Socio-economic
This is related to how much a person earns and their class: upper, middle and working. With more money you can climb up the social ladder: this is called social mobility. For media , the higher the person’s income is, the more disposable income they have for media products and can consume a greater variety and quantity of media.
Age:
The age of a target audience will change the way companies design there product– this can be through the way a story is or the language used,. Age groups can be defined by: children, teens, middle aged and senior.
Gender:
Gender preferences aren’t defined clearly: in the past many believed interests were clearly different with boys liking sports and girls liking fashion (for example). In modern society we can see that trends are changing as interests are shared across all genders. The target audience gender will affect how the product is styled to appeal to the different gender groups.
Ethnic groups:
With migration and the internet media has a bigger audience with a wide range of ethnic groups. With the spread of media and internet; heritage, cultures race, religion and languages need to be consider. If not taken into account it could cause offence.
Psychographics:
It is the psychological effect on the individual and way they see themselves and others. A product can affect their opinions, lifestyle , attitudes and interests. These can be collected through questionnaires and statements to build up a life like picture and can target a specific type. Groupings include: resigned, struggler, mainstreamer, aspirer, succeeder, explorer and reformer.
Geodemographics:
This is based on the locations of the target audience, this can effect they style of a product or language used. It also includes the way people feel towards their region and nationality.
Sexual orientation:
The audiences sexuality can effect a product, not only the preferences effect the product but also the style of language and imagery within a product. Often producers try to ensure no offence is taken by a product.
Mainstream versus niche:
This relates o the purpose of a product being created: whether the product is being made to appeal to a wide range of people (mainstream) or a small group of people (niche). This changes the target audience of a product and what needs to be considered when making a product.
