Rationale For Studying Mass Media Audiences

NAME: Samuel Osagie COURSE: Media Audience Studies TUTOR: Bama Orlando ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Rational For Studying Mass Media Audiences DATE: 6-3-2009

RATIONALE FOR STUDYING MASS MEDIA AUDIENCES Mass media is media which is design for large audience. Mass media includes media like TV; radio; newspaper; film; Billboard; and internet. Mass media in today society plays a crucial role in making and reflecting public opinion: media connects the world to audiences and reproduce the self-image of society. It is very important professionals in mass media study media audiences, because of the complex characteristics of mass media audiences like: their age; income; gender; taste; lifestyle; behaviour; belief; diversity; etc. The study of mass media audiences has reshaping how we understand and communicate with our audiences. “… (Audience) remains an essential item for any media communicator who envisages some collective human destination for their messages”. (Denis McQuail, Mass Communication Theory) The study of mass media audiences is the central concept of media. It helps media professionals to know people who share common interest; explore the way in which audiences behave or respond to media contents ( Active or Passive); and the way audiences understand and interact with media in all their various forms. The study of media audiences is the key to understanding the variables of mass media audiences. There are many kinds of theories on how audiences respond to and interact with the media. This shows how important audiences are to mass media. By studying mass media audiences, professionals in media are able know who their audiences are, where they are and what they do. And even see how their audiences respond to and interact with media content. No two member of the audience are the same nor interpret media text (message) in the same way. “Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are” (Abercrombie, 1996). There are many different ways to study mass media audiences and the way in which they respond to media messages. And there has not been any effective way to measure audiences, or to measure all the individual’s responses to the media message. The existing methods of

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NAME: Samuel Osagie COURSE: Media Audience Studies TUTOR: Bama Orlando ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Rational For Studying Mass Media Audiences DATE: 6-3-2009 measuring audiences seem inadequate. For instance, the equipment used to monitor the sample of which TV channels are being watched by audiences. This method of studying is ineffective as it does not take into consideration “how” these audiences watch the TV, e.g. if they are watching with less attention or doing other activities while watching compared to when they are watching programmes of their own interest (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/ pph9701.html, accessed 8/3/2009). “The realization that audience is not adequately explained by researching either the people of the audience or the texts they like, but that audience is distinctively inflected by the nature and cultural significance of the interaction between audience activities and textual character (understood in the widest possible sense) causes a reconsideration of the very nature of audience” (Nightgale, 1996). There are two variables in studying audiences in mass media; they are Demographic variables and Psychographic variables. •

Demographic Variables: help to describe who media audiences are. It creates part of the social profile of mass media target audience, like their age, gender, race, income, education, and marital status. It gives general description of the group your audience belong to. It does not give information about audience’s belief, interest or behaviour.

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Psychographic Variables: are any attribute relating to audience’s personality, value, attitude, interest, or lifestyle. They are also known as IAO variables (Interests, Attitudes, and Opinions). Psychographic variables describe why mass media audiences act the way they do. It gives us more refined and intimate lifestyle details of our audiences. It also provides a richer understanding of media audiences’ behaviours, interests, beliefs, and lifestyles. It help to capture data to create rich social profiles based upon IAO.

There are different methods for studying the variables of mass media audiences. Surveys are best for studying demographic variables, because they are easily quantifiable e.g. the age, education, sex, income, and population of a TV audience. While psychographic variables are better studied using qualitative research methods like participant observation (ethnography) e.g. when a media research stay with the audience he /she is studying and participate with

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NAME: Samuel Osagie COURSE: Media Audience Studies TUTOR: Bama Orlando ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Rational For Studying Mass Media Audiences DATE: 6-3-2009 them in their lifestyle and activities; Non-participant observation; interviews (this could be structured interview, unstructured interview or semi-structured interview). Mass media audiences possess different characteristics, knowing these characteristics help the media understand who the audiences are; where the audiences are; what the audiences like, the way the audiences will react to their media text; and how to reach the audiences. The first thing professionals in media do when studying their audiences, is to determine the demographic group of their audiences (such as age, gender, race, education, income, and marital status). The next thing they do is to determine the psychographic group of their audiences, because even though the demographic group has been known, people within that group still have very different perceptions about the benefits or value of the media’s product (message) and will be motivated for different reasons. These differences are known as psychographics. For example, if a TV station is producing a Reality TV Show like “Big Brothers House”, the TV station must know who their audience will be. In order to know who their target audience are, a research study on the audiences will be carried out on the demographic and psychographic variables of their target audience. In this case the demographic group will be young people, to find out young audience that love watching Reality TV Shows. The Psychographic variables of this group of audience will also be determine because they could be some young people among this young group who may not like this particular Reality TV Show, maybe based on moral ground or religious ground. So the media audience study will enable the TV station to know with the measure of the mass audience that will be watching this particular Reality TV Show (Abecrombie, N., 1996). Another rationale of media audience study is that it helps mass media professionals create “Niche marketing”. We are in a time when mass media audiences are increasingly bombarded constantly with different media products. There are more and more media texts today and they are being targeted more and more precisely at certain groups- this process involves something called niche marketing. A niche is a small part of the market and advertisers have found that they can get a greater return on their investment if they can get an audience who although maybe smaller but can be more easily targeted. (Yopp and McAdams, 2006) An example of this is the specialist hobby magazines that you might see in WH Smith’s stores. Another good example of this is computer magazines: one company, Future publishing, 3

