Liam Green
With specific reference to ‘Decanter’ and ‘Mens Health’, how audiences are categorised by the producer on media texts. Include: overview, purpose/impact, specific textual reference, demographic physics metric profiling.
Representation is a producer’s construction of reality; in order to illustrate their view, they need to categorise audiences in terms of their content. For example, in the UK’s leading men’s magazine ‘Mens Health’, the audiences has been categorised to men only. ‘Mens Health’ isn’t a high end magazine as is aimed at the average man from giving them the tools to change/improve. Whereas ‘Decanter’ is a high end magazine specifically aimed at normally the upper class that enjoy wine tasting and brewing their own. Both magazines categorise their audiences in different ways but a main factor is content.
Content on ‘Mens Health’ clearly indicates a male audience; this is done by numerous masculine ways. One of which is the use of image, normally a masculine figure on the magazine, in my specific magazine edition it is a UFC fighter centralised in a fighting pose. This conveys masculinity and appeals to the average man to want to look like and the want to be tougher. This is categorising the audience to people who want to change or improve their body. Terms such as ‘best’ are repeated on the cover, which we can see using Young and Rubicon’s 4C’s table that the category ‘aspirer’ would fit in perfectly for this. A person who wants nothing but the best; this is reinforced immediately with terms such as ‘instant results’ which also apply to that category.
The purpose of the magazine is not only to try and get people to buy it, but to believe in what they are selling and that the magazine can change your life physically and mentally. Exaggeration is used in the magazine heavily, with phrases like “Get NASA IQ”, which is absurd to think that you will be that level of intelligence just from reading the magazine. The impact on this can vary; some people may believe it whereas some might not. However; it is not arguable to think that it isn’t appealing, to be able to get all those things the magazine promises that quickly. The audience are categorised somewhat stereotypical, as if men would listen to anything and believe it, and they want the best with little effort and time. The magazine aims at people in the UK are targeted based on their social class, but specifically to those of the C2, D and E background. This may be because they are normally the lives of people who are of less intelligence and would believe the things the magazine will portray; they can afford the magazine and are those who need the most improvement.
With reference to ‘Decanter’, a magazine specifically regarding wine, audiences are categorised in nearly the exact same way. Content is the main contributing factor, offering a luxurious experience when tasting wine. It doesn’t appeal through use of masculinity of even femininity such as ‘Mens Health’ but just through the use of what the magazine actually offers and being high end, rich and a pleasure to have wine as a hobby. This is obvious with the cover, having an easy on the eye purple background radiates luxury, phrases such as “the wine bible” further implies the importance and central topic that the magazine is specifically about wine.
‘Decanter’ categorises audience clearly and doesn’t try to appeal to the high end audience as much as ‘Mens health’ does to theirs. They know that their magazine will be bought but also knows it has to offer the best to their customers. This aims the ‘Suceeders’ category, where there audience already have status (money) and prefer brands that are serious. This is why ‘Decanter’ doesn’t try too hard to appeal to the audience, so that way the category of type of people would think this is the best magazine out there to buy. Unlike ‘Mens Health’, this is targeted at mainly the A and B status on the social-economic table, illustrating how high end the magazine is. Not only that but the content provides for this, as how many people in the lower category’s have their own wine cellars and go on wine testing in different countries? The content directly appeals directly to their category.