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Essay on Radio Station Research
| Date: |
09-06-02 6:39am |
| Subject: |
Business |
| Word Count: |
2121 |
| Page Count: |
8.48 |
Radio Station Research
Radio Station Research
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Scope of the Study 3
Methods Used 3
Results 5
Age 5
Time of Day 6
Location 8
Recommendations 10
Target Format 10
Target Location 11
Bibliography 12
Introduction
Music is a general love of almost
every college student. Many develop their personalities, profiles,
and various other tastes based on their listening choices. In general,
many college students acquire the same spectrum of listening values.
If a radio station, one that wishes to target the college student population,
can discover the musical preferences of the general population of students,
they will be able to grow within the specific market.
Since the target market is of a
personality of the student, generally a crowd that has the same likes and
dislikes as his/her peers; the target musical format should be fairly easy
to determine. Unlike the 25-33 crowd or 40 and up crowd, where their
musical preferences range far and wide, each college student has almost
the same understanding of their values. Possible reasons for this
may be peer pressure or self-morale gains, yet it still exists among the
college crowd. Thus, a common format may be simpler for a station
targeting the college format.
The station will be able to gain
knowledge for its possible advertisers by analyzing its target population’s
needs and wants. Plus, they will be able to acknowledge the possible
locations of the students, where they go and what they do. The ultimate
goal is to find out where the students are spending their money, so advertising
can be solicited into purchasing radio time. Advertisers wish to
have some "concrete" data when analyzing which station they wish to spend
their money on through airtime. The purpose of this study is to give
the possible clients the facts placed in front of them as well as educate
them as to where our target is going and the possibilities of gathering
our target audience to their place of business.
Consumer behavior will come into
play in the study, since part of the goal is to gather information on the
needs and wants of the consumer, or radio listener. Analysis of behavior
is more difficult to determine, because the data collected is based on
values and personal judgment. Little data collected will be concrete,
since the student will be revealing based on opinions, not facts.
However, opinions sometimes hold strong enough to reach a borderline to
fact.
Scope of the Study
The study was a descriptive design
with an emphasis on the listening preferences of college students.
Data was acquired as to which brand of music, or radio format, is most
appealing to college students, such as alternative, rock, country, R&B,
etc.
Also, data was collected regarding
the basic needs of the students as well as the distances they wished to
travel to acquire their needs. Other gatherings included the desired
radio format, amount of interest in the radio, impact of personalities,
and several shopping tastes the student has.
Analysis of the location of the
target, how often they listen to the radio, what time they listened to
the radio, and traveling distance, both overall and for necessities, were
acquired to gain a general knowledge of the target market.
Methods Used
The main source of the study was
through conducting a survey. A survey was offered randomly to college
students on the campus of the University of Nevada-Reno. The sampling
was nonprobability-random, because of the nature of the issuance of the
surveys. However, coverage was broad, because the survey was issued
to students ranging from freshman to senior. After the survey was
conducted, a total of 57 surveys were collected. The information
from the surveys included questions such as their listening preferences,
time of day they listen to the radio, amount of time spent listening to
the radio, and where they spend the most amount of time listening to the
radio, such as in their car, at home, at work, or at school.
Next, students were asked several questions in regards to their favorite
radio formats. Such questions included were their favorite morning
show, type of morning show they most desire, and how much of an impact
the radio personality, or disc jockey, placed on the student. These
questions were used to determine the students’ tastes in format as well
as how much of an impact the format places on them.
Also, demographics of the students, age,
marital status, gender, and ethnicity, were collected. The data collected
will help determine a possible correlation between the student and the
other categorical questions.
Another important factor placed
on the survey was the location of the student. If one can determine
the general concentrated population area of most students, they will be
able to determine the possible advertising companies to target. Along
with location, questions were asked to determine how far a student travels
when they purchase their everyday needs, like groceries, food (dining),
clothing, and gasoline. Another item collected was the students’
interests in participating in promotions and contests. Along with
the students’ interests in promotions, they were asked to see how far students
would travel to participate in radio promotions. This information
is mostly useful to persuade potential advertisers, where the station will
be able to determine the target locations of the students. If there
shows a concentration of student population in a certain area and they
travel to primarily the same areas, endorsements will be extremely beneficial
in the target locations. Another category used was to show how the
students’ spend their money. Do they spend it mostly on electronics,
clothing, technology, sporting goods, home furnishings, entertainment,
or some other goods?
