation – reflect interests and social status

·         Likes and dislikes

·         Where you live – reflects their status

·         CGI?

I can find this information out via questionnaire using;

·         Twitter

·         Facebook

·         Paper questionnaire

·         Email drop

·         Street asks

Audience Classification – centred on income/status

A – Upper middle class – top management/bakers/lawyers
B – Middle class – teachers/’creative’s’ e.g. graphic designers
C1 – Lower middle class – office supervisors/nurses/junior managers
C2 – Skilled working class – skilled workers/engineer
D – Working class – waitress/brick layer
E – People at the lowest level of income – students/casual workers

Young and Rubicam’s four consumers

Mainstreamers – 40% of the population – like security and belonging to a group
Aspirers – Want a status and the esteem of others – like status symbols and designer labels
Succeeders – People who already have status and control
Reformers – Define themselves by their self esteem and self fulfilment   

Audience Theory

‘The Effects/ Hypodermic model’

According to the theory the media is like a syringe which injects ideas into people, originating from students who attended Frankfurt school, a group of German Marxists who witnessed firsthand how Hitler used propaganda to influence a nation.
In other word s, you see something violent, you do something violent , if you see a woman washing up on TV then you (being a woman yourself) are expected to do the washing up at home.
However, this does not appeal to everyone thus making it too simplistic and stereotypical, as we cannot stay that every person that views a film or television programme containing violence of gore would inflict the same upon others in real life.

                Uses and Gratifications theory

Based around the Hierarchy of needs, identified by Maslow. Explaining why people watch the media they do, researchers simplified it into four key ideas;

1.       Information; we want to find out about society and the world – we want to satisfy our curiosity. This would fit the news and documentaries which both give us sense of learning about the world

2.       Personal identity; being able to relate to the characters in the programme or film

3.       Integration and Social interaction; conversing with others about what you have seen

4.       Entertainment; sometimes we simply use the media for enjoyment, relaxation or just to fill time