AUDIENCE

Audience VERY important concept

All texts are made with an audience in mind
Producers make money out of that audience (not always)

IMPORTANT to understand what

happens when an audience meets a

media text

Audience

Texts are constructed to appeal to certain

audiences through:
Codes and conventions
Genre
Narrative
Representation

Texts try to position the audience to make

them respond in a particular way.

Audiences are examined in 2 ways within

media studies
1. How the media industry uses audience
- As evidence of the success of a product (ratings, box office
sales, etc.)
- To predict and target the market for a media texts or product,
perhaps through the use of advertising to increase sales or
launch new product.
2. The study of audience theories
- To analyse the effects of the media on a specific audience
and wider society
- To understand the relationship between the audience and the
media.

Are YOU an audience member?

In groups.
List the different audiences you are part of on a regular

basis? TV programme, radio, websites, video games

Pick one
How much do you know about the audience for theses

texts? (size, age, gender, etc.)

USE PAGE 47 IN YOUR HANDBOOKS AND SPECIFY
THE DEMOGRAPHIC!

The process of construction includes:

Style and content
Use of codes and
conventions
Genre
Narrative
etc.

A view of the
world
That a target
audience can relate
too, often conveyed
by representation.

Also they position the audience WHY?

Assumptions

Discourse

Texts make
assumptions about
the lifestyles and
interests of the
audience

Each text has a

set of ideas that
shape the way in
which we
understand the
world

Modes of address
defined as the ways in which relations
between addresser and addressee are
constructed in a text. In order to
communicate, a producer of any text must
make some assumptions about an
intended audience; reflections of such
assumptions may be discerned in the
text (advertisements offer particularly clear
examples of this).

MODE OF ADDRESS
Producers will construct a particular mode of address in order to aim
their media text at a specific audience group.

Mode of Address is the way in which the text

speaks to the audience. It is a construction
using a number of codes from all elements of the
text for example technical codes (Camera,
lighting, sound etc) and symbolic codes
(language, colour etc)

Mode of Address
Mode of
Address

Audience
relationship

Audience Role Example

Direct

Semi-Formal
(Informative)

Acquaintance/
Client

Consumer
Affairs i.e.
Watchdog

Objective

Formal (but
equal)

Listener

Documentary
i.e. Wildlife
Docs.

Authoritative

Formal/
Submissive

Learner

TV News

Familiar

Friendly

Friend

Game Show/
Docu Soap

Familiar
(Participant)

Illusion of
Social
Interaction

Participantegging on
contestants or
taking part

Game Shows
i.e. Who wants
to be
millionaire/ Big
Brother/ Pop
Idol

 Comment on the Mode of Address of this

magazine cover:
Who is it addressing?
How do you know this?
What are the visual clues?

Who is it
addressing?
How do you
know this?
What are the
visual clues?

Bold red text

Connotes
Stereotypical
male 'predator'

Typical
powerful
male
stereotype

Direct address

Direct, imperative

Suggestion of sexual
orientation

Use of Super
-lative

 Write a Preferred Reading of the ideal

purchaser for 'Men's Health'.

(Preferred Reading - the interpretation of a

media product that was intended by the

maker or which is dictated by the ideology
of the society in which it is viewed.)

Men's Health Preferred Reading

Powerful, straight men who care about

their physique but overtly fussy about

'looks'. Demand rather than ask,
confrontational rather than subtle. They
need results quickly and are prepared to
work hard to get them, the same applies in
terms of money go getters.
Prepared to consider what they eat as
well.
The aim is to look good for women.

 So write down an answer to the following:

What assumptions are being made about

the audiences for these magazines?

Using your handout.

Annotate the poster

Label the the visual and technical

codes
Comment on HOW they appeal to
their target audience?

Modes of address

How do the visual and technical codes appeal to their

target audience?

