Soap Opera Target Audience Questionnaire And Results

Soap Opera Questionnaire

I have created a questionnaire to look into the target audience of soap operas and how i can create my soap opera trailer to suit the preferences of my target audience.

After reading each question, please circle the answer that most applies to you.

1: What is your gender?

A: Male

B: Female

2: How old are you?

A: Under 18

B: 18-25

C: 25-50

D: 50+

3: What region are you from?

A: South East and London

B: South and South West

C: North and Scotland

4: What is your favourite soap opera?

A: Eastenders

B: Corronation Street

C: Emmerdale

D: Hollyoaks

E: Neighbours

5: Would a soap opera trailer influence you into watching a soap opera?

A: Yes

B: No

6: Do you prefer simple narratives or complex narratives?

A: Simple narratives

B: Complex narratives

7: Do you prefer soaps to be in real time or soaps with lots of flash backs and fractured narratives?

A: Real Time

B: Fractured Narratives

8: What time do you watch soap operas?

A:12pm to 4pm

B:6pm to 7pm

C:7pm to 9pm

9: Do you like to watch storylines of a serious nature that involve real life serious issues that are not often brought to the public eye?

A: Yes

B: No

10: How often would you like your favourite soap opera to be broadcasted?

A: Daily

B: 2-3 times a week

C: Weekly

D: Fortnightly

Thank you for taking your time to complete this questionnaire :)

Results Summary:

I found that more females watch soap operas than men particuarly during the day time where many stay at home mums from the Category E audience are at home to watch the soaps. I also found that more male viewers watch soaps in the evening during primetime and this is most likely when people get home and settle down to watch their favourite TV programs, i found that an equal amount of males and females watch soaps during 7pm-9pm and this is most likely when couples watch TV together.

I also found that more males like to watch complex and fractured narratives as it keeps them

more interested in the soap, whereas women were found to prefer simple narratives that deal with everyday issues. This has support from the Hyperdermic Needle Theory and to attract more viewers to our soap opera we would like to use flashbacks and a complex narrative to attract more viewers and keep them interested.

I also found that Eastenders was the most popular soap and that many people in the under 18 and 18-25 age groups stated that Hollyoaks was their favourite soap and shows that the show is attracting its target audience that are mainly Catergory D and E students and young people. As this is my target audience i have focussed specifically on how Hollyoaks and Eastenders present their soap opera trailers as we want to structure our trailer to suit our audiences needs and expectations of our trailer. This is making use of Dennis McQuails Uses and Gratifications theory (1987) as our target audience will be actively seeking to watch our trailer if we cater it to suit their needs.

I also found it interesting that many people stated their favourite soap was a soap set in their region, which has helped me to set our soap opera in a region where all of our viewers will mainly be from as the viewers will be able to relate to the characters and their environment.