1) What gender are you?

Male
50%

Female
50%

To ensure the outcome of this survey was not unduly influenced / distorted by
gender bias, an equal number of male and female college students were asked to
participate in this survey. The chart above illustrates that there were an equal
number of male and female students who participated in the survey. Ensuring that
there were an equal number of participants from each sex will enable me to
ascertain whether, either male or female students are more likely to be interested in
a college magazine.
The question is whether or not I should allow my magazine to conform to this
convention and have a gender bias, if indeed these results are representative of my
target audience population in general. However, in order to appeal to the widest
possible audience and to maximise sales, I will adopt a gender neutral magazine,
ensuring making it appeals to both sexes. This data will provide me with a clear
focus during the design / development phase of my magazine, so I can maximise its
popularity with my target audience.

2) Do you read magazines?

Male / Female Split

Yes / No %
90%
80%
70%

No
40%

60%

Yes
60%

Male

50%

Female

40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes

No

The chart above illustrates the split between those of who usually read magazines
(60%) and those who generally do not (40%). The graph illustrates the variances
between male and female students, with 80% of female students and 40% of male
students indicating that they read magazines. These results would suggest that my
magazine should have a gender bias towards female students, seeing as they are
more likely to read / purchase my magazine. However, I will not conform to this
convention and will ensure that the magazine is gender neutral. Therefore, the
remaining analysis of the questionnaire results will consider male and female
separately.

3) Would you like a college

magazine to be available?
Undecided
20%

Yes
50%

No
30%

From this pie chart we can see that 50% of those students surveyed, said that they
would like a college magazine to be available. Only 30% of students had a negative
view and believed the idea of a college to be a waste of time. The remaining 20%
were undecided. These results show that some students have a somewhat
indifferent view as the need / benefit of having a college magazine. Therefore when
developing / designing my magazine, I will need to ensure it stands out, has content
that students will want / need to read , thus creating demand, whilst also ensuring it
has the widest possible appeal in order to maximise sales / distribution.

4) How often would you like the

magazine published?
10
8
6
4
2
0
Weekly

Monthly

Termly

Yearly

Also Available
Online

From the graph above we can see that the majority of students surveyed, namely 8
out 10 (80%), favoured a termly published magazine, whilst 2 students (20%)
indicated that a monthly publication would be their preference. Furthermore, 50% of
those surveyed also liked the idea of an online version of a college magazine. There
would be considerable financial benefits of just having an online magazine,
particularly with regards to production and distribution costs. However, as the
students indicated they wanted an online version, in addition to a hardcopy version, I
will offer both options. I will conform to my target markets decision and publish my
magazine termly.

5) What would you like to feature in the

magazine?
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

The students were asked to select five topics that they would like to see feature in a
College magazine. The graph above illustrates that the most popular choice was
Music, selected by 8 (16%) of students, closely followed by Money Matters,
Advice and Offers & Discounts each scoring 7 (14%) votes. The third most popular
topics, each achieving 5 votes (10%) respectively, were Career Paths, Studying &
Exams and Sports. Both College News & Interviews and Politics topics each
scored 2 votes (4%). The two least popular choices, scoring only 1 vote (2%) each
were, Bullying and The Arts.
These results provide me with a clear insight as to the features that I should consider
including in my magazine, particularly given their popularity with the participants in
his survey, my target audience. Selecting the most popular topics would ensure my
magazine appeals to the widest audience possible and therefore maximise sales /
distribution.

6) What offers and discounts

would like you see in the
magazine?
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Music

Cinema

Clothing

Gigs

Festivals

Food

Another possible way to attract students would be to include offers and discounts in
the magazine, as indicated by the data collected in respect of Question 6. Offers
and Discounts was the second most popular feature selected. The graph above,
illustrates that Music, which scored 7 votes (23%) was the most popular category
for offers and discounts, closely followed Clothing with 6 votes (20%). Gigs and
Festivals also proved popular with those surveyed, scoring 5 votes (approx 17%)
each. Food followed with a score of 4 votes (13%) and finally, offers and discounts
relating to cinema achieved 3 votes (10%).
However, to incorporate offers and discounts, it would be necessary for the students
to pay for the publication to cover the additional cost that would be incurred. Unless
that is, the added cost can be offset against any advertising or these are purely
advertising offers and discount provided by a third party. The magazine has to be
cost effective to make it worthwhile; otherwise this may not be possible. I do believe
the popularity of the magazine would benefit by their inclusion. Therefore, this will
require further consideration / investigation.

7) WHAT LANGUAGE TYPE WOULD

YOU LIKE TO BE USED?
50%

50%

Informal

Formal

My target audience were asked to confirm what type of language that they would
want to see used for the magazine (Formal or Informal). From the chart above you
will see that there was an even split between the two options, 50% of the students
surveyed opted for Formal language and 50% opted for Informal language. I will
need to consider the merits of using a combination of the two languages to maximise
the magazines appeal or opt for a single language after consideration of the overall
results of this questionnaire. However, my own preference would be to see informal
language, as I feel this will ensure the magazine has a wide appeal and is not
considered too similar to a textbook in style.

