How Are Audiences Categorised?

How are audiences categorised?

Social Class Categories:

A, Upper Middle Class - Higher Managerial, administrative or professional

B, Middle Class – Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

C1, Lower Middle Class – Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional

C2, Skilled Working Class – Skilled manual workers

D, Working Class – Semi and unskilled manual workers

E, Those at the Lowest Level of Subsistence – Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

Benefits of using this system:

·      It is easier to target particular social groups for specific advertising purposes.

·      It is easier to differentiate between social classes.

·      Using this system provides a more personal link to the specific audience.

·      The chosen audience will be more interested in the particular media.

Disadvantages of using this system:

·      Not everyone falls into these specific categories, and therefore will not be affected by the intentional affect of the chosen media.

·      Some people will not be interested in the chosen media, no matter what their social class is.

·      Some people may be interested in the media targeted at higher, or lower social classes

·      Everyone has different interests and opinions, so it is impossible to accurately determine who exactly the target audience is.

Lifestyle categories:

Trendies: who crave the admiration of their peers.

Egoists: who seek pleasure.

Puritans: Who wish to feel virtuous.

Innovators: who wish to make their mark.

Rebels: Who wish to remake their world in their own image.

Groupies: Who just want to be accepted.

Drifters: Who are not yet sure what they want.

Dropouts: Who shun commitments of any kind.

Traditionalists: who want things to stay as they are.

Utopians: Who want the world to be a better place.

Cynics: Who have to have something to complain about.

Cowboys: Who want easy money.

Adverts that target these specific audiences:

Cowboys: payday loan adverts. These adverts promise fast, easy money that can be paid off without hassle, which is perfect for this target audience. However, this is not always the case, and the payday loans can be very deceiving so that people end up in debt.

Drifters: University adverts, which advertise many different opportunities that suit everyone. These adverts are perfect for people who don’t know what they want to do in life yet.

Egoists: Holiday adverts. These adverts are directly targeted at people who want to enjoy themselves. These adverts consist of weekends away to day trips, and perfectly target this audience.

Utopians: Recycling/ less waste adverts. These adverts provide people with information on how to cut back on things like water and electricity, and also stress the importance of things like recycling. These adverts are perfect for this target audience.

Trendies: Fashion adverts. These adverts consist of clothing brands to ‘hot new looks’ These adverts are perfect for this target audience, as it will help them to gain admiration from their peers.

V.A.L.S: Values, Attitudes and lifestyles. (definitions on sheet)

·      Innovators

·      Thinkers

·      Believers

·      Achievers

·      Strivers

·      Experiencers

·      Makers

·      Survivors