Secondary data was used as a "back
up" to the survey. Since the survey was involving a small portion
of the population, some data may be skewed. The secondary data was
used as a form of a guide to the survey results. It was there to
ensure that the student population was represented, even with a small sample.
Forms of secondary data used included journals, magazines, newspapers,
the Internet, and other online databases.
Results
Age
To ensure that the entire student
population was covered, the average age was calculated. The results
show an average age of 23.5 with a standard deviation of 5.5. Thus,
the range of age was reached, with one deviation ranging from 18 to 29.
Gender
The results of the survey show that
66.7 percent of women versus 33.3 percent of men were surveyed. The
survey was slightly skewed in this manner, but the coverage was still reached.
Also, the majority of the survey was a single crowd. 77.2% of the
poll was single, compared to 22.8% being married.
Musical format
From the survey, the data collected
showed the students’ preferences of format based on a 1-5 scale, with 5
being most favorite. After the data was analyzed, the following shows
the college students preferences based on their mean:
1. Alternative-3.0
2. R&B-3.0
3. Rock-2.81
4. Hip Hop-2.71
5. Pop-2.60
6. Classic Rock-2.40
7. Rap-2.39
The proper radio format would be to play
a mix of alternative music with some rock.
Time of Day
The survey for to acquire when the
student listens to the radio was a very similar format to the one in acquiring
their favorite tastes. Four categories, morning, afternoon, evening,
and late night, were used. Students were to rate the categories from
1-4, with 1 being the time of day the person listened mostly. The
following results appeared (based on the mean of the students’ ratings):
 Morning (5am-11am)-
2.23
 Afternoon (11am-5pm)-
2.60
 Evening (5pm-11pm)-
2.61
 Late Night (11pm-5am)-
2.56
A heavy dose of morning listeners was
revealed from the survey. While afternoon, evening, and late night
was approximately the same, morning showed to be the most appealing.
Thus, the radio should concentrate on heavy advertising in the morning.
Also, the amount of time the student listens
to the radio per day was viewed. The data was separated into four
categories, less than one hour, one to three hours, three to five hours,
and more the five hours. The results show:
 Less than one hour-
22.8%
 One to three hours-
54.4%
 Three to five hours-
15.8%
 More than five hours-
7.0%
Thus, 77.2% of the average students listen
to the radio from zero to three hours a day.
Area of Listening
The students were also asked about
the area that the listen to the radio the most. Their choices were
either in the car, at home, at work, or at school. They were to rank
the selections in order from 1-4, with 1 being most frequent. They
showed the following results (based on the mean of the students’ ratings):
 In car-
1.75
 At home-
2.07
 At work-
2.67
 At school-
3.51
The data shows that the students listen
to the radio mostly in their car or at home. From the information,
many students spend their time traveling when they are listening to the
radio. Thus, we analyzed the distance they drove per day. From
the survey, the average student travels showed an average driving distance
of 23.5 miles.
Location
The students were asked to place
their area of residence. Since almost all of the students live in
Reno, they were asked to place their zip codes, which is a way to estimate
their location within the Reno area. The areas most students lived
in were in the zip codes 89503, Northwest Reno, and 89512, North Reno,
each showing 24.1% of the total survey. Therefore, from the data,
the student general population resides in the North-to-Northwest area of
Reno.
Student Preferences
From the results, students are influenced
by the disc jockey on the radio. 56.9% stated that they would listen
to a radio station based on the disc jockey used. Also, a study of
morning formats was analyzed. The following categories, along with
their results, are revealed:
 Comedy talk- 19.0%
 News talk-
6.9%
 Sports talk-
3.4%
 Music with talk- 29.3%
 Music with no talk- 58.6%
The major preference of the average student
wishes to have a music format with no talk. However, comedy talk
had a decent impact also, creating a 19.0% interest. Also, the variety
of music was analyzed. The survey asked whether the audience wished
to have a format with a wide variety of music or one with a specific playing
pattern. Students wished to have a wide variety, 68.4%, rather than
a specific pattern, 31.6%.
