Purpose of Report
The creation of new media has spawned quite a discussion both among average people and those who are somehow related to the new media content creation or processing. The arguments on whether new media does more harm than it changes people’s lives for the better will, probably, never cease to exist. One thing, however, remains perfectly clear: new media has changed people’s lives, and this change can be observed on a variety of levels.
The effects that new media has had on the audience re, perhaps, the most noticeable and worth discussing. Because of the process of subject matter shrinking, which can be observed within the realm of most of the XXI-century media, the audience, which these programs are targeted at, also seems to have split into narrower categories in accordance with the material suggested by the type of media in question.
As a result, the target audience is defined not as a “mass,” but as a range of niches. The purpose of the given report in showing how far the research of mass media effects on the target population, as well as the evaluation of these effects, has advanced. By mentioning the key stages that have been covered, the author of the given research will be able to define the further course of actions and draft a plan of what must be explored and analyzed next.
Work Accomplished
In a retrospect, rather impressive work has been carried out for the given research to be started. First and foremost, an embracive literature review has been conducted.
It would have been relatively easy to pick only recent studies concerning the effects of mass media on the target audience; however, for the given paper to have enough depth, a more thorough and comprehensive study has been conducted, including the evaluation and analysis of Blumer’s definition of “mass” and its key specifics – the research that dates all the way back to 1950s.
Combined with Friedson’s assessment of audience members, the given overview has provided the author of the research with sufficient background information. In addition, more recent papers have also been used to assess the effects of modern media on people’s buying behavior, as well as on people’s behavioral patterns in general.
More to the point, a major research on the controversies that the application of the new media involves dealing with has been carried out.
According to the research results, the very nature of the modern media, or, to be more exact, the database-driven segmentation of the latest media, presupposes that the target audience should also be split into specific categories. The interactive elements of modern marketing strategies require that specific messages should be delivered to specific groups of the target audience, which leads to splitting the target market into multiple minor niches.
The research has also shown that social networks have contributed to the aforementioned segmentation to the greatest degree. Indeed, when taking a closer look at such social networking channels as Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, etc., one will notice inevitably that its audience differs from each other in terms of their age, gender, tastes, social status, etc.
By specifying the features characteristic of the people using the networks in question, entrepreneurs will be able to tailor the produced goods to the needs of the potential clients nearly impeccably. In fact, a number of companies would either ceased to exist, or have to pick an entirely different strategy of promoting to the target audience and, more importantly, defining the latter.
Apart from specifying the role of new media for modern business, the research in question has also analyzed the strategies chosen by several companies. Several case studies have been considered in an attempt to assess the severity of changes that occurred to entrepreneurship after the emergence of the new media. The case studies have shown that the process of adjustment seems to be going rather smoothly in most firms.
For instance, the examples of Old Spice and King of Spades have demonstrated that, with a flexible marketing strategy, a company can accept literally any innovation and, more to the point, use it to the firm’s advantage. Indeed, such services as YouTube seem perfect for launching advertisement campaigns and keeping the number of losses to the minimum.
In addition, the examples of the companies mentioned above have shown that segmentation, in fact, works for the benefit of the company. Segmentation allows for focusing on a particular type of customers; thus, the effect of the advertisement becomes even more powerful, with the authors no longer having to appeal to the general demographics and choosing instead the moves that will hit a bull’s eye with a particular type of a crowd.
Apart from Old Spice and the King of Spade’s companies, such a famous brand as the Coca Cola Company was also reviewed.
The results have shown that new media opens ample opportunities for entrepreneurs in terms of affecting the target customers’ buyer’s behavior; however, the study has also indicated that the online endeavors of marketing specialists were only successful when the former succeeded in engaging potential customers into a conversation or any other form of interaction; in any other instances, which did not presuppose direct communication, the audience lost their focus quickly.
Moreover, the study has shown that in a number of cases, the potential customers recognized the manipulation techniques used by the company representatives and terminated the communication. Therefore, it seems that the key problem with the use of modern media to address the target audience concerns the fact that most of the TA consider digital media appropriate for non-commercial purposes only.
Problems Encountered
Among the key obstacles faced by the author of the paper in the course of the research, the choice of the methods of data collection seemed to be the most complicated. However, after the methods of qualitative research have been chosen, it was decided that analyzing several case studies seemed the most appropriate choice.
Work Remaining
Although a lot of important information has been collected, there is still a plethora of issues to research. It is required to conduct a comparative analysis between the buyer’s behavior of the audiences that have been affected by the new media commercials, and those whose choices have been influenced by traditional media. Next, the strategies that can be possibly used to attract more customers have to be outlined.
Project Completion
Seeing how there is still major research to be carried out, it can be expected that the project should be completed in several weeks. If the process of data collection goes smoothly, the paper is bound to be completed in two months.