VISUAL AND
TECHNICAL CODES
TARGET AUDIENCE
Mode of address
Compare and contrast the modes of address in the 2 mag
covers

Assumptions
Discourse
Style and content
representation

Audience research
Does it have an audience?
If the anwers is NO there is no point going any further.
Serious business (time and money)ascertaining if there is

anyone out there whod be interested in their idea

So what things might be producers be interested in

knowing about an audience?

Categorising Audiences
Demographic data (objective):
Age
Gender
Income
Education
Family
Geography
Demographic data is used to sell advertising space.
Social Grade classification...

Starter - What social grade am I?

Doctor

Nurse
Teacher
Graphic designer
Telesales/ market researcher
Plumber
Student

Social Grade
A
B

C1

C2
D
E

How useful is this type of

information?

Higher managerial, administrative and

professional
Intermediate managerial, administrative
and professional
Supervisory, clerical and junior
managerial, administrative and
professional
Skilled manual worker
Semi-skilled and unskilled manual worker
State pensioners, casual and lowest
grade workers, unemployed with state

One common way of describing audiences is to

use a letter code to show their income bracket:
A

Top management, bankers, lawyers, doctors and

other highly salaried professionals
B
Middle management, teachers, many 'creatives' eg
graphic designers etc
C1 Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses,
specialist clerical staff etc
C2 Skilled workers, tradespersons (white collar)
D
Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers (blue
collar)
E
Unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers

ACORN consumer classification

This system categorises people by
postcode:
Wealthy achievers
Wealthy executives
Affluent greys
Flourishing families

Urban prosperity
Prosperous professionals
Educated urbanites
Aspiring singles
Comfortably off
Starting out
Secure families
Settled suburbia
Prudent pensioners

Moderate means
-Asian
communities
-Post-industrial
families
-Blue collar roots
Hard-pressed.
-Struggling families
-Burdened singles
-High rise hardship
-Inner city
adversity

Psychographics
This is subjective, focussing on consumers personalities,

beliefs and aspirations.

It may cut-across demographic groups.
The VALs model (values, attitudes and lifestyle)
categorises audiences into 8 groups.
These are measured in terms of their ideals,
achievements and resources: education, income,
intelligence, health, energy & eagerness to purchase.

Task - Match

Relate to cars!!!
Explorer Jeep?

These people are driven by a need for discovery,

challenge and new frontiers. Young in nature, if not in

reality, Explorers are often the first to try out new ideas
and experiences. They respond to brands that offer new
sensations, indulgence and instant effects. In short,
difference is what they seek out. Their core need in life is
for discovery.

The Lifestyle groups hierarchy

Innovators

Thinkers
Believers
Achievers
Strivers
Experiencers
Makers
Survivors

Each of these groups is then

measured in terms of their resources:
education, income, intelligence,
health, energy, eagerness to
purchase, ideals, achievements.

Who is the target audience?

The advertisers McCann Erickson

identified the Polo target market as
empty nesters approaching
retirement.
Their children have left home, so it
makes sense to trade down from a
family estate to a hatchback,
however small cars feel a bit
vulnerable and scary after a big car,
so Polos message is that of a solid
build with a sense of protection.

What about this?

The Passat target audience was defined as

road warriors middle-ranking business
executives who spend a lot of time driving up
and down Britains motorways.
They want to drive a BMW or Audi but their
company car budget wont stretch to that. They
worry that cars they can afford seem a bit
standardised and unimaginative. This is not how
they see themselves, so they dont want their
car to project that image. Hence the Passat
message that the cars are designed rather than
merely manufactured.

Early
adopters
This audience segment buys new innovations in
technology when first released.
The thrill of owning the new
product overcomes the high
price and relatively poor
performance often associated
with early models. Early
Adopters tolerate risk, unlike
mainstreamers who would
rather be safe and wait for
the tried and tested model.
They are the ideal consumers
in the current technology
market where companies
need to launch continually

Research - Coursework
Pearl and Dean Target audience

http://business.pearlanddean.com/films_guide

Create a Questionnaire
What might be a good questions to put on?
Open ended?
Create Graphs of Results Pie, bar etc
Summarise Information