Questionnaire: Results/ analysis

In order to find out more about what my target audience of 13- 18 year old girls prefer, I created a questionnaire devised of both quantitative and qualitative based questions. The quantitative based questions allowed me to present my results/data in an easy way to read and analyse the differences in opinions. The qualitative based questions can prompt people to express their opinions in more detail. Although they are harder to analyse they allow me to have a more detailed idea of how my magazine should be. I issued my questionnaire to 20 students in my year. I tried my best to not only ask those in my friendship group as I am aware that influence from others can prompt somebody to think in a certain way that is not always their own. 

Here are my results:

 As I had already vaguely decided that my magazine would be pop music based, I was pleased to see that the majority of people (after R&B) liked pop music the most. As I predicted, many people like to listen to music that is R&B based, however this did not discourage me from creating a pop music magazine as I have quite a clear idea of how it will be and how it will appeal to my target audience.

 From this question I have gathered that my target audience are interested mostly in celebrity gossip in a magazine (which is very like me). This has given me ideas on what to include in my own magazine. Pictures will also have to play a big part on my magazine as that is the next most popular interest according to my questionnaire results. I will have to make sure that I include a range of good quality pictures to appeal to my target audiences' interests. Articles/ features will also have to be of a good standard as, if my magazine were to be put on the market, it would be one of the first things a potential consumer would be looking for when purchasing the magazine. I will also be taking into account that some of my target audience are interested in posters and quizzes; this may help me when thinking of what teasers to include on my front cover. Some of the people I asked said that they also like to read exclusive interviews with different artists (this fell into the category of 'other'); I will definitely be including this as it will be the main feature on my double page spread.

 From this question I can see that the majority of the people I asked preferred artists such as Jessie J and Rihanna. This is not surprising as their music is very dominant in the latest music charts. From this I can understand what area of pop music these people are interested in. I can also infer that it will be of a key importance to have a female model on the cover of my magazine rather than a male. This is not to say that male pop artists are less successful in the music industry, but rather in regards to what I think will be most effective when appealing to my target audience.

 The majority of the people I asked said that they would be willing to pay between £2- £2.99 for a magazine. This being at the higher end of the price range suggests to me that the majority of people think that what is included in a magazine is worth the money. Therefore I will try my best to make my magazine worth the money I price it at. This can be done by ensuring that what I include in the magazine is of the best quality.

 From this question I have gathered that a large part of the people I asked, thought that the price of a music magazine played as much of a part of deterring them from purchasing it as the image on the front cover. It is vital that I take this into account when designing my own magazine as it can be very easy to lose potential consumers by using the wrong image or pricing it too high or even too low. Also, from this question I can infer that a fraction of my target audience would be put off purchasing a magazine because of the celebrities featured on it. This is where I can link in my question about my target audiences favourite artist(s). The colours used in a magazine turned out the be the least important factor in putting people off buying a magazine, however this does not mean that I will be putting in any less effort into making sure that the colours used on my magazine are effective and attractive.

Grey seemed to be the least preferred colour on a pop music magazine, I think this is because the general opinion on the theme of pop music magazines today is based heavily on the colour pink so I was not surprised that a lot of the people I asked preferred the colour pink on a pop magazine. Whether this is because of the influence of existing pop magazines or the relation of the colour pink with the genre of pop, I shall be sure to include pink in my magazine. Purple also seemed to be popular colour amongst my target audience when looking at pop magazines. I can be sure to take on board as many preferences of my target audience without making my magazine look unprofessional by using too many colours.

Here are the questions and a rough analysis of the questions that were qualitative based:

• What is your opinion on the traditional - pink, girly, glittery pop magazines nowadays?

The responses I received from this question were mostly negative with a general agreement that these types of magazines are mainly aimed at younger teenage girls so it would put them off buying them for themselves.

• Is there anything else that would interest you in a music magazine? If so, please specify:

I decided to include this last question as it would give the person answering it a chance to express their own opinion without being prompted with ideas of my own in the question. There were responses such as information for any concerts approaching and positions in the latest charts.

Now that I have completed my questionnaire and analysis, I can move on to produce a flat plan for my front cover, contents page and double page spread.