Audience Profile Analysis

Our most recent lesson in class dealt with the term "audience" and how it is segmented by the media in the form of demographics and psychographics. This lesson taught my classmates and I how essential it is to fully understand and analyze our target audience when creating any media product—something that we could keep in mind when creating our own media product, our magazine. Overall, learning about specific audience-related concepts and researching online magazines to help me do so helped me consider how to properly design my magazine in a way that will accurately reflect my target audience.

Part 1

First, I analyzed the audience profiles of two online magazines from my genre!

Magazine #1 (BBC Good Food)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• AGE: This cover would attract readers primarily aged 30-40—working adults that most likely have several young children and are desperate for something quick to cook, hence the cover lines stating "for active kids" and "easiest ever one-pot dinners."

• GENDER: This magazine would engage with any gender due to the absence of "gender-associated" colors (e.g., the color pink, which expresses femininity). Plus, both women and men cook, meaning that cooking (the genre conveyed in this magazine) isn't limited to one gender.

• EDUCATION: As most of my target audience is adults, they may either have a bachelor's or associate's degree after graduating college. These individuals have not recently studied at university and are not onto another stage of their life.

• SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS: Since this magazine provides quick, easy recipes, a majority of the readers may be employed: adults who don't have enough time to spend hours in the kitchen. More specifically, they may be a part of the "B" (middle-class) or "C1" (lower-middle-class) socioeconomic class.

• ETHNICITY: Since this magazine's main image is a classic American dish, it mainly targets those that are Caucasian. However, while this magazine is based and sold in Britain, an ethnically diverse society, it may also target other ethnicities such as White, Indian, Pakistani, etc. • PROFESSION: In terms of my target audience's socioeconomic class, lower-middle-class individuals may work as office workers (white-collar workers), whereas middle-class individuals may work as nurses or teachers. These jobs aren't relatively high-paying, meaning they are unlikely to be doctors or lawyers.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

• LIFESTYLE AND ACTIVITIES: The target audience for this magazine is adults—especially those that have children—who want to eat healthier, find quick recipes, and want to incorporate more nutritious food into their children's diets. Most importantly, these viewers share one specific interest (healthy and quick cooking). They participate in activities such as managing their budget while simultaneously supporting the rest of the family, cooking multiple meals a day, grocery shopping, and cleaning the house; in other words, they all follow the lifestyle of the renaissance women socioeconomic group (active, caring, and influential moms).

• PERSONALITY AND VALUES: The adults targeted in my magazine value family, health, fitness, kindness, and well-being as they heavily concentrate on eating healthy and ensuring that their kids are healthy as well. Thus, their personality can be described as caring, supportive, and loving.

• MAIN IMAGE: The main image features an image of "beany beef chilli" which appeals to adult home cooks looking for easy, hearty recipes either for themselves or their kids.

• COLOR SCHEME: The color scheme is diverse and colorful, consisting of mainly red, blue, yellow, and white. These colors are vivid and saturated, allowing certain magazine elements to stand out and suggesting that this magazine is optimistic.

Magazine #2 (Gourmet Traveler)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• AGE: This cover would primarily attract readers aged 30-45—individuals over the drinking age that can visit luxury, adult-like places, such as "Australia's best new wine bars."

• GENDER: This magazine would engage more with females due to the clear usage of pink and other more feminine, "gender-associated" colors.

• EDUCATION AND PROFESSION: As most of my target audience is adults (possibly already graduated), they may either have a bachelor's, associate's, or even a master's degree. In other words, these individuals may have been academically successful, leading them to high-paying jobs and, of course, a high income.

• SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS: Since this magazine may provide lengthy, hard recipes that may take a lot of money and effort—based on the cover—it is most likely that a majority of the readers are a part of the "A" (upper-middle-class) socioeconomic group. Plus, if they can afford to cook with several different wines and travel to luxury settings, it is evident that they are wealthier than others.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

• LIFESTYLE AND ACTIVITIES: The target audience for this magazine is mainly adult home cooks who live a luxurious lifestyle interested in the following: cooking and eating fancy/gourmet dishes, drinking alcohol, traveling to exclusive locations, etc. These individuals fall into the psychographic grouping of "aspirers"—people who buy flashy items and want to have more money and status. They can be seen as the opposite of "mainstreamers"—people that go with the flow and don't want to stand out; instead, they would be more interested in displaying their wealth, either through material items or, in this case, food.

• PERSONALITY AND VALUES: Since these individuals are affluent, one could describe their personality as more self-centered and optimistic about their lifestyle. They undoubtedly value wealth and achievement since they are obsessed with money (to the point where they can even be seen as frugal).

• MAIN IMAGE: Despite the main image being unlabeled, one could assume that it features an alcohol-based fig tart, which is a unique dish that could be possibly hard to make. This would attract more experienced, high-level bakers/cooks looking to incorporate alcohol into fancy dishes.

• COLOR SCHEME: The color scheme is contrasting and bold, using colors such as pink, gold, black, and white. Primarily because of the gold usage in the masthead, the cover attracts readers who can afford luxury delicacies; gold is reminiscent of fortune/wealth, prestige, and success that wouldn't be conveyed by simply using the color yellow. Enhancing the magazine, most of the readers likely come from wealthy families and better neighborhoods.

Part 2

With my research/findings from part one, I was able to determine the target audience for my own magazine!

As I am planning to incorporate photos of food dishes that some may deem relatively pricey, my target audience may be a part of the middle-class socioeconomic group. All these individuals may be interested in cooking gourmet food or learning about Asian cuisine, leading me to think that young adult cooks would primarily want to read my magazine. Below is an audience profile I created for my own magazine that describes my aforementioned target audience.

Evidently, my target audience primarily consists of "foodies", which can be further categorized into either adult home cooks or people who are simply interested in learning about Asian cuisine. With this in mind, learning about target audiences helped me understand how I can effectively promote my final magazine by capturing specific social groups' attention.