Audience

Inevitably, publications compete for readers. In order to capture their target markets, magazine owners put time into studying demographics (the statistical data of a population, especially those showing average age, income, education, etc.) and psychographics (the use of demographics to study and measure attitudes, values, lifestyles, and opinions, for example for marketing purposes) of their potential readers. Magazine tag lines are used to flag the target audience, as in “the hottest celebrity style and gossip magazine for the cool urban girl” (NW) and “a must-have for cool Kiwi chicks” (CLEO).

Nielsen Media Research provides audience measurement, print readership, customised media research and advertising intelligence information in 40 countries, including New Zealand.

When a magazine shifts to a new target market, editorial policy inevitably shifts with it. A recent example of this is the New Zealand Listener, which, under editor Pamela Stirling, in moving to broaden the readership, shifted the magazine’s politics from the left to the centre and reduced the number of stories about society and politics in favour of stories about individual issues like mortgages and brain function.