Primary Research Results

Primary Research Results

Name: Chloe HaynesCandidate Number:1141Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number:64315

This is photographic evidence of people answering my survey to help with decisions when making my soap opera teaser trailer. This is representing that people who answered my survey were both male and female so my results are from the viewpoint of male and females and mostly of a younger audience.

Due to 72 % of people thinking soap operas are watched for ‘escapism’ (Katz) they need to be able to be easy to watch and dramatic so it is not too similar to their own life situations. 16% people also think soap operas are watched for ‘personal Identification’ (Katz) which means the trailer will have to be entertaining for people to talk about there upcoming soap with other people. To achieve this in my trailer I will show some of the situations that happen in my soap and leave it with a cliff hanger at the end so people can discuss what might happen in the upcoming soap opera.

It is evident from my survey results that women are more attracted to soap operas than men as 95% voted they were, so in my soap opera trailer, I will include males in my trailer and situations men can relate to. In order to attract both males and females not only females.

The 50% of the people who filled out my survey enjoy to watch romances then the second most enjoyed at 39% was thrillers. So I will involve these themes within my soap opera trailer to attract a larger audience. Throughout my trailer I will also be able to include other themes that will present In my soap opera so the audience get an idea of what to expect.

From my survey results I can tell that most people who watch soap operas are between teenagers to young adults, so I will use young characters in my trailers to attract the younger audience, However to attract an older audience when watching my trailer I will focus on serious situations they can relate to.

The results from survey show that the majority of people feel soap operas are aimed at an older audience, therefore the main audience I will need to target in my trailer for a more mature demographic rather than younger.

From my results I can tell the main class, soap operas are aimed at are working class to middle class. From this I will make sure my trailer appeals to this demographic. However, It means there is a gap in for upper classes in soap operas because it lacks upper class characters and life situations. It tends to be more focused on working class families.

Based on these results I will try to create a soap opera trailer that has similarities to EastEnders trailers and their TV episodes as this is the type of soap the majority of people want to watch. I will not make my trailer similar to Emmerdale as 0% of people watch Emmerdale. This tells me for my soap opera to be popular it should be similar to EastEnders.

67% did not agree soap operas reflect their personal life which connotes that the story lines showed on soap operas are not realistic enough and the audience are unable to relate to real life events. This suggests why people prefer to watch reality TV rather than Soap Operas.However, 34% of people agreed soap operas reflected their personal life which signifies certain soap operas are not as unrealistic as others.

By asking people this question it gives me an idea of what the audience wants to watch and how I can make my soap opera appeal more to an audience, it also gives me an idea of what lacks in soap operas and needs to be taken into account when making my soap opera trailer.

By asking this question this tells me what to focus on when making my soap opera trailer and what information to include on my trailer for example what time and date my soap will be shown. It also tells me what the viewers like to see for example ‘the idea of a community’ which is shown in every soap opera.

ConclusionThe results from my survey have enabled me to get a better understanding into what the audience would like to see in a new soap opera and what they currently dislike about the soap operas that are already exhibited on TV. I will take into account peoples opinion to help me while I make my soap opera magazine and teaser trailer.