NAME: Samuel Osagie COURSE: Media Audience Studies TUTOR: Bama Orlando ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Rational For Studying Mass Media Audiences DATE: 6-3-2009 produce dozens of different magazines each aimed at one particular niche of computer usersthere are magazines for people who use internet, another for those who are new to computer, and another for those who play computer games. This is the reason why TV programmes with quite high ratings can be inexplicably taken off the air and why at the same time a minority show might flourish. The high rating texts might well have been popular with a part of society with little buying power- for example the elderly, while the niche for the minority show might be much more attractive to the advertisers (http://www.alevemedia.com/college/booklets/audience, accessed 9/3/2009).

AUDIENCES FOR NEW LUCT LONDON CAMPUS CAMPAIGN “A campaign is a strategic and structured plan consisting of media, marketing, communications, and public relations or promotional messages with a consistent theme that has been developed through an analysis of the current situation. This analysis includes assessments of the client, the competition, target audiences, and the marketing or media mix” (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/WC078). For an effective campaign to be carried out for the new LUCT London campus, we must be able to know the right target audiences. And to determine the target audiences for this campaign, the various segments of our audiences (students; teachers; inventors; artistic creators; consumers; law enforcement officials; SMEs; and researchers) should be evaluated against the following criteria: •

Identifiable: the different characteristics of audience groups must be measurable, so that they can be identified. That is, we must know who our target audiences are. Are the students or teachers? Are they creative artist or inventors? Are they SMEs or consumers? If they are students, are they undergraduates or postgraduates? Their age, gender, race as well as income will also be identified.

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Needs: the target audience groups must possess a unique need for LUCT’s products/services. LUCT is a university of creative technology; do the audience like to attend a creative university or a research university like Oxford University?

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NAME: Samuel Osagie COURSE: Media Audience Studies TUTOR: Bama Orlando ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Rational For Studying Mass Media Audiences DATE: 6-3-2009 • Accessible: the audience groups must be reachable through communication and distribution channels. In this case, we have to consider the locations of our campaign’s audiences. Where are the audiences living? Are they living in the city or in the countryside or in the suburban area? This also considers which type of media is accessible to our target audiences. Are the people in our target audiences accessible to TV; radio; newspapers; magazines; internet; or billboard adverts? •

Substantial: the audience group must also be large and sufficient enough to justify the required resources to needed to reach the target audiences.

In order to get the target audiences for our campaign, the aforementioned criteria should be analysed using demographic analysis and psychographic analysis. This will enable us to segment the general audience, and create a specific target audience for our campaign. •

Demographic Analysis: this is the study of the broad physical categories that the audiences fit into and that are not easily changed, such as their age, gender, race, education, and income. In the demographic analysis, we will be looking at the following variables of our target audiences:

TARGET

AGE

GENDER

AUDIENCES UNDERGRADUATES POSTGRADUATES ARTISTS SME’s CONSUMERS RESEARCHERS INSTITUTIONS

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RACE

INCOME

EDUCATION

NAME: Samuel Osagie COURSE: Media Audience Studies TUTOR: Bama Orlando ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Rational For Studying Mass Media Audiences DATE: 6-3-2009 Because of the various groups in our audiences, the audiences may get campaign information in different ways. Younger adults (undergraduates and postgraduates) receive most of their information from the internet while older adults receive most of their information through TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. •

Psychographic Analysis: this is the study of any attribute relating to audience’s personality, value, attitude, interest, or lifestyle. Psychographic variables are less based on measurable statistics and more on lifestyle preferences. This encompasses various audience attributes, such as personality, values, attitudes, interests, and opinions. Psychographic analysis is very useful for determining the target audiences of our information campaign for LUCT’s new London campus. This will help us know what people in our demographic groups are interested in and their values. Through the psychographic variables we will be able to know those people in our demographic groups that are interested or less interested in creativity or creative university.

References 1. Abercrombie, N. (1996).Television and Society. Cambridge: Polity Press 2. Hart, A. (1991). Understanding the Media: A Practical Guide. London: Routledge 3. Nightgale, V. (1996). Studying Audiences: The Shock of the Real. London: Routledge 4. Yopp, J., and McAdams, K. (2006). Reaching Audiences: A Guide to Media Writing. 4th Edition. Publisher: Allyn & Bacon 5. Ricky, T., Tracy, I., and ed. Campaign Planning & Audience Analysis. (http://edis.ifas.ufl. edu/WC078) 6. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html, accessed 8/3/2009 7. http://www.alevemedia.com/college/booklets/audience, accessed 9/3/2009 8. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/WC078

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