Media professionals have many ways of finding out what audiences are interested in, whether it’s from ratings, sales figures, or email responses and interactive satellite television. Other ways include looking at responses on the internet and seeing what products are viewed the most, and what comments are made on products. Usually there are comment boxes on websites that sell products and they ask you for a rating. For example, amazon.com has you rate products, whether it’s books, movies, games, music, computers, electronics, home and garden products, toys, apparel, or shoes, and plenty of people take their time out to glorify a product if it worked really well for them or they really enjoyed it.
When it comes to ratings, media professionals can see whether or not their advertisements during a certain time slot have been boosting sales or whether they see no difference. With kid’s shows, they would obviously show commercials for toys and cartoon movies, while more adult shows that are on later at night would have advertising for things like electronics, higher rated movies, and products that only adults use.
The radio can also be used, since many people will call in to share their views about certain things. It is a good idea to find out what audiences are saying directly from their mouths, especially since they know they are anonymous. Reading feedback in magazines is also a good way to find out what people are interested in. There are always those sections at the beginning that discuss different articles in the previous magazine and people say what their likes and dislikes were. Usually people are honest because they want the magazine to respond appropriately so that the magazine can be improved for their reading pleasure.
Production research is also another way to find out what people are interested in. Research is done to find out about how the creativity or agency of he media professional is limited by organizational and also external factors. Organizational means the way the goods are produced, the ownership structure, the editorial line, and culture or ethos of a certain media organization. External factors could be anything from the economic power of advertisers and sponsors, the laws and regulations enforced, and the willingness of those who are politically and economically in charge.