Primary Research Results

Name: Jon VillacciCandidate Number:1248Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number:64315

This feedback connotes that my random collective audience morally expect to see different ethnic groups on TV within soap operas. I only gathered one response which was against seeing different ethnic community's, however the majority of my audience were against this.

From the responses to this question I have gathered the knowledge that my groups trailer should contain diverse ethnic groups to demonstrate a diversity which clearly represents modern day communities.Most soap operas which I have researched contain multi-cultural characters to promote quality in society which is why my group should ‘repeat’ (Neale 1980) this in our soap opera trailer.

Do you like to see different ethnic community's in the latest soap operas ?

What age do you think soap operas appeal towards?

The majority of my responses suggested that middle ages audiences hold the majority to soap opera appeal. My group will try to spread the appeal to younger generations as well to gain a wider target audience as well as a diverse one.

60% of my responses chose middle aged where as my lowest response was 17-21 year olds at a 13.3% response. I want to try and appeal our soap opera towards younger audiences throughout the help of our trailer.

What settings of a soap opera are most appealing?

64% of my responses suggest to me that ‘small urban towns’ seem to be the most appealing choice for soap opera settings.This is down to the fact the majority of UK favorite TV soaps such as ‘Emmerdale’, ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘EastEnders’ are filmed in small urban town film sets.

They may be the most appealing as they have a ‘personal identity’ (Katz) with the audience, for example my questionnaire audience are all from small urban towns so they will want to identify with the soap opera.

Do you think a soap opera needs a relatable title to the genre?

Is it expected for the tittle of the soap opera to have a significant relative meaning. For example the TV soap opera ‘EastEnders’ is based upon the lives of working class people of East end of London hence the name ‘East Enders’.

Our groups TV soap opera will need a name which denotes the significance of the setting and the inhabitants of people in that area.

What marketing strategies do you think will appeal to a wide audience?

Advertisements through viral social media in general seems to the best way to gain a wider audience to appeal to your soap opera.The majority of my responses give a strong impression to myself that the best way to advertise our soap opera will be through social media.

Only a small percentage of my responses, approximately 14% watch soap operas on a regular basis. My responses where all from young people aged around 17. As the majority of TV soap operas have larger audience of middle-aged men and women our soap opera will try to appeal to a younger audience as well.

Do you watch soap operas on a daily basis?

East Enders and Hollyoaks seem to be the most appealing to my response audience, my audience are of a young age which way be why they chose these soaps as they include a lot of young characters which they can ‘personally identify’ (Katz) themselves with.

Out of the most popular soaps on TV which soap is the most appealing to you?

How often do you buy soap opera magazines?

Over 70% of my responses suggest to me that soap opera magazines are not an attraction to a majority of younger people similar to the ones who took my survey. Soap opera magazines are not regularly bought by many people because of there tacky and cheap appearance.

What themes in soap operas do you find the most interesting?

A common theme of ‘murder’ seemed to appear quite frequently as a response to this question. A lot of ongoing TV soap operas such as EastEnders and Emmerdale contain similar themes as they seem to be popular with older/middle aged audiences.

What class do you think soap operas are aimed towards ?

The responses to this where quite surprising as I expected the majority to vote middle class, however I can see why there would be a mixture. This is because soap operas target the working class and typical 9-5 worker which can categorize under lower and middle class people. A majority of lifestyles of characters within soap operas consist of working class people. This is why lower and middle class can relate as they can ‘familiarize’ and ‘personally identify’ with themselves (Katz).

ConclusionThe responses to this survey have given me a wide idea on the types audiences that watch soap operas. For example a large majority of people preferred soap operas being set in an urban community, maybe this is down to the fact that urban areas take up a majority of an MEDC such as England and are the most relatable settings.

A majority of lifestyles of characters within soap operas consist of working class people. This is why lower and middle class can relate as they can ‘familiarize’ and ‘personally identify’ with themselves (Katz). The overall majority of my responses where from working class backgrounds.

Photos depicting evidence of my survey being carried out