Next, data based on students’ personal
tastes was collected. They were asked what they spent the majority
of their money on and given the following categories to choose from: electronics,
clothing, technological, sporting goods, home furnishings, and entertainment.
The data showed:
 Electronics- 42.1%
 Clothing- 73.7%
 Technological 10.5%
 Sporting Goods 26.3%
 Home Furnishings 50.9%
 Entertainment 33.3%
The majority of tastes for students showed
up in clothing, with home furnishings, electronics, and entertainment receiving
very capable results.
Distances
The distances students were willing
to travel were taken next. They were asked their usual driving distances
to gather groceries, dining, clothing, and gasoline. Also, they were
asked how far they were willing to drive to attend a radio promotion.
Categories were divided into 0-1 miles, 1-3 miles, 3-5 miles, and over
5 miles. The statistics show that:
 Groceries- 0-1mi: 24.6%,
1-3mi: 45.6%, 3-5mi: 15.8%, 5+mi: 14.0%
 Dining- 0-1mi:
5.3%, 1-3mi: 38.6%, 3-5mi: 24.6%, 5+mi: 31.6%
 Clothing- 0-1mi:
1.8%, 1-3mi: 22.8%, 3-5mi: 22.8%, 5+mi: 52.6%
 Gas- 0-1mi: 33.3%,
1-3mi: 36.8%, 3-5mi: 12.3%, 5+mi: 17.5%
 Radio Promotion 0-1mi: 21.1%,
1-3mi: 24.6%, 3-5mi: 22.8%, 5+mi: 31.6%
The average distances for the students
were also calculated. Students averaged 3.25 miles to get groceries,
4.33 miles to dine, 5.00 miles to purchase clothing, 3.11 miles to get
gas. Also, they were willing to travel 3.98 miles to attend a radio
promotion.
Recommendations
Target Format
The music format of choice would
be to do a variety of alternative and rock music. R&B would be
a good choice, too, but the variety would be too wide for the tastes of
the college students. Alternative music and rock is somewhat similar,
yet it still has some variety to it, which is something that the survey
showed.
Also, the morning format must be
focused upon more than the other times of the day. The most drastic
statistic revealed from the survey was the amount of listening from college
students in the morning hours, from 5 to 11am. Thus, the station
should analyze this part of the day more carefully than any other part.
From the survey, it was revealed that students mostly preferred a morning
format with no talk and all music. Also, several of them were influenced
by the disc jockey used. This should be considered deeply when drawing
a conclusion to the format. In my opinion, I feel that the station
should go with a mostly music with little talk show format. The disc
jockeys should have a comic appeal, though. The ultimate goal is
to please the majority, and there is a happy medium between an all-comedy
format and an all-music format. Yet, the station must be careful
in regards to its amount of talk and music played.
Target Location
Many of the students reside In Northern
or Northwest Reno. An emphasis should be placed on this area, with
a radius of approximately 4 miles, since students are willing to travel
this far for a promotion.
Target Advertisements
The station should highly emphasize
its advertising on the clothing industry. Many students spend the
majority of their money on clothing, and they are willing to drive longer
distances than usual to acquire it. This is the perfect appeal for
advertisers. Many will be able to conduct promotions because of the
larger radius presented to clothing, 5 miles versus 4 miles.
Other areas they should target would
be home furnishings, electronics, and entertainment. These categories,
although incomparable to clothing’s demand, are still areas with a great
concentration of the students’ funding.
In conclusion, the results show
that the following is ideal:
Format- Alternative, Rock
Target Time- Morning
Morning Format- Music With Little or No
Talk
Target Area- North Reno, Northwest
Reno
Estimated Radius- 4 Miles
Play List- Wide Variety
Target Advertising Clothing, Electronics,
Home Furnishings, Entertainment
Bibliography
Allison, Dennis. Today’s Music. Rolling
Stone. May 99. P31-33.
Brown, William. A Study of Music.
Journal of Music. Aug 99. P125-28.
Miller, Rebecca. Today’s College Crowd.
US. Dec 98. P 76-77.
Nelson, Jim. Musical Preferences of Inmates.
Journal of Criminal Studies. Jan 00.
Albitron Ratings System. (printout)
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