Newspaper Focus Group

THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE NEWSPAPER QUESTIONNAIRE WERE ASKED TO A GROUP MEETING TOGETHER FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE REASONING BEHIND THEIR ANSWERS.

18 of the 20 participants of the newspaper questionnaire took part in the focus group because 2 of the 20 do not read a newspaper which was found out in the first stages of the questionnaire. The 18 participants and I got together to discuss the answers they gave and to find the reasoning behind it so that in the hopes of my implementation for the regional newspaper, I will be more in touch with the needs and desires of the consumers.

With the age groups of the consumers, mostly being male and 50+, I asked them if it was just them reading the newspaper but many explained that they were at the store purchasing the newspapers for family relatives or wives etc which is why they were there. They explained they do read the newspaper but it was also for their family. The younger participants contributed that they read a newspaper but their parents/family/guardians purchase the newspaper for their entire household. This explains why the majority of the participants are 50+ and why that few younger individuals purchase the newspaper in store.

Many suggested that the maroon and white text colour scheme for the newspaper logo was a really good idea because it was different from other newspaper which all agreed would help consumers notice the newspaper. The younger generations explained it was something new compared to other newspapers which is what newspapers need to do to obtain a bigger and possibly younger consumer base. They all found that a red and white text logo scheme was too unoriginal and appealed to none of them because it is seen so much it has no effect and doesn’t ‘jump’ out at them anymore because they find it boring and know not to really take notice of it.

When it came to the preference of target audience, if they thought it should be un bias, for higher classes, for lower classes or just the general public with general information, the focus group majority said working class. They explained that the region they live may have a conservative MP but the region is mostly working class who desire to hear more about citizens similar to themselves rather than a higher class individual who shares no background or experiences with them. This was excellent information for my story development in the future because it showed me that the audience wants to relate to the stories presented rather than have someone who has nothing in common with them.

This were the only topics covered when the focus group met because the questionnaire results showed plenty and after being analyzed it showed me what I needed. However the topics covered in the focus group were not clear results in the questionnaire results that showed me the reasoning behind the answers.