How Hollywood Targets A Movie Audience
The entertainment industry is presently in a state of flux. Filmmakers are searching for the "magic bullet" to target the largest possible audiences for their movies. Question is, which audience segment will generate the most revenue?
Moviegoers are separated into groups based upon what they think about certain topics. These are called psychographic profiles, as opposed to demographics, which group people by age, income and social status. Psychographic groups can be easily connected to specific kinds of films.
To illustrate, I've developed a quiz by listing several psychographic categories below. If you want to participate in this unscientific survey, write each of these categories on a sheet of paper. Next, write the name of a recent film or films that would appeal to people in each group.
Mail your responses before March 1, 1995. If you enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope, we will send you the results as soon as we tally them. I hope you find this both fun and enlightening.
Preschool children: Preadolescent girls: Prepubescent boys: Love-sick adolescent girls (boys, too): Thrill-seeking teenagers: Love-sick teenagers: Gangs and gangstas, Romantics (a sophisticated term for love-sick adults): Women-hating men: Men-hating women: Homosexuals: Murders and rapists looking for inspiration: Youngsters looking for positive role models to emulate: Animal/earth lovers: Animal/earth haters: Students of history: Historical revisionists: Political liberals: Political conservatives: Evolutionists: Creationists: Atheists: Muslims: Catholics: Protestants: Jews.
There, that pretty well covers it -- something for everyone. The point of this exercise is to increase our awareness of the mental gymnastics movie producers must go through before green-lighting a picture. They not only have to identify the potential audience for their project, they must also be convinced there are enough people in that category to make money - hopefully, BIG money. One producer admitted making movies especially for "subliterate, urban males, between ages 12 - 20." He referred to them as "horny boys."
Things are improving. Some filmmakers understand that they live in a psychographic vacuum compared with the bulk of the population. They are producing more films for mainstream American families with conservative tastes. There are still a few diehards who insist on making movies to impress their peers, without regard for the audience-at-large. But, with relatively poor box office performance, they aren't impressing their investors who are principally concerned with the bottom line.
Before choosing your next movie experience, ask yourself a couple of questions. "Which psychographic group was the movie made for?" And . . . "Do I want to be counted as a member of that group?"
Subscribe to our
FREE 
newsletter and quarterly
video list.
Dick Rolfe is Chairman of The Dove Foundation a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and promote the creation, production and distribution of wholesome family entertainment. For more information about wholesome films and videos, write: 535 E. Fulton, Suite 1A, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, or call (616)454-5024.
Return to our home page | Dick's bio | past columns
to dickrolfe@dove.org
Updated by: Scott
Rolfe