Targeting, Categorisation and Audience Research Institutions
How media products target their audiences, how audiences are grouped by geographic, demographic and psychographic segmentation, and how research bodies like BARB and RAJAR measure who is watching, listening and reading.
Use it, the way the marks are given
Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
Start revising freeWhat you'll cover
Reaching the right audience
Media companies do not make products for everyone. They decide who their audience is, group them into types, and aim the product at them. They also pay research bodies to measure who is watching, listening and reading. This module looks at targeting, categorising and researching audiences.
Audience words
Learn these four terms before you study audiences.
Numbers or opinions?
Audience research comes in two kinds, and each answers a different question.
Match research to the question
To reach the top grades, match the research to the question. Use viewing figures to show how many people watched, and interviews to show what they thought of it. Naming the right research body, such as the one that measures television, makes an answer stronger.
Match the segmentation
- geographic
- demographic
- psychographic
- a mass audience
- grouping by where people live
- grouping by age, gender and income
- grouping by lifestyle and values
- a very large, general audience
Match the research body
- BARB
- RAJAR
- Pamco
- Nielsen
- measures television viewing figures
- measures radio listening figures
- measures newspaper and magazine readership
- measures audiences across many media
Who measures TV?
Which research body measures television viewing figures?
- BARB.
- RAJAR.
- Pamco.
- Nielsen.
Ways to target
Select the TWO ways a media company targets its audience.
- Using viral marketing that people share.
- Releasing trailers and teasers.
- Raising the price of a cinema ticket.
- Banning all advertising.
Target an audience
Put the steps a producer takes to target an audience in order, earliest first.
- Decide who the target audience is
- Group them by type and lifestyle
- Make a product with the right genre
- Promote it with trailers and marketing
Complete the audience facts
Grouping an audience by where they live is _____ segmentation. Grouping them by age and income is _____ segmentation. Grouping them by lifestyle and values is _____ segmentation. Television viewing figures are measured by _____. Radio listening figures are measured by _____.
Count the variables
Audiences can be split by three segmentation variables: geographic, demographic and psychographic. If a marketer has already used the geographic one, how many of the three variables are left to use?
Find the segmentation
Tap the TWO ways of segmenting an audience.
- demographic
- BARB
- psychographic
- a trailer
Which segmentation?
Read each target audience and choose which kind of segmentation it uses.
- A product is aimed at people aged 16 to 24
- A product is aimed at people who live in a big city
- A product is aimed at people who value adventure and travel
Explain targeting
Explain how a media producer works out who its audience is and how it targets them. Use examples of segmentation and marketing in your answer.
- Explain how the audience is grouped by segmentation
- Explain how the audience is researched or measured
- Explain how the product is targeted at that audience