All publicity is good publicity' Politics and its relationship with Media Audiences.
Task 1 - Understand how media produces define audiences for their products
Media producers need to understand their target audience so that they can tailor their products and marketing to them in order for the producers to get the best response/sales/views. To do this they need to profile their audience as accurately as possible so that the producer has the information and the product can be successful.
An audience profile makes assumptions about an audience preferences based on different factors and stereotypes. One factor is looking at the audience's socio-economic status, their class in society and their financial income, this gives the media producers a better and more useful image of the people they're appealing to and what will attract them or what they'd be interested in. Audience categories such as ABC1 and C2DE separate professionals and those with degrees from those who don't have degrees or are unemployed, these are under the assumption that the less money, the less you know therefore affecting the type of media that appeals to them. From a US political campaign point of view, the Republican party will appeal to those of a higher social class whereas people of lower socioeconomic class are more likely to vote democrat because of their views and beliefs of progressing job creation, equal pay, education, health care as well as "building an economy that lifts up all Americans, not just those at the top." Because of this, each party will use campaign strategies to appeal to their audiences by staging appropriate events and rallies.
Another profiling aspect to look at is age. In this year's election appealing to the younger age group of 18 - 24 was important as it allowed parties to influence young people into choosing their own beliefs as opposed to those put on them by their family. The main concern was to raise awareness of the importance of voting therefore a range of videos and promotion was used to appeal to the young people and influence them to vote. Both parties and candidates used twitter throughout their campaigns to interact with the younger generation and in some cases cause controversy and attention. To appeal to older age groups means to emphasise their policies and beliefs and prove why people should vote for them.
Geodemographics is profiling based on the audience's location, in the US election it is looking at each state and the party they vote for. Specific states support particular parties consistently therefore candidates will focus to secure the vote in those states candidates then they will spend more time and resources in swing states as they know those states can be the deciding factor as to who wins the election. Psycho-graphics look a person's behaviour, personality, interests and lifestyle.
Other factors to consider when profiling an audience are gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. These factors may not be as important as others for specific and individual products such as promotional videos however they are important for getting people to choose and vote for the right candidate therefore parties will need to use this profile factor when emphasising their beliefs.
Quantitative Audience Research consists of data, usually statistically, that is based on measurable facts and information and can be categorised in a numerical way, being represented in the form of tables, charts and diagrams. Quantitative research is predominantly collected in surveys but can be collected in interviews alongside the collection of qualitative data. When collecting quantitative data in a survey or interview closed questions are used, such as questions with yes or no answers or short answers that will not need an explanation; there will usually be with options (example: select A, B, C or D) that the audience will select for their answer which restricts the data they will receive allowing it to be categorised easier. Surveys can be conducted in person using a paper questionnaire however the more common way is to use online websites that allow surveys to reach more people in less time with results being instant making it quicker, easier and more cost effective. It is because of this quantitative research is better than qualitative research for statistical data and showing a clear indication of particular groups' viewpoints in easy to read formats. This information can then be used in audience profiles being created by the producer ensuring that the product will appeal to the target audience. An example of quantitative audience research is BARB, The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board; they are the official organisation that releases estimated audience ratings for a range of channels and programmes at prime time daily. The data, used by the BBC and other broadcasters, represents viewing behaviour for over 25 million households in the UK and allows producers to get a breakdown of the type of people that watched their product. In relation to the election and politics quantitate audience research is very important into finding out data and finding any correlation between that and the believed target audience. It allows the political campaigns to see where there is a gap in the market and target more towards there; in the 2016 election there was a huge focus on getting millennials and young people to vote because of this there were more targeted campaigns and adverts that would appeal to them. Also, campaigns can use statistical data to influence and entice their audience, as people respond better to seeing visual charts and figures explaining things and outcomes.
Qualitative Audience Research is information that is more in depth and based on opinions, attitudes and preferences rather than hard facts. The results of qualitative data requires someone to sort through the information to get an understanding of it; the data cannot be grouped or categorised like quantitative data. Collecting qualitative data can be done via interviews, focus groups, and observation; all methods are a lot more time consuming than quantitative research. When collecting qualitative data in surveys or interviews open questions are used, the opposite of quantitative data collection, open questions are questions the contributor can answer however they choose to and are not restricted to an option. Focus groups can be used to collect data that requires a collective discussion or when time or manpower is limited, collecting information in a focus groups allows data to be collected all at once however it may not to full depth. Observation is where the interviewer takes very descriptive notes about what is happening and can give an insight into the bigger picture and obtain more reliable information. For audience research, observation is the least useful because it is harder to get people's opinions that way; focus groups and interviews are more appropriate as you can get opinions and views on things quickly as more personal and straight forward questions can be asked and answered. Another method for collecting qualitative data is through Vox Pops, these are very useful in political campaigns as they can be used to show the general public's opinions without manipulation or influence therefore showing a better representation. Politics will use qualitative audience research to understand how the campaigns are being received by the general public and what people's opinions are on their strategies.
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