Audience Research

Social-demographic is a term used by the media industry used to categorize consumers by ‘social class’. Social-demographic is used by companies when deciding on the target social class to sell their product to.





A - Upper middle class
B - Middle class
C1 - Lower middle class
C2 - Skilled working class
D - Working class
E - Those at the lowest level of subsistence

Target Audience When creating a product for an audience to consume it is vital to consider the target audience especially when it comes to advertising. When deciding on a target audience the things that need to be considered are:
 1) gender                                          
2) social class
3) age
4) location

Gender

There are certain aspects of films which attract different people. For men, action, thrilling, suspense filled scenes and plots will attract them. They may also be attracted by a strong, brave male character for they may desire to be like him. For women, they may be attracted to a romance between characters, a strong, brave, good looking male character. However, sometimes, women can enjoy a good action movie, whereas some men may enjoy a classic romantic comedy. But to attract your target audience, you will need to stick with the stereotypical audience to create an effective thriller.

Social Class

Different social classes can be attracted to different genres of films. If a film is based around the upper class then the upper class will be the target audience for this film. If a film is against the upper class and shows the upper class in a negative light then the lower classes will be the films target audience.

Age

Certain types of films can attract all ages. However, films normally target a certain age group for their audience. Disney movies, such as Tangled, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. are designed to attract younger audiences around 6+. However, audiences sometimes up to the age of 23 may go to see these types of movies for they have special effects and good storylines which attract these audiences. Movies such as Taken, The Fast and The Furious and James Bond, however, will be designed to attract a male audience around the age of 16-25, and 98% of the time these will be the main target audiences.

Location

Movies use certain locations to show familiarity which will attract audiences who are familiar with this location. Audiences love movies which are based in famous landmarks and places, such as New York, LA, London, Dublin, Paris. This is because it may be a local place to the audience or the audience is familiar of the setting.