Readership Profile

I decided to create a readership profile to distinguish the target audience for 'Melinda'. This will give me a better understanding on everything I need to do to meet the needs of my target audience. Audience profiling is a task all media institutions need to perform when creating a new product to launch onto the market be it a magazine, film, website, they all have to do this. When defining an audience, factors that must be considered include:

• Age, Gender and race
• Education
• Occupation
• Annual Income
• Habits and hobbies
• Socioeconomic Groups

Age of my target audience: 17

Gender: Males are more like to be a fan of horror movies than girls; this is due to the stereotypical thrill seeker which is portrayed with a boy. Although, you can’t leave out females because over recent years, females are becoming more interested in horror movies. Gender can be either make or female. 

Education: Secondary school (in order to understand the storyline within a horror film and to be old enough.) No qualifications are necessarily needed in order to watch the film though. However, as one of the main settings within my trailer is a school, the audience may have a better understanding of they have had some experience in this environment. 

Occupation: There is no specific occupation of anybody going to see a horror film. Although, the film would mainly be aimed at students as they would go and see the horror film with a group of friends.


Annual Income: Overall, horror films are aimed at a working class community. This is due to the level of thrill and excitement which is gained from a horror film with a relatively cheap price. If the higher class watch horror films, they are usually a sub-genre on another genre such as romance or action. This is due to the higher level of satisfaction middle class individuals seek when watching a film.  

Hobbies/Interests:

• Interested in horror films e.g. orphan
• Aren’t scared of the dark
• Are in year 11/ sixth form and above in school
• Enjoy going to the cinema
• Don’t mind looking at blood
• They use social networking websites such as twitter
• Read magazines (e.g. total film and empire) to keep up to date with the latest films. This also allows them to look at film reviews, behind the scenes and read interviews with the actors and actresses of a particular film. 
• Listens to radio 1 and Capital FM
• Shops in Topshop, New Look, H&M and River Island
• Like to eat at Nandos
  Socioeconomic groups: In terms of demographics, my target audience will have to have some source of money in order to see any film, whether that be pocket money, a part time or full time job, they are still going to need money to see the film. The film would be open to anyone as is any horror film (depending on the classification of the film!) The demographics for my audience could range from B-E because although unemployed people come under E as do students. The majority of my target audience would be students (age 16-24) and therefore if they had some source of income they wouldn’t be restricted from seeing the film. As the target audience for my film is 16-24 year olds, they are likely to have a part time job or receive money from other sources of income, such as a student loan if they attend university. Psychographics: The target audience for my film ‘Melinda’ would have to be confident in order to cope with watching a horror film, therefore making them a succeeder (seek control. Strong goals, confidence, work ethic and organisation). In addition to this, they could be explorers as they might want to see what happens in a horror movie (seeks discovery. Energy, individualism and experience. Value difference and adventure. Typically a younger demographic e.g. a student.) Finally, they could be a ‘Struggler’ who seeks escape.