Audience Theory Categorising - NRS

You will learn how different audiences consume different media texts according to disposable income, age and needs.

• Key words: Psychographic. Mass. Niche. Demographic.  Uses and Gratification.

Audience theory provides a starting point for many Media Studies tasks. Whether you are constructing a text or analysing one, you will need to consider the destination of that text (i.e. its target audience) and how that audience (or any other) will respond to that text.

Remember that a media text in itself has no meaning until it is read or decoded by an audience.

Ways of categorising audiences/users and audience/user composition. 

Media Audiences an Introduction 

Psychographics is the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles.[1] Because this area of research focuses on interests, activities, and opinions, psychographic factors are also called IAO variables. Psychographic studies of individuals or communities can be valuable in the fields of marketing.

“A media text is always created for a particular audience and will usually appeal most to this target audience.”
These audiences can be categorized and how the target audience is made up affects the media language employed by and the commercial viability of a text. 
The key thing to remember about the media industry is that it is a money making indu$try. What this means is each media text is a product that needs to be made for, and sold to, the right target audience in order to gross a profit.
In other words, everything is done with the target audience in mind.
Due to this being the case a lot of money is invested in audience research and the industry will refer to key theories when considering how to attract/represent this group.

 MASS AUDIENCE: 

Mass audiences are basically large mainstream audiences who consume mainstream or popular culture (Marxist would claim that this audience is largely made up of the ‘working class’), such as Hollywood films, Eastenders, reality TV, Premiership football, simple Hollywood, tabloids etc.
High culture, by contrast, is usually associated with broadsheets, opera, ballet and BBC Four.

 NICHE AUDIENCE: 

A niche audience is smaller than a mass audience but usually very influential. E.g. those that Marx would define as upper class/middle class, who controlled the media and may wish to see ‘high culture’ programs. Hence the launch of BBC Four for those who wish to hear/see artistic high culture programs.

Niche audiences don’t have to be this group though, they can be any small, dedicated group who advertisers feel are worth targeting or creating products for.
Examples could include, certain films (e.g. 'adult' movies - which can not really be called ‘high art’), fishing magazines, farming programs, underwater knitting!

When media text producers profile their audience they take into account AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS (class/economic status, gender, age, geographical location) along with their viewing preferences/needs: 
In other words, they think about the following before developing a text...

1) What social class will the primary target audience fall under?
2) What gender is the primary target audience?
3) What age will the primary target audience be?
4) What nationality will the primary target audience be?
5) What values do the primary target audience have? (Ideology).
6) Audience appeal - what will the primary target audience be looking for in a text? (UGT).

They then think about how they can best represent their primary target audience through;
genre, narrative, characters, cast, locations, cinematography, sound, editing, advertising etc.

Key Theories 

The following theories are all taken into account when profiling, representing and pitching to audiences:
Class: One of the most common ways of identifying a target audience is the social-economic model. Even though this model, used by the NRS (National Readership Survey Ltd), has been used for a long time, it is still useful way of identifying an audience and deconstructing a text.

The basis for the system is money – A/B audiences for example are assumed to have more spending power than CDE audiences. However, it is also presumed AB audiences prefer high culture (e.g. art-cinema, broadsheets and late night art programs on TV). While C/D/E, who stereotypically like Hollywood commercial films and consume more texts, make up a lager proportion of society making this the 'mass audience.'

Task 1: Homework
List each NRS category.
Give two examples of media texts that would suit consumers from each category.
Show the audience demographic using the first five points above.

Year 12 written tasks success criteria:

Knowledge of the concept of audience/representation/narrative

Awareness of relevant theories

Uses examples to draw on relevant issues

Use of media terminology/key words

Quality of written communication