The Notion of Constructed

Audiences
 We say that something is constructed when
there is deliberate attempt and effort to turn an
idea into material reality. The Audience for
teleserye does not exist per se but the creators
and producers build their minds what kind of
people will the teleserye most certainly attracts.

It is to say that the group of people defined

as the audience of a particular television
program could not have existed had it not been
imagined and realized by a set of people.
 Most media outfits operate this way starting off
with the question who is the target audience. The
construction of a target audience is a way of making the
audience specific. By actually identifying why this
product is relevant to a particular group of people and
by bringing in that imagined group of people, the media
text actually constructs the audience for whom it is
intended.
 A whitening soap released by the pharmaceutical
company is in need of consumers who will patronize
the product. Intrinsic to the product are some value
propositions that give it an edge over other competitors
in the market. It could be the articulation of what the
product can offer to its potential consumers, a way of
saying the tag line “This is the answer to your needs”
or “The solution to your problem.

A marketing plan is conceived and certainly a central

part of it will be an advertisement. The potential
consumers are now transmuted to be the target
audience of the advertisements.
 Remember that media executives do not think of
target audiences in the same way that the target
audiences think of themselves.

Let us take the case of Maribel, an 18 year old college

student who is hardworking as anyone who wants to
graduate with honors and land a successful and high-
paying job. She is a daughter, sister, friend and
president of an academic organization in her campus.
She defines herself as a good student, a responsible
campus leader, a loving sister and an obedient
daughter.
However, the media executive in the advertising
company think of her in a different light. The
characteristics that should properly describe Maribel
are something that the advertising executive can use
when they map out potential users of a whitening soap.
They gathered the data about Maribel from a survey
questionnaire that she answered when she was in mall.
This survey questionnaire was secured by the adverting
company now bent on making a successful marketing
campaign for a whitening soap.
Now for the advertising company, Maribel belongs to
the age bracket of 16-20 years old, a female, a student,
or a young professional, unmarried, with limited
money. She is somebody who watches three to four
Filipino films a year, buys local celebrity magazines,
subscribe to instagram, and follow some local
celebrities. Part of the characteristic of the that
Maribel have which appeal to the advertising
company is her desire to have a white and glowing
skin because that seems to be the norm and the
defining characteristics of the local stars she follows on
instagram.
To both the pharmaceutical company and the
advertising agency , Maribel and females like her are
their target audience.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Is best defined as a specific group of people
identified and aggregated from selected population
segments who are the intended users. The information
generated from them helps publishers and producers
develop media messages that will attract this group or,
in case of advertisers, help them recommend products
that will be potentially attractive and useful to this
target audience.
How Audiences are Constructed
Shaun Moores ( 1993) asserts that the audience is not a
homogeneous category and that it is best to see it in its
plurality- as audiences, in fact. They are disparate
group categorized by how they receive the media ( in
privacy of their homes or out in the shopping malls) and
other identity markers such as gender, race, ethno
linguistic group, class status, and other positions in the
society.
The attributes of the audience can be summed up by
GEARS:
G- ender
E- thnicity
A- ge range
R- egion or Nationality
S-ocio-econimic group

Since advertising peddles products or services, the

Socio-econimoc group is a priority concern. For
instance, the National Readership Survey in the UK
adopts this traditional segment of audiences and it
has been useful in terms of calibrating the potential.
Audiences as Defined by Differences
Differences create the audience demographics.
It is created by zeroing in to a particular sector of a
population that is the intended audience of a media or
information text.

Psychographics
It is derived from the concept of demographics,
but is focused on the psychological traits. This
category is often utilized to provide more substance to
the profile of potential media audiences. It covers
attitudes, personality types, opinions, and
motivations.
Crating Content for Target Audiences
Fiske (1987) remarked that “ television tries to
construct an ideal position which it invites us to occupy,
and, if we do, rewards us with the pleasure of
recognition.”

Creating content for target audiences may be a

tricky business for media executives. It involves a lot of
research, a wide range of options, and management of
risk should the initial formats would not work well.
 Most of the time they avoid risk and do not
gamble. They hire creative people who have a proven
track record in keeping up with what the target
audiences prefer.

Risk management is an exceptionally significant

part of audience creation. The drive is to sustain the
production and dissemination of a media text.
Therefore, it has to be successful to generate audience
share, revenues, and steady, if not exponentially
increasing rate of profit.