Post 30: Film Magazine Research

Demographics and Psychographics

DEMOGRAPHICS

Demographic information is used in media marketing to classify an audience into age, gender, race and other categories. Demographics are broken into six groups and bands depending on peoples jobs or status. The groups are broken down into the following. 

A - Upper Middle Class e.g Higher Management, Lawyers and Doctors 

B - Middle Class e.g Middle Management and Teachers 

C1 - Lower Middle Class e.g Office Supervisors and White collar jobs 

C2 - Lower Middle Class e.g Skilled Manual Workers, Builders and Plumbers - blue collar jobs

D - Manual/Semi Skilled Workers 

E - Unemployed e.g Students and Pensioners 

There are many advantages and disadvantages of Demographics, for instance they are important as enable media to indicate peoples life styles, suggesting peoples stereotypical choices regarding products and media. Making it simpler for the media to target specific audiences based on jobs and status, allowing media to appeal to certain groups of people in specific locations. Main Advantages are that the categorisation is easy creating simple and distinct groups and that information is accessible easily. Main disadvantages are that some classes overlap and not all new current jobs fit into specific groups. 

PSYCHOGRAPHICS 

Psychographics divides the media into groups based on social class and personality characteristics. It is highly based on the assumption that products and brands are individual purchases, reflecting what and who a person is and their characteristics and patterns of living. 

Psychographics are split into 7 criteria's, consisting of...

Mainstreams - seeks security, domestic and conventional, favor value. 

Aspirers - Materialistic, care about image, typically younger people.

Succeeders - seek control, typically professionals or high management. 

Resigned - Interested in past and tradition, typically older people. 

Explorers - seek discovery and value adventure, typically low demographics.

Strugglers - seen as disorganized and Alienated.

Reformers - have independent decisions and judgments, freedom of restrictions.

It is made evident that Psychographics influences the media media more than the Demographics as relates more to the individuals, peoples personalities and choices rather than peoples status or location Which is more effective information when trying to target specific audience in media. Main Advantages are that can create individual groups and that there is more variety. Main Disadvantages are that people have various personality's which will overlap with the main categories. 

Summary

After researching Psychographics and Demographics I would argue that my short film in the media world would be targeted at group E from Demographics, as addresses students. Similarly  my specific audience would be classed as Aspirers and or Strugglers from the Psychographics criteria, Aspires are typically seen as younger people. Both groups are very similar and target the same audience.