Quantative Research

As part of my research and planning, I created a questionnaire including a varied amount of open and closed questions. I printed out 16 copies of the questionnaire and handed them out to my class so they could fill them in and I could get feedback from them.

These are the questions I asked:

1. What colours would you like to see featured on a magazine? (open)

The main colours which were mentioned in the questionnaire were red, blue, black and white. Mentions of a monochrome theme were included as well as block colours and eyecatching bright shades. Considering these were the preffered colours for my target audience, I will make sure that I have a colour palette which would include all of the popular colours. I was originally planning to do a British rock n roll magazine which would be all red, white and blue to coincide with the Union Jack. Now I have this information, I could carry on my original idea because all of these colours are favourites of my target audience.

2. How much would you be willing to pay for a magazine? (closed) -50p-1.50/£2.50-£3.50/£3.50+

The most popular price that people were willing to pay was £2.50-£3.50, which is reasonable and lies between prices of successful music magazines such as NME & Q Magazine. I will probably price the magazine at £3, because it is the between preference of my target audience. Obviously the magazine is aimed at 16-19 year olds who don't always have lots of money, so over £3.50 would be too much to spend in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, people do spend around £3.99 a month for Q Magazine, but to suit my younger target audience I think it would be a lot better suited to their income if the magazine was priced at £3.


3. What genre of music would you be interested in reading about? (open)

The reason I left this question open was because there are so many different people with different taste in music, everyone prefers different genres. Although I did find when looking back through the answered questionnaires that rock and indie/alternative was a favourite amongst people I asked. This information is useful because I now know what sort of genre to base my magazine on.


4. Which gender of model would you prefer to see on the the front of the cover? (closed) -Men/Women
I asked which gender my target audience would prefer to see on the magazine, this was so I could decide which model to use and how to present them on the front cover. From my results, I know that most people would prefer a man to be the main image. Obviously the image I take will have to be my own and not from the internet, so I will make sure that I find a male who I can use as the cover model for my front cover. The way I would present my cover star would be smart but casual. When I asked one of my friends how they would like a cover model on a magazine to be presented, they said casual and dressing how they would to make it more personal and relatable to them. Now I know which gender and also how to present them, I can now start to put together an outfit for the model and also the pose they will do on the photograph.


5. Would you read a magazine weekly, fortnightly or monthly? (closed) -weekly/fortnightly/monthly (closed)

A key part was finding out how often the magazine would be released, every month, fortnight or week. When I asked different people most of them suggested a fortnightly magazine. Personally I think this is a good idea because it could include more information and will be more informative. A lot of things happen in the music industry, so in two weeks a huge amount could be recorded in a magazine!

6. What type of articles would you like to see? (open)

Reviews, interviews and photoshoots were the most popular answers on this question, with it being a music magazine, most people will be interested on seeing images of the most recent artists in the music industry, along with opinions on new albums. This has given me an idea for my double page spread, to suit this, I could to an interview with a number of photos. This would be more informative rather than a review. By asking this, it has helped me to decide what sort of things to feature in my magazine which would attract 16-19 year olds to read it.

7. What type of features would you like to see in the magazine? (closed) -Quizzes/Puzzles/Competitions

I did expect competitions to be the most popular in this question, mostly because people like being given the oppertunity to win things and most music magazines such as NME and Q always include big competitions and give-aways, which is escapism for the reader. It makes them feel as though they have a huge chance of winning something special. Of course I have considered the sort of competitions to grace the pages of my project, with it being a music magazine I would mostly be competitions with prizes such as; free gig/festival tickets, band merchandise, signed merchandise, meet and greet sessions with different bands and finally the chance to win the most recent CDs/Vinyl.

 

8. What do you specifically look for in a magazine? (open) Eg. Free Merchandise, posters, articles

I found that the preference in this question was posters, from my own experience reading magazines, I do like putting the posters of my favourite bands up on my bedroom walls. Sometimes I find that more interesting than reading articles! The posters are almost like a gift for the reader, something to take from the magazine and use in whichever way they please. Now I know to include a mention of free posters on my contents page which will suit my target audience.

9. What is your hobby/interest? (open)

I collected a various amount of different hobbies and interests from football, socialising, gigging and gaming. From these different hobbies and interests, I could tie them in with the competitions, eg; win the new FIFA game! I would guess that mostly boys would play FIFA, girls too, but just to be on the safe side, I would also have a competition that applied to females. By finding out the hobbies and interests of my chosen target audience, I will now be able to have an idea of the sorts of things to include in the magazine that will apply to all of my target audience.

10. Have you ever been to a music festival? If so which one? (open)

I found that a lot of people who answered this question attended Leeds Festival this year, it was greatly popular. If I was to do a competition to win tickets for a music festival it would be Leeds, as it seems as though most people in my target audience attend it and would be interested in going. Festivals such as Isle of Wight and Bestival would also be fun to mention, because they are popular festivals which sell out within minutes.

11. Would you be interested in going to a music festival in the future? -yes/no

Naturally the most popular answer was yes, as I think the thing stopping 16-19 year olds from going to music festivals is their income. Therefore again I think it would be a perfect idea to have a competition to give readers the oppertunity to win free tickets.

12. Do you attend gigs? If so which ones? (open)

Various different bands were mentioned in answer to this question, inluding:

• Arctic Monkeys
• Jake Bugg
• The Vaccines
• Miles Kane
• Two Door Cinema Club

The bands listed above all fit into the indie genre which was popular when I asked which genre was best suited to the target audience. This has helped me to decide which bands to feature in my magazine contents and front cover.

13. Would you be interested in going to gigs in the future? -yes/no

Exactly the same as the question about music festivals, most people would be interested in going to gigs in the future. Its quite obvious from the responses I've had which bands that my target audience would like to see, I will certainly consider this in case I decide to do a review for my double page spread. I already have photography from gigs that I could use to do this, and it is all of my original work.

Overall, doing this questionnaire has really helped me to understand the preferences of my target audience and the sort of things that they would like to see in a magazine. I know the colour schemes, features, price, frequence and artists that would best suit the people who would be reading the magazine. This will really come in handy when creating my product to make it ideal for 16-19 year old music lovers!