Research Scenarios

If for example, a media company wanted to produce a new film aimed at 16-25, they would have to do many different types of research before they even start to produce it.

Primary research
Questionnaires - Would be used to people in their target age group open and closed questions about things such as their preferred genre, favourite actors, what gender/ethnic group they are, how often they go to the cinema and when they go to the cinema. This is done so that the producers know what to include in their film that will
appeal to their audience the most.

One to one interviews - Used to ask members of their audience face to face what appeals to them in a film and also ask them the kind of questions that would appear in a questionnaire because in person you could get more detail and more qualititative information. This is useful to media companies because they can get more detail about what to and what not to include in a film. The disadvantage is, it's more time consuming and doesn't ask as many people as something like a questionnaire would.

Focus groups - Would be used to ask a group of people about things such as opinions and suggestions about the film idea. It would be a group of people within the producers target age range so the people conducting the focus group find out what they like and what is most popular among that age group. Also because it's a group, opinions can be discussed. If someone's opinion was that 16-25 year olds favourite film type is horror, others might disagree and say that it's comedy, the more people agreeing on one opinion show it's a stronger opinion and the research might decide on the more popular option.

Secondary Research:
Internet - The internet could be used to see what kind of films are currently in the cinema that are popular with their audience because they'll need their film to differ from those films so people will be more inclined to watch it because it's different to what's in the cinema at the time. They can also look at box office sales to see what kind of films sell the most tickets to their target audience to help them decide on genre. It can also be used to see what films are coming out in the future when they plan to release their film, if there's loads of films that are similar coming out around that time, they might want to change when they release it.

Quantitative Research:
Questionnaires would be the main source of quantitative research because it's how many people choose one option. For example if the question was "What is your favourite film genre?" 30 people might choose horror while 40 people might choose comedy, this tells us that comedy is more popular because more people chose it but it doesn't go into detail and tell us exactly what sort of people chose it or why they prefer that genre. Also things such as ticket sales and release dates from secondary research would be quantitative research.

Qualitative Research:
Interviews and focus groups would be more qualititative because the people being interviewed can share their opinions and go into detail. So if asked what their favourite film genre is they might say horror along with a reason why they like horror films. Also you can find out about the kind of people you're interviewing which might tell you that a specific type of people like specific films.

Audience Research:
If the film was aimed at 16-25 year olds, they would do research on the features that appeal the most to this target audience as well as finding out things such as preffered genre's. You might also find out things such as which actors are most popular among that age group as well as location's that 16-25 year olds like to see used in films. For example in a lot of films aimed at teenagers, we see it set in places like high schools, clubs, house parties, football stadiums and other places that are commonly associated with teenagers. Media companies rely heavily on this because they find out what to include in their film to make it appeal more to the target audience so they can get as many sales as possible for it.

Market Research:
If the product was a film aimed at 16-25 year olds, market research would be research into that sort of market, basically researching the competition. You would research what films are currently in the cinema and what films are going to be released that are aimed at 16-25 year olds. You would find out which genre is the most popular around that time and also look at sales figures to see which films have sold the most, if the top 3 sellers are comedy films, a media company might produce a comedy film because they know it will be a success. They could also look at films of a similar genre but that are aimed at an older or younger audience so they know what not to include in their film. Media companies rely on this because it allows them to know how many films similar to their's are going to be in the cinema at the same time but also which type of film, which actors etc are selling the most tickets to their target audience.

Production Research:
Finding out how much it would cost to produce the film. Finding out things such as the costs of equipment needed, cast hire, location hire and if they can film there, staff, props, costumes and many other things. It is mainly costs that production research would help you find out but it can help you find out other things production related. One example is which skills would be required (e.g. editing) and finding out if you have personnel with those skills. Another example is researching when and where you will film and planning it out so that the filming runs smoothly. Media companies rely heavily on production research because without it, production could go very wrong, they might not have as much money as they need, they might not have certain people to do certain things and things such as filming schedules as well are very important when producing a film.