Reseach into Target Audiences

For my target audience research I decided to ask a series of 5 questions which would directly influence the style and content of my final music video. The 5 questions asked were as follows –
1. What is your age?
( ) Under 15
( ) 16-18
( ) 19+

2. Do you often watch music videos?
( ) Yes
( ) No

3. Do you prefer –?
( ) Narrative based music videos (ones that have a storyline)
( ) Performance based music videos (ones that show the band performing
( ) Bit of both

4. Would a music video made from stop-motion animation/containing stop-motion animation appeal to you?
( ) Yes
( ) No

5. In a music video featuring a woman is it important that she is provocatively dressed?
( ) Yes
( ) No

I asked the first question so as to pick out relevant results from non-relevant results. Anybody under 15 or over 19 would not fit into my target audience category and so therefore their answers would be less significant in influencing my final project.

I asked the second question so that, again, I could accurately pick out those answers that were relevant and that be helpful from those who wouldn’t – i.e. people who don’t often watch music videos won’t have as much experience in what they like from music videos and their effect.

I asked the third question so that when I make my final project I know I am appealing effectively to my target audience. Depending on the results given from this research I will alter the editing of my video to either contain more performance, more narrative storyline or an equal amount of both.

I asked the fourth question as making a video entirely from stop-motion animation, or even partly, was an initial idea I had. Therefore, by asking my target audience what they prefer I can see whether this idea is suitable or not – whether it would appeal to my target audience or not.

I asked the fifth and final question to help me decide on the costume for my protagonist female character. Although my target audience are girls aged 16-18 they may find videos with females provocatively dressed more “normal” in modern day context then videos where women are dressed down. Therefore, these types of “sexy” videos would appeal to them more – they would idealise the main protagonist/artist. However, they may also be put off by provocative dressing of the main women in videos, feeling that it downgrades them.

I conducted my survey over Facebook, a social networking site, so as to gather as many respondents as possible in a short space of time.


Results
Of all respondents 7% were not in my target age group and so their answers were not wholly relevant although they will still be taken into account/considered at the planning stage if I plan to appeal to the masses.

Of the relevant results 23% preferred narrative based music videos, 8% said they preferred performance based music videos and 69% said they preferred a bit of both (narrative and performance) in music videos.

From this result I conclude that my video will aim to be half performance half narrative as this seems to be the most effective type of video to appeal to my target audience.

Of the relevant results 54% said that a music video made from/containing stop motion animation would appeal to them compared to 46% that said music video made from/containing stop motion animation would not appeal to them.

From this result no result is overtly clear because the percentage for and the percentage against are so close. Therefore, because the percentage for was slightly higher than the percentage against I’ve concluded to use little snippets of stop-motion animation in my music video to either heighten the mood or had important humour a.k.a “feel good factor” to my video – if a video has this factor and is positive it is more likely to appeal to an audience than a depressing video.

The results from my final question are as follows –
30% Yes
70% No

These results are pretty conclusive and so therefore from these results I conclude that my main protagonist, although she should not be dressed down, does not have to be sexually dressed to attract my target audience. However, if I were to sell the image of the artist to a more mass audience, including males, then I may want to take into consideration the female protagonists interest to the male audience and what would entice them/attract them to watch the video.