target audience research & demographics

I researched the statistics of both the ages and genders of people who watch horror movie's. In this research I found that the most popular age group who enjoy horrors are aged 18-24.

 I also found that more women watch horror movies than men, however- the statistics are very close. This information has made me come to the conclusion that we should aim our film at both women and men, as the ratio is very almost 1:1.

After finding out this small piece of information, I continued to research into the target audience of previous Horror Films. These are the films I found, and their target audiences.

• Cabin in the woods - This was aimed at young couples, around the ages 16-25
• The Strangers - This was aimed at men. Specifically young men aged 16 and over.
• Nightmare on elm street- This was aimed at couples with no specific age range in mind. It is however, rated an 18 certificate so it would be aimed at people aged 18 and over.

After finding this information out, we think that our film should be aimed at both men, and women  I believe the graphic/violent nature of certain shots throughout our film would mean it it most suited to viewers over the age of 18, however as the film is based upon college students, it is most likely to appeal to an audience of under 25's. Before deciding on our target audience, we decided that we should create a survey of our own, rather than relying on information that is already online.

The survey we decided to create will help us to ensure that we have up-to-date information, that is reliable. We included questions on age, gender, occupation, and what their favorite horror sub-genre is. We also included a question to allow us to find out whether they enjoy horror's based on true stories.

We set a survey to be open to 50 people. This enables us to get a response from a wide audience in order to get the most accurate results.

These were our results:

The age group 18-25 was the most popular age group. This is also the same result as the information we found online. This shows that the age group 18-25 are the likely age group to watch Horror films throughout the globe.
 After this result, we have decided that we should base my film upon people aged 18-25.

This shows that more females watch Horror films, however there is only two more females than men. I believe that this shows that there is in fact an equal preference between males and females, as there is very little difference. Following this result, we have decided to aim our film towards both men and women. This will allow more people to enjoy the film.

This shows that students, and part time workers are the most likely to watch horror films.

This shows that Action Horror's, Psychological Horror's and Supernatural Horror's are all the most popular Sub-genres of Horror.

This shows that more people enjoy Horror films that are based upon a true story than people that don't enjoy true stories.
After this result, we decided that we should base our film upon a true story, or ancient legend. 

Demographics:

Definition: demographic is the study of human population.

Demographics are broken into bands depending on people’s jobs or status.

Herbert Blumer's theory:

Herbert Blumer's theory from the 1950's consisted of 6 factors.
These factors were:

• Age
• Gender
• Culture
• Education
• Class
• Region

He believed that 'mass audience' were individuals who all wanted, believed or shared the same thing in common. He believed that these mass audiences were not able to act within a huge crowd and were a "loose organisation." Since then, everything has changed and to believe this theory would be inaccurate because if a mass of people went to see a new movie in the cinemas, and they wanted to share their opinions on it they would use medias such as blogs, reviews and social media sites to communicate their thoughts. In the 1950's nobody could do this but in the 21st century anyone can share their opinion on the web. Therefore to say 'mass audiences are unable to act within a crowd' would be wrong. When deciding on my target audience I will not focus my audience on this theory as it is outdated and so much has changed that it is no longer accurate. 

Audience Segmentation Theory

After my research I found that Horror films were most popular with students and part time workers however all job/statuses could enjoy horror films. This theory is outdated, and therefore inaccurate. We no longer determine class by job role. I will only partially take this theory into consideration when deciding on my target audience because all categories enjoy watching films, and job role does not determine interests. I will aim my target audience to all of the categories above. 

1. Maintstreamers- 40% of the population.

2. Aspires- Want status, live off cash and credit.

3. Succeeders- People who already have status and control.

4. Reformers- Define themselves by self-fulfillment. 

Family Life Cycles:

Singles- young single people living alone

Newly Married Couples- young with no children

Full Nest 1- young married couples with youngest child under 6

Full Nest 2- young married couples with youngest child 6 or over

Full Nest 3- older married couples with dependent children

Empty Nest 1- Older married couples still in workforce, no children living with them

Empty Nest 2- Older married couples retired, no children living at home. 

I think that mainly singles would like to watch our film as Horror films are a popular genre for young people as they like the thrill of adrenaline pumping films. I also believe that newly married couples, full nest 1 and full nest 3 would enjoy them. I will aim my target audience at singles, and newly married couples.