Audience Research For My Documentary (Including A Google Form)

 Audience Research

So my target audience for my documentary is 16-24 year olds so I thought I'd look more into their interests and what they do. I've done this because it will help me with planning my documentary. However I have to make sure my research is correct otherwise my target audience might not like what I produce which will lead me to fail.

16 to 24 year olds

What do teenagers typically do for fun?

All teenagers are different. But many enjoy spending their free time doing things like shopping, going to parties, being with friends, gaming and using social media, texting, watching movies, reading and going to the beach or park.

A 2009 Teen Voice study by the Search Institute found that two-thirds of 15-year-old teens had an identifiable hobby or something that sparked their interests. Hobbies might seem like small potatoes next to larger teen issues, but your teen's interests say a lot about them and the way they spend their time.

Why are documentaries good for young people?

Some of the best documentaries for young people teach incredible lessons. Their visual impact can transport people to countries they may never visit or experience a life that's different from their own. This helps further their understanding on different types of people and culture which ultimately leads them to becoming more open minded. 

Why do young people consume so much media?

Findings suggest that children and adolescents consume media because they feel that it meets their various needs, some of which are not being met in another environment, and each time choose the media that meet their specific needs, in the process of informed consumption.

Social media has given teens the ability to instantly connect with others and share their lives through photos, videos and status updates. Teens themselves describe these platforms as a key tool for connecting and maintaining relationships, being creative, and learning more about the world.

Making a survey

So now I have some more general information about my target audience I have decided to create a google form survey to help to get to know them more. This survey asks questions about my target audience and what type of documentaries they watch. This will help me to plan my documentary and it's theme. I shared my survey on the teams chat to get people to answer my questions. I aim for this survey to give me a deeper understanding of my audience so I can make a better product.

As you can see 7 people did my survey and gave me their answers. For the first question I found out that teenagers don't really watch an awful lot of documentaries with 4 people sometimes watching documentaries, 2 people who rarely watch them and 1 person who doesn't watch them at all. When it comes to what type of documentaries people are into 60 percent said they where into expository documentaries which is an overwhelming majority. Meanwhile participatory, observational and reflexive where 16.7 percent each. This tells me that people like expository documentaries the most and i should try to stay away from poetic documentaries. 

The documentaries they recommended where  Ken Burns' Vietnam, Murder at the Cecil Hotel and Kurt Cobain: montage of heck. This tells me that teenagers are into more serious and gruesome documentaries with 2 being about murder and war and another one being about a rock star who took his own life. For this next question I asked them on what they do in their spare time and the answers where more or less the same. Most of the answers where listening to music, watching YouTube, Netflix And TV Shows along side one person who likes to skate (good on you). This tells me that teenagers are not very productive and mostly prefer media consumed goods to physical activity.

When I asked them on whether or not they have any real end goal for what they want to accomplish in life I got mixed reviews. 1 person is certain they had an end goal another 2 think they have one, 3 don't know and 2 just don't care. I then found out that 1 person wants to make music and another 1 just wants to as happy as they can be and make others happy in the process. This tells me that some teens are very unsure about their future. 

After that I asked the teens whether they preferred urban places like the city or peaceful places like the country side. 5 people preferred the city meanwhile 2 preferred the country side so the answers where quite clear. This tells me that teens are more into that loud urban city aesthetic. This helps me get to know where to set my documentary. After that I asked them how old they where and 3 where 16, 1 was 17, 2 where 18 and 1 was 19. This shows me that my audience are young teenagers. I then asked them for their genders and 4 are males, 2 are females and 1 is non binary. This tells me that my audience is quite balanced so I don't have to cater to a certain gender. 

So in conclusion this survey has told me that my audience are young teenagers who consume heavy amounts of media and are unsure about their future life plans.