Primary research evaluation

Primary Research

ReflectionsName: Jon VillacciCandidate Number: 1248Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire (Q.1)Q1

Mast head/ Headlines ImagesSub - stories

What is the most interesting part of the front cover of an Alternative rock magazine in your opinion?

Images is a common answer in this question, with this feedback I can gather information to suggest that images appeal more to the readers. In this case then I must try and incorporate great images into my front cover in order to gain the best reader response.

This response denotes that most people prefer to see images as it is the first conventions they will see when turning pages.

Q2

YES NO

Questionnaire (Q.2)

Do you think that Star appeal (Richard Dyer) has an impact on the reader and how they Understand the magazine.?

The majority of the public answered no, this is interesting as it shows me that Music stars must have an impact on readers lifestyle especially Alternative Rock fans.

The data suggests that star appeal is a major pull in for regular buyers.

Questionnaire (Q.3)Q.3

YES NO

Do you think that promotions and inside magazine add - ons (E.G. posters) help to sell the magazine? The verdict is interesting as I would assume that everyone wants a freebee but apparently not. I can see the logic in these answers, if you are a buyer you buy it for the magazine content as in information not for the occasional poster or free CD.

However this was pretty close to 50%. From this data I can suggest that freebees are not the unique selling point of music magazines.

Questionnaire (Q.4)Q.4

ImagesBand newsLatest news in up and coming bandsInterviews

What do You think is the most important part of a music magazine?

Interviews seem to be the most interesting which is good as I am going to include some in my double page spread for my issue of Scream magazine.

This data gives off the impression that I need to incorporate a lot of interesting interview information in order to captivate the readers.

Questionnaire (Q.5)Q.5

Images Information

What do you think as a reader is more important the images? Or the information inside the music magazine?

The outcome is exactly what I thought. If you pay for the magazine you pay for the exact content which is mainly text not images. For my issue I will have to try and incorporate a lot of well detailed information in order to keep the readers happy. This data denotes the importance of information over the images. However this does not mean that aesthetically pleasing images are not as important.

Questionnaire (Q.6)Q.6

The style ImagesPopular bands involved Interviews

What do you think will attract Alternative rock fans into my magazine?

Popular bands for the alternative scene are always adored as they are the most mainstream out of that genre for example nirvana.I will be including some very popular bands into my issue as popular bands seem to appeal more and make more money for the business.

Questionnaire (Q.7)Q.7

YES NO Not sure

Is the double page spread always what you as a reader are the most anticipated for or not? For most magazines the double page spread includes the front cover stories so in a way the double page spread is the main highlight and the biggest event of which the music magazine will cover so a lot of people are highly interested in it.

Questionnaire (Q.8)Column1

Intresting Boring

Do you find band / Artist interviews interesting or boring?

The majority went with interesting which is exactly what I needed as feedback as I will be including interviews into the content of my double page spread.

Questionnaire (Q.9)Q.9

1-2 Pounds 2-3 Pounds 3-5 Pounds

What do you think is the right appropriate price for an Alternative rock magazine is?

Mid – range was the largest group of answers which is usually always the average 2-3 pounds. Most Rock magazines like kerrang and Rock sound retail for similar price. This is great as Rock sound is my magazine of inspiration I will be retailing my issue for maximum 3 great British pounds. Exactly what the public would spend, so I would make my magazine reasonably priced for others to buy making more money for the business.

Questionnaire (Q.10)Q.10

YES NO

Do you think that by including Star appeal(Richard Dyer) on the front cover of an Alternative Rock magazine will help increase sales? This is a clear example that Idols are a great eye opener for the public. Especially for the front cover as it will draw in attention a lot more.

For my issue I will be adding in big stars to show how my magazine is professional and also to captivate readers.

Evaluation And evidenceThe image on the right is the screenshot of my questionnaire which I asked 10 people (classmates and family members) to fill out so that I could gather enough results to create a clear picture of the best alternative magazine.My questions where chosen around basic knowledge on music magazines and I recorded what the public truthfully think about music magazines through these questionnaires.In question 5, the public chose that images where more important in a music magazine as it is more appealing and stands out. In my magazine I will be editing images and taking professional images to achieve this.

Analysis

The majority of the responses are from ages 16-20 similar to my target audience so will understand the appeal that rock magazines have on younger people.

My results where exactly what I predicted, as the price range (£2-3) is the average for a music magazine in the similar style to mine. My magazine of inspiration rock sound, retails for £3 GBP so this is a good representative of how my magazine is similar.

The majority of my answers that I gathered entail that the majority of the public aim to be purchasing music magazines once a month. This is a good piece of research as my magazine of research (Rock sound) release magazines monthly which is exactly what I aim to achieve with my music magazine.

My research suggests that the information is more appealing to magazine readers than images. Because of this information I have gained I know that I should include well detailed and relevant data into my pages, for example, my interview on my double page spread will need to suit the genre and captivate the audience via the information as well as the images because images are just as important to create an appeal.

37% (the majority) of my survey users find music magazines only 3 out of 5 as being interested. From this data I have gathered how music magazines may not be appealing to many people. Within my magazine I must ensure that I design my pages to look as appealing as possible to intrigue non magazine readers to start reading magazines like mine and alike.

50% of my response gathered preferred the style of rock music magazines. The response could infer that rock magazines are one of most popular so my magazine will need to appeal to the popular demand of the public. 37% of my response chose pop music which is different because pop music is usually the ‘popular’ style of music in the mainstream music category.

The wide majority of my response gathered form this question suggest who readers want to see their fans which means that when I come to design my final pages ‘star appeal’(Richard Dyer) should be the repeated (Steve Neale 1980) code that I should endorse throughout my magazine pages so that the audience will still find my pages as interesting and favorable.

The star appeal seems to be a common interest from members of the public.

Interests in artist and recommendations from peers seem to be the most common type of response from my survey. My magazine will be sold in local supermarkets such as Tesco's, ASDA and Sainsbury’s as well as the local newsagent stores within location to my target audience. As it will be sold in shops influence of purchase will be through marketing in shops as well as via word of mouth. My magazine pages will include social links to re enforce the brand identity and to reach out to buyers on different platforms.

An amazing 75% of my response stated that reading music magazines help to understand that specific culture. For example my magazine of inspiration ‘Rock sound’ includes a lot of cultural background such as rock star attitude and lifestyle which helps the readers of the magazine to understand the genre and the social groups which follow.

37% of my survey response (majority) chose the fact that news and gossip is the most appealing USP of music magazines. This is the same as every music magazine because ‘star appeal’ (Richard Dyer) has a iconic effect on the stars audience for them to want to idolize and personally identify their lives around their favorite stars (Katz).

Break down of resultsFrom gathering my results of my survey I have averaged out each question that I feel is important and more related in terms of gathering the best answers for an alternative rock magazine.

The most important question for me , was question 4 (What do you find more interesting in a music magazine ?) The answer was a clear ‘information’ over ‘images’. This was different to my questionnaire as those results recorded that in fact images where more important, from this I can conclude that I should be taking into consideration that all of my content should be appealing and interesting not just one or the other.