Magazine companies resort to a variety of methods to sell a product, impose an idea, or advertise a service. To achieve their goals, magazines use different techniques: bright and provocative headlines, and memorable pictures among others. It is essential to understand that wide sales and advertising is the ultimate goal of every magazine, and Cosmopolitan is no exception. The target audience of this magazine company is mainly girls from 18 to 30 years old. However, the magazine claims that not every reader can be considered a cosmo girl, as it the attitude that matters the most. In other words, the target audience of Cosmopolitan magazine is girls who are focused on success, beauty, and sexuality. They inspire readers that their happiness lies in proper skin care, diet, and relationships with various articles and advertisements.
Cosmopolitan is dedicated primarily to the issues of beauty, health, success, and relationships. Their website is designed specifically to attract the target audience: it is bright and provocative. The color scheme, made mainly in pink, orange, and white, also hints at who the magazine’s audience is. This scheme attracts readers, making the process of reading articles easy and uncomplicated. Moreover, the brightness and extravagance of the website design initially indicate a more entertaining format of materials. On the website’s main page, there is a bright photo from the cover of the magazine, and below are the most relevant articles. All articles are divided into various topics: beauty, health, sports, relationships, career, and etcetera. Moreover, Cosmopolitan has a section with political news, which helps them attract more readers. To achieve his goals, the Cosmopolitan faithfully resorts to Aristotle’s Ethos, Pathos, and Logos concepts.
The Ethos emphasizes the credibility of the information discussed in the magazine articles. In order to achieve this credibility and reliability, almost every article refers to a particular celebrity. Thus, in the article devoted to various hairstyles for a wedding, the credibility is confirmed not by experts in hairdressing. On the contrary, Cosmopolitan refers to multiple celebrities who once wore the same hairstyles. Thus, it is the celebrities who represent the trustworthiness of information and advice. Moreover, the vast majority of articles on the Cosmopolitan website have celebrity names in their headlines. The magazine earns the trust of its audience because fans unquestioningly believe the advice of their idols. Also, in articles that describe a particular celebrity’s tips on skin or hair care, advertising is successfully used. There is no evidence that, for example, Kylie Jenner uses a specific product to accelerate hair growth. Despite this, Cosmopolitan will advertise this product, claiming that an insanely popular and successful person uses it.
According to Aristotle, Pathos appeals to emotions and feelings, which is also widely used by magazine companies. The advertising market specifically creates such ads that will cause certain emotions in readers (Lamichhane 68). Color scheme, style of speech, and many other techniques help attract the consumer’s attention and increase the chance to purchase a particular product. As mentioned earlier, Cosmopolitan uses bright colors and flashy headlines, which helps to evoke certain emotions in readers. Since the magazine’s target audience is girls over the age of eighteen and under the age of thirty, most articles focus on selling beauty products. In the same way, the Cosmopolitan appeals to the Logos, or logic, of his target audience (Lamichhane 69). Many articles claim that in order to achieve happiness and success, a reader needs to follow a particular set of rules. Such articles are usually written in lists and represent several points that describe all the necessary instructions. This type of article is convenient to read because all the essential information is arranged as concisely as possible.
Many magazine companies use manipulative techniques to attract their target audience. Defining its readers as women from eighteen to thirty years old, Cosmopolitan publishes articles suitable for this particular audience. Articles in this magazine often turn to beauty, health, and success: these are the topics that interest readers the most. For some people, the problem of skin health is particularly acute, so articles on this topic will cause resonance. This is how the magazine appeals to its audience’s emotions, which ensures its popularity and success (Heinrichs 327). Using the same techniques, the magazine promotes various advertisements in its articles. On the website, there are many articles that offer to buy a particular product because it is fashionable, trendy, or unique. The average reader will undoubtedly think that such a fantastic product is necessary for him. A particular audience will be more receptive to advertising that meets their needs (Guedes et al. 125). Thus, the target audience of Cosmopolitan is susceptible to advertising care products, cosmetics, and clothing.
Thus, Cosmopolitan, being a large magazine company, is aware of who exactly is its target audience. The magazine appeals to its audience through various techniques, bright website design and interface, and targeted advertising. Moreover, by appealing to the readers’ emotions, feelings, and logic, Cosmopolitan skillfully manipulates them. When reading an article about how, for example, to cure acne, the reader will find an advertisement for a particular product that will supposedly help her. This is how Cosmopolitan intelligently finds an approach to each reader of its target audience.
Works Cited
Guedes, Biatriz, Aurore C. Paillard-Bardey, and Anke Schat. “Improving Sustainable Fashion Marketing and Advertising: A Reflection on Framing Message and Target Audience.” International Journal of Market Research 62.2 (2020): 124-126.
Heinrichs, Jay. Thank you for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson can Teach us about the Art of Persuasion. Three Rivers Press (CA), 2017.
Lamichhane, Yog Raj. “The Role of Aristotelian Appeals in Influencing Consumer Behavior.” Journal of Development and Social Engineering 3.1 (2017): 65-78.