Classification of people

To conduct effective audience research, it is a good idea to know what classification people fall under. This post explains the different classification systems and how they suggest people should be classed.

The Nielsen Media Research National readership survey from December 2003 states that people fit into the following classes. The pie chart shows the proportion of each class.

Whilst some groups have more than others, there are not huge differences between them.

The other classification system defines people by their aspirations.

• Mainstreamers
• Aspirers/social climbers
• Succeeders
• Reformers
• Individuals

To give an idea of what each group means, we put Simpsons characters into categories respectively. The picture of this can be found here.

Knowing classifications of the audience means that we can conduct surveys in a very effective way. For instance, if we were to interview somebody like Homer, we would find that he is not willing to pay much to go and see a thriller film. He would also want a very simple plot. On the other hand, if we were to interview Ned Flanders, putting aside the fact that he would find thrillers offensive, he would want a complicated maze of adventure that requires a lot of thinking about. He would also be willing to pay more than others and would possibly go to the cinema as a pose to buying the film. 

To conclude, when conducting surveys, we will be sure to use the classification groups to mold our questions and to help us analyse our answers. This means we can make our film most appealing to our target audience.