Audience Research

Usually the people who carry out the research are the people are the digital marketers and communicators that work in a company or pre-production, post-production team that go out and collect data that determine whether the product should be made or if it is successful 

Usually the people that do audience research are digital marketers and communicators that go out into public and gather data about their target audience so that they get a clear outline of what people like and if they made perhaps a film what topics would be most successful, for example if digital marketers and communicators go out and do questionnaires in public about which they prefer Marval or DC and the public says Marval the audience researchers will know overall all that the film they should produce and create should be Marval as it was the most popular option from the public. The researchers will also know that the film would be successful because it was the more popular vote between the two topics.

Audience research should be done ahead of time and way before any decisions are made, as the audience research lets the researchers know what is most popular and trendy at this current time. Due to the outcome of the audience research it can determine the outcome, success and popularity of the film. If the audience research is done after the film or product is complete and out in public the research may be important for future reference, for example if the public liked the product and if they should make more, but preferably the research is done before hand to determine if the product should be created.

The audience research must be completed as it does determine the success of the product, whether it is before the product is created or after it is released. Because of the quantity of the data it is important for the research to be completed as this type of data is useful for statistics as part of an infographic or to show clear graphs of audience behaviour. And the qualitative data is in depth analysis into why your audience behaves in such a way. This data cant be measured as easily, but is incredibly useful as it will give context to a finding, meaning that if the research isn't done it will be harder to determine the outcome and context of the product. 

                                                                                                     

The types of research methods can differentiate depending on how the research wants to do their research, for example they may go into public and do surveys and questionnaire, that they would probably use to determine context and outcome. However with surveys and questionnaires they would also be one that can be sent to peoples homes so they can do it anonymously and in private. One advantage is easy to measure and one disadvantages is not able to gain detail behind the responses. Another type would be interviews, where the research goes into public and interviews the public again to get context and options on the product. One advantage is to be able to gain in depth responses and a disadvantage is not as east to measure and analyse. Focus groups is another type that is good for audience research. Focus groups are 'group interviews' that allows the group to discuss a relevant question while the researchers observe. One advantage is able to generate extra data from the group interaction, one disadvantages is not as easy to measure and analyse. The last type of research method is observation, in which the researcher observes that participants and collects quantitative data in a natural setting. One advantage is can compare the data to responses from participants to make a comparison and a disadvantages is that the observations can not be generalized.

To conclude audience research is conducted by pre-production, digital marketers, communicators and post-production teams to determine whether the product should be create and where the product they may have already created and been release is successful.