Component 1: Magazines - Targeting Audiences Through Demographics + Psychographics

Here are my notes for my lesson about how media companies target audience through the Genre theory and Demographics & Psychographics. I worked as a part of a group but participated in the discussion. (Sorry that the notes are quite messy).

𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:

It was informative to study magazines in a group using psychographics, demographics, and genres. From different perspectives and opinions from my team members that are conveyed thoroughly in the discussions, I can get different viewpoints and more insights regarding how media (specifically magazines) are consumed by readers, as we are also a reader who consumes the media. They also added more information that I may not be aware of when analyzing parts of magazines and the implications of it. Not only did it help all of us understand how audiences are targeted, but it also clarified how it was showcased and implied using features of the magazine. I managed to get a better understanding of the audience by looking into their demographics, psychographics, and style/genre of the magazine. This increases my ability to pay attention to implied details from the magazine feature to prove how audiences are targeted and defined. On the other hand, working alone, like how the test would be, was a challenge for me because I usually did not get all of the specifications of magazine features and why audiences are targeted by them, especially in detailed form. I also kept rushing through my answers and still couldn’t get them all to be included in my answer, therefore I must learn more to write my answer quicker, efficiently, and effectively.

Magazine 1 - COSMOPOLITAN

Magazine 2 - GQ

Result of discussion and analysis

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I also did a ‘Unit Test’ for Media Studies regarding analyzing magazines using Demographics and Psychographics which was assessed by my Media Studies teacher (Mr Nick). I used the magazines ‘VOGUE’ and ‘SLAM, which are 2 contrasting magazines to prove the differences in the audience targeted using implications by features of the magazines that are showcased, as my case study to answer the question. The question was, “How are audiences targeted by the media?”. The image below is my answer and responses from my teacher which includes feedbacks and comments.

I was really disappointed in my final grade for my unit test because I got a low score (in my opinion) although still above pass rate. The red highlight and text here was added by my Media Studies teacher (Mr Nick) who graded and checked my test. I had created notes beforehand regarding the two magazine brands that I used (VOGUE & SLAM) and its features. I already had written all the specifications of the magazines such as the publisher, generic features of the front page, star appeal, what it covers, and others on my notes, although I really struggled on completing and adding every detail to my test. I had originally described the use of each feature and its effects to the audience but I didn’t get a chance to include it in my answer. Most importantly, I didn’t have time to complete writing the definitions of Psychographics & Demographics which were vital when answering the question too. I didn’t elaborate why each feature was attracted to generic conventions of the magazine genre, or how the features are showcased including its meaning. I was devastated because I could not give my best answer. Although, I will keep revising on missing points that my teacher had given me and will practice to finish writing quickly for answering Section B questions. I should arrange how I’m supposed to answer step-by-step to assure my knowledge on answering the question.

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Before the unit test, our teacher also had assessed our knowledge on the ‘Genre theory’ by Steve Neale to answer the same question which was “How are audiences targeted by the media?”. This time, I was supposed to analyze 2 movies. I used “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse” and “Spider-man: No Way Home” as my case study. Here is my answer with feedback from my teacher.

 

As it was my first try, I think it was pretty decent because I do not have enough experience when answering this question in one paragraph all by myself. I had missed a lot of explanations as they were too brief. Which I expect to be revised before the actual test and improve my grades throughout the school year.

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