Audience Research: Focus group questions

Focus Group Results

All of the candidates in my focus group fit my magazine's target demographic of 16-25 year olds who are socially conscious and middle to upmarket. I have chosen to have 2 male and 2 females to participate to help have a balanced opinion.

Candidate no.1 

Name: Phoebe Rigby

Age: 17

Occupation: In 6th form

Physcographics: explorer/reformer

Interests: movies and photography

Favourite Movie: Marvel

Favourite Inspirational person : Jameela Jamil

What they think is society's biggest problem: poverty/homelessness

Candidate no.2

Name: Noah Severwright

Age: 17

Occupation: In 6th form

Physcographics: Explorer

Interests:Art and Poetry

Favourite movie: Shawshank Redemption

Favourite Inspirational person : Longfellow

What they think is society's biggest problem: Greedy Corporations

Candidate no.3

Name: Jordan Lait
Age: 22
Occupation: Student at university
Physcographics: Reformer
Interests: Coding and gaming
Favourite movie: The Matrix
Favourite Inspirational Person: Elon Musk
What they think is society's biggest problem: Global warming




Candidate  no.4

Name: Mary Pantiru
Age:21
Occupation: Student at University
Physcographics: Reformer
Interests: Baking and reading
Favourite movie: Pirates in the Caribbean
Favourite Inspirational Person: Louise Pentland
What they think is society's biggest problem: Global Warming

The first question I asked my focus group was regarding the frequency of their usage of different social media platforms. This is because from my audience research, I found out that the print magazine industry is failing and switching more to online, and to platforms which their demographic most likely uses. Since my focus group fulfills my target demographic, it was important to receive feedback on which media platform they interact with the most. The overwhelming results were Instagram, 4 votes for Instagram and 1 for Snapchat. However this was a multiple choice question therefore someone could have put 2 media platforms they interact with the most. Here are the results:

Candidate 1:Instagram

Candidate 2: Snapchat and Instagram

Candidate 3: Instagram

Candidate 4: Instagram

The second question I asked was in reference to which media platform would they most likely find a magazine article on as it is key to know which platforms magazines have fled to online. The majority chose Snapchat, with 3 for Snapchat and 1 for Instagram. I would agree with the majority, I have definitely seen more magazines on Snapchat, more precisely Snapchat's explore page, they make the articles in forms of stories to appeal to their younger target demographic. The results were :

Candidate 1: Snapchat

Candidate 2: Snapchat

Candidate 3: Instagram

Candidate 4: Snapchat

The third question I asked was about consumer consumption of magazines to see how much my target demographic purchases print magazines. The results were not very shocking, with only one person who occasionally purchases a magazine and three who buy none at all. Although this is only 4 people, I believe it does accurately represent my target demographic because from the audience research it's clear that print sales have gone down as technology has advanced. It makes sense that a demographic who are the most in touch with technology would not buy print anymore. Moreover, it could be due to the environment, the younger generation does appear more concerned with global warming and recycling, not everyone but a large majority. Here are the results:

Candidate 1: Occasionally 

Candidate 2: None at all

Candidate 3: None at all

Candidate 4: None at all

I asked this question to get a sense of what my target demographic is willing to pay for a magazine and to compare prices to some of my generic analysis. The majority of results where 3 who voted for a range between £1.90-2.90 and with 1 vote for £2.91-3.90. Compared to the price of a magazine such as the Big Issue which is £2.50 and Time magazine which is £4.01, they prefer the cheaper ones and I think I'm most likely to price it between the lowest and medium range. Here are the results:

Candidate 1: £1.90-2.90
Candidate 2: £1.90-2.90
Candidate 3: £2.91-3.90
Candidate 4: £1.90-2.90

The fifth question I asked was to see if any of the candidates had subscriptions to any magazines. I gave 2 no options as it was important to distinguish between whether they didn't subscribe to a magazine because they could access them online or if they just don't read them at all. I think the results are conflicting because later on some say they do read them online, I think they got confused with the question and thought that I meant online subscriptions? Here are the results:

Candidate 1: No (option no.1)
Candidate 2: No (option no.1)
Candidate 3: No (option no.1)
Candidate 4: No (option no.1)

For the sixth question I wanted them to specify in more depth if they read them online and if so on what platform. Here are the results:

Candidate 1:sometimes - on magazine websites
Candidate 2: sometimes, on Snapchat
Candidate 3:I don’t read magazines online but I do view articles and links when searching google, looking at news apps and websites (e.g. BBC news)
Candidate 4: No

I asked question seven to get more ideas from the actual target demographic that are meant to be the target consumers yet the number of sales have fallen incredibly low with many magazine companies having to close.Here are the results:

Candidate 1:adapt to target a younger demographic
Candidate 2: Doesn't seem to be much advertising, maybe show how the magazine is relevant to me
Candidate 3:Give freebies.
Candidate 4:Free gifts, bundle deals or a cheaper subscription for a longer period of time (e.g. subscribe for 1 year for 20% off)

I really liked the idea about more advertising for magazine companies however I think deals and freebies would be a better solution. Moreover, making the content very demographic specific because if it showcases events that don't apply to the target demographic, they won't want to read it.





I lastly asked question 8 to decipher if my target demographic does purchase magazines, why do they? Here are the results:

Candidate 1:when i’m going on an airplane mostly, or a long journey - for entertainment
Candidate 2:none provided
Candidate 3:I’d purchase them to research or learn about a topic
Candidate 4:none provided

In conclusion, unfortunately my target demographic is not into buying magazines very often or at all, this is evident in the sales decrease over the past years. However, in my magazine I will aim to incorporate prizes and competitions, bundle deals and very interesting topics relevant to my 16-25 socially conscious middle to up market target demographic.