Secondary Research:Target Audiences - Horror

Dylan Mann-Hazell

What Gender is the Target Audience for Horror?

• It has been statistically proven in 2011 that the majority of horror film DVD’s that are bought have been bought by males. Although this does not allow the conclusion that men like horror films more than women, such statistics can be viewed by producers of horror films, and they might be persuaded to add content that, stereotypically, a male would enjoy. This could be, for example, guns, cars, soldiers, video games.

What Age is the Target Audience for Horror?

• The majority of popular horror films have been age restricted to 15 or 18 in the UK, so it is evident from this information that horror films are targeted at older teenagers/young adults. Also, many people that are the main characters of horror movies are between the age of 16 and 30, which further backs up the fact that the target audience for most films are teenagers/young adults, for the audience would be able to relate to these main characters through sharing an age. People are less likely to be interested in a character if they cannot relate to them in some way, and having the right aged actors is an easy way to allow a large amount of people to relate.

What Class is the Target Audience for Horror?

• Generally, the class that watch horror movies the most are the working class, but this could be just due to the fact that the majority of people in the UK are working class. However, it does allow producers to understand that making films about working class people in horror movies is a good way of getting more money, for, again, people can relate to the protagonists, and films that people can relate to immediately become more and more popular. This does not exclude the middle and upper class from being able to relate to the protagonists, however, for there are still many films focusing on those with more status, power and money in life.

Conclusion

• To conclude, horror films are aimed mainly towards young adult/teenage working class men. With this knowledge, very popular and successful horror movies can be created by producers by adding things that men, teenagers/young adults, and the working class all stereotypically enjoy. However, this is only the stereotype of what type of person would enjoy a horror movie, and the producers may be losing money by limiting their target audience to young adult/teenage working class males, instead of broadening the target audience stereotypes, and allowing more types of people to start buying tickets/DVDs to see horror movies, which is something to watch out for in the film making industry.