8) What design format would

most appeal to you?

30%

Easy to read & find

information

70%

Bright and engaging

My target audience were asked to confirm the design format that they would want to
see used for the magazine. From the chart above you will see that the majority of
students, 70% favoured the Easy to read & find information option, whilst the
remaining 30% opted for the Bright and engaging format. These results suggest
that I will need to adopt the format favoured by my target audience, if my magazine
is to have audience appeal. However, there is the risk that the magazine will end up
resembling a textbook, if I were to adopt this option. On the other hand there is also
a risk associated with going against convention and the majority, namely the
magazine fails to appeal to its target audience. In this instance I will conform and go
with the majority, though I will be careful to ensure the format doesnt become too
text book like in appearance.

9) What colour scheme do you

like in a magazine?
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Bright

Neon

Pastel

Natural

The graph above illustrates my target audiences preferences when they were asked
to confirm the colour scheme that would appeal most in a magazine. The most
popular choice with the students was a Natural colour scheme, which secured 60%
of the votes, followed in second place by the Bright colour scheme with 30% of the
votes. The Pastel colour scheme was the third most popular, securing only 10% of
the votes, whilst the Neon option proved unpopular securing no votes. Selecting an
appropriate colour scheme is important to ensure my magazine appeals to the
widest audience possible and therefore maximise sales / distribution. The Natural
colour scheme would have been my preferred option, had I participated in this
survey and I will therefore conform and go with the majority in this instance.

10a) What would be a good name

for the magazine?
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Selecting an appropriate, yet effective name for a magazine is always going to be a

difficult and tricky proposition. Particularly, as it choosing the right name can be
pivotal to the magazines success or failure. The magazines target audience were
given six options to choose from and the results of this survey are illustrated in the
graph above. Three of the suggested names appear to have appealed most to the
students, namely Education+, Inspired and College Life, as all three managed to
gain 25% of the votes. Education Today and Notice Board were some way behind,

as they only secured 10% of the votes, and as for Student Room, this proved the
least popular choice with only 5% of votes.
An effective title will need to be one that will stands out amongst other titles and has
audience appeal. Unfortunately for me, there was no clear winner and as I feel the
magazines name will influence the design and development of the front cover, I have
decided to seek the views of an additional sample of students.
The same parameters were used and an equal number of males and females were
surveyed. They were offered the three most popular names as shown in the above
graph namely Education+, Inspired & College Life along with two additional
names, Horizons and Crossroads which I had subsequently thought of. The result of
the additional survey is shown below:

10b) What would be a good name

for the magazine?
8
6
4
2
0
Horizons

Education +

Inspired

Crossroads College Life

Interestingly, the two new suggestions proved even more popular with my target
audience, as clearly illustrated by the graph above. The name Horizons appears to
have appealed most securing 35% of the votes cast, closely followed by
Crossroads with 30%. As for the three names brought forward from the first round,
Inspired secured 15%, whilst both Education+ and College Life achieved only 10%
of the votes. My own preference would be the name Horizons, as it can mean the
limit of a persons knowledge, experience, or interest as in broaden your horizons. I
will therefore conform by going with the majority and select Horizons as the name of
my magazine.

11) What would you expect / be

prepared to pay for a magazine?
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Free

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

The graph above illustrates my target audiences preferences when they were asked
to confirm what they thought was a reasonable amount to pay to purchase the
magazine, if indeed they would expect pay anything at all. The results indicate that
the majority of students, 50%, would be prepared to pay, 1 for the magazine.
However, 20% of students surveyed expected the magazine to be free, 20% said
they would pay 0.50. Only 10% said that they would pay as much as 1.50 for the
magazine.
I feel this question is particularly pertinent and I will therefore need to seriously
consider the participants preferences when setting the price for my magazine,
because as we know many students live day to day on a tight budget. This should
ensure my target audience is not deterred by the price set.

12) What image would you like to

see on the cover of the magazine?
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

In order to attract the students into reading my magazine the front cover needs to be
eye catching, draw students in and stand out more than other magazines. The graph
above illustrates that the most popular image for the cover, scoring 50% of the votes,
was Students Socialising in this survey. This was closely followed in joint second
place by images of Student Work and Students Studying, each scoring 20% of the
votes. The least popular options were Students & College Building which secured
10% of the votes and Technology which failed to attract any votes. I am able to
therefore conclude that for my magazine to appeal to my target audience, I will need
to adopt a similar image on the front cover, in order to maximise sales. This option
would also allow me to create a front cover which has no gender bias.