Target Audience (COVID Edition)

This is a set of factors that relate to the audience that you want to engage with your product. It can be broken down into the following:

Socio-economic (NRS)

Age

Gender

Ethnic Group

Psychographics

Geodemographics

Sexual Orientation

Mainstream vs Niche

Socio-economic (NRS)

This is concerned with how much an individual earns, together with their class: upper, middle or working.
Generally, the higher your income the higher your social status. In relation to media products, the higher the income that an individual has then the higher their disposable income is. This means that they can afford to consume a greater variety and quantity of media products.

Age

The age than an individual is and the age group that they associate with greatly affects a product's development. For example, the age of the target audience will define the complexity of a product in relation to how it is controlled in terms of a computer game, or the language used in a comic or graphic novel. Age groups can be clearly defined in specific groups, such as 12-16 years or 17-25 years old, or in wider descriptive groupings such as teenager; middle-aged or senior citizen.

Gender

These are often very general, with assumptions often made about males and females having different interests. However, modern society sees these common assumptions changing and in many cases being abandoned entirely in favour of interests and preferences having no relation to gender at all.
In terms of media, this has an impact on the targeted gender of a product and the way in which a product is changed to appeal to these genders.

Ethnic Group

Migration and the internet have meant that media products are now accessible by a far wider range of ethnic groups. As people and technology have spread, the cultures, heritage, race, religion and languages that need to be considered have also grown. Failure to take such diversity into account could cause offence to one group or another.

Psychographics

This is a psychological factor that affects an individual's perception of themselves in relation to others. It affects their opinions, attitudes, interests and lifestyles. These views are subjective and the data are collected through the use of questionnaires, with statements and opinions that an individual is asked to agree or disagree with. Through careful analysis, a clear, 'lifelike' picture can be built up of a target audience. Combining this with socio-economic factors can then help with the targeting of a media product at a specific user 'type'.
Groupings include:
Resigned

Struggler

Mainstreamer
Aspirer

Succeeder

Explorer

Reformer

As we've covered before.

Geodemographics

This factor is based on the location of the target audience and its effect on the feelings they have for their nationality of religion. This can affect the style of a media product and also the language that is used within the product.

Sexual Orientation

The user's sexuality, whether they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or anything else, can affect a media product. Not only can the preferences of different groups affect who the product is targeted at, but also the style of language and imagery contained within the product. Often, media producers try to ensure that no offence is taken by any of the contents of the product.

Mainstream vs Niche

This factor relates to the purpose of the media product being created. Is the product being created to appeal to a wide range of people, often referred to as the 'mainstream'? If so, what is seen as conventional tastes, ideas and thinking need to be considered. If the product is being targeted at a small group of people, 'niche' market, then an analysis of the preferences of this group needs to be carried out. This can then influence how the product is styled and marketed so that it appeals to the niche market. Producing a product for a niche market often means that the quantity that will be sold will be lower than if a product was targeted at the mainstream. This results in niche products often being marketed as 'exclusive' to increase their desirability.