Prelim: Audience Research - Online Survey Question Analysis

I conducted an online survey in order to target my age group appropriately to them; through technology. This survey will allow me to gain research and data about what my audience are attracted to. I will spread my questionnaire through social media by sharing it through a link to the appropriate target audience whom I have contacts to. 

Question 1: What store do you find yourself shopping at often? 

I chose this question to ask the consumer as I was looking into the fashion and clothing aspect of the magazine. 

By finding out which clothing shops are popular within my target audience I could not only include similar clothing styles from that store, worn by my models, but also interest the reader with what the store represents. For example if JD Sports was mostly chosen, because it is a sport-clothing store I could create articles which link to fashion associated with sport clothing i.e. updates on Nike/Adidas trainer releases. 

The popular stores chosen would give me a closer insight to the genre or type of fashion enjoyed by my target audience 

Question 2: What is your age and gender?

This question was one I felt I needed to ask because I wanted to focus on the exact target audience. Finding out the ages of consumers also help identify any changes in opinions with the age range. This will help me incorporate opinions and target all ages from 14-18. I asked for the gender or the reader so I could again see any differences between the two genders. As explained in my initial reaction to the project, I want to create a magazine appropriate to both males and females. I can then match the styles to the gender and see if there are any common liked styles between the two genders. Using this data would then allow me to create a product that appeals to males and females as I initially intended to do. 

Question 3: Which of the following fashion magazines have you heard of? - Multiple choices

•  Vogue 

•  Harpers Bazaar

•  GQ

•  Dazed

•  Cosmopolitan 

•  Teen Vogue

•  i-D

•  Elle 

•  Other 

I included this as a question because I wanted to see which specific fashion magazines my target audiences are already associated with. This would allow me to know what my readers already link to fashion magazines. I can then include similar conventions they can recognize or present them with features they are not familiar with, making my magazine new and different to what they are used to. Also seeing what magazines the consumers know will give an insight to what genres of fashion readers follow.

Question 4: Which of the following features will tempt you to buy a magazine?

Model/image featured 

Articles 

Clothing shown 

Beauty 

Celebs 

Other 

I chose to ask this question to see what convention of magazines appeal to my target audience. As I want to create a fashion magazine, within the choices of this question I involved the features that I think are most important in a fashion magazine cover. However I did include an ‘other’ option in order to get feedback of conventions I didn’t think of from my audience. This will lead to me having a more successful magazine, as it will attract my desired audiences who have chosen themselves what they find most tempting to buy.  

Question 5: What is your favourite fashion brand/s?

I made this question part of this survey because I wanted to get a personalised response of the consumers’ style choices so I can see common trends. The response will also help me form a genre of fashion for my product. Gaining these results will then let me see the sort of taste my audience has i.e. expensive taste or unique taste. This will lead me to choose what clothing I want to present on my front cover and contents page, which the subject of my product will wear.

Question 6: Which fashion magazine would you prefer to read?

I chose to create this question because I wanted to see which magazine attracts my target audience to choose and read. I chose 4 very different fashion magazine covers to see which the readers prefer the most.

Firstly I chose the i-D cover with SZA because of the photograph; specifically the angle and shot type. This cover forces the viewer to concentrate on the clothes of the subject as it is taken from a low angle presenting the body of the person as more superior. The subtle pose of the model also adds a more realistic effect to the cover, which I wanted to see feedback from the audience of. The nature background of photograph is what I also liked about this product as it adds a relaxing vibe. The minimal text is another thing I wanted to see if the audience will be attracted to or repelled. 

The Netherland Vogue Men cover was chosen because of the conventional features like the medium shot and cover lines. The basic colours of the cover against the white background create the model as the focal point. From this I wanted to see if the basic cover structure was appealing to the target audience.

The Vogue Arabia cover with Rihanna was chosen because of the colours and the strong status of the model. The colour scheme of the cover was what I thought would catch the audiences’ attention. The use of the clothing and accessories adds an elegant effect to the product that I wanted to see if it works towards the likes of my target audience. The use of a fashion icon like Rihanna may also change the audience’s opinions that I need to keep into account, as I do not have access to those personas.

The Dazed magazine cover is very unique, which is why I chose it. The black and white photograph sets it apart from the other covers so it was a variable which I wanted to see whether it was appealing to the age group I wanted to target. The different makeup – the pen writing – tells the reader it is a political cover. This is what I wanted my target audience to focus on as rights and politics are recently a big part of their lives contextually. 

Question 7: Which font do you prefer?

I included this question in the survey to see the different font types I could include in my piece. Although most of the fonts chosen are cursive I would’ve hoped that I included more bold and different fonts suitable to stand out.

Question 8: Which colour scheme do you prefer?

I chose to ask this question in the survey because I wanted to see which colours and vibes I should set my magazine in. Using different variations of predominantly red and blue colour schemes helps me decide whether I should go for a more relaxing, nature approach or a serious, mature tone.

Question 9: What fashion genre do you prefer?

Vintage

Classy (Heels, suits)

Casual (Jeans, T-shirt) 

Sporty (Tracksuits, Trainers, Joggers) 

Other 

I made this question because I wanted to directly find out what kind of fashion is most attractive to my target audience. I included common styles in today's fashion which can root and link to many different styles. Knowing the basis of the type of fashion my audience like will help me shape my whole magazine including its presentation and contents.