Vogue - Audience

Which two groups can audiences be split by?

Demographics and Psychographics

age, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, socio-economic group (the NRS social scale) - what are these features of?

Demographics

Values, attitudes, lifestyles etc (Young and Rubicam) - what are these fatures of?

Psychographics

How are women aged 15 - 34 targeted by Vogue? through using Sophia...

Loren on the cover as an opinion leader (Star image - Katz and Lazarsfeld - two step flow)

How are women from ABC1 background targeted? Through the cost of...

products being advertised (Revlon etc.)

How are women targeted? Through the typical...

conventions of a woman's magazine (cover lines on issues, star image, competitions, life advice etc.)

How are women who have an occupation targeted? Through the 1965 issue's article on...

questions and answers about money

How is the mainstreamer targeted? Through the conformity of Vogue to generic conventions of...

a woman's magazine

How is the aspirer targeted? Through the use of inspirational opinion leaders, such as in 1965...

Sophia Loren

How is the struggler targeted? Through the use of celebrity stories, providing the struggler with a chance to...

escape (diversion - Uses and Grat)

Vogue targets a more specialised audience through the idea that most of its readers agree it is a "fa...

fashion bible"

Vogue targets a more mainstream audience through the idea that it uses ent?, cel? and pop? cul?

entertainment, celebrity and popular culture

(Appeals of Vogue) Personal identity - there is a consistent reflection of a 'desired' self in Vogue, through the portrayal of cover star...

sophia loren

(Appeals of Vogue) Aspiration - The cover line 'mad midsummer' connotes breaking free of conventions/constraints, essentially...

freedom (sense of aspiration and desire)

(Appeals of Vogue) Escapism/Diversion - Through the cover line, "sheiks Sophia", there is connotations of exoticism, or a sense of...

otherness (which is considered unusual at the time - 1960s)

(Appeals of Vogue) 'Lean back' experience - Audiences can relax, and enjoy the magazine, with the polysemic cover line "even at a picnic" suggesting how the magazine is relevant for all...

summer occasions

(Unique appeals of Vogue) Luxury product - embodies the sense that audiences are reading a high quality product, and is signified through the quality of...

photography (Take by David Bailey etc.)

(Unique appeals of Vogue) Intellectual pleasures - Vogue includes a range of thought-provoking articles, for example the article on page 72, "D...

"Dolce vita: the sunset prints" signifies a sense of cultural competence

(Unique appeals of Vogue) Identifying with a particular point of view or ideology - There is a strong sense of consumerist ideology expressed in 1965 Vogue, for example the articles about...

cruises, travel and shopping

Encoding and decoding, reception theory by?

Stuart Hall

Audiences will interpret the text differently according to moral...

relativism

Hall (1980) proposed a model of mass communication that highlights the importance of active interpretation within relevant codes (repeat)

Hall (1980) proposed a model of mass communication that highlights the importance of active interpretation within relevant codes

Stuart Hall - Preferred Reading - dominant-hegemonic position is where the intended meaning is...

accepted

Stuart Hall - Negotiated reading - the intended meaning is generally acknowledged but adapted to fit the...

reader's experience or context

Stuart Hall - Oppositional Reading - the intended message is understood but the reader...

disagrees with it

On the 1965 cover, the cover lines were featured in an unconventional list, all in lower case. A WHAT? reading would be that Vogue breaks conventions, and appeals to independent women (repeat)

On the 1965 cover, the cover lines were featured in an unconventional list, all in lower case. A preferred reading would be that Vogue breaks conventions, and appeals to independent women

Which example from 1965 would an audience take a preferred reading that Vogue breaks conventions and appeals to independent women?

cover lines in an unconventional list, all in lower case

In the 1965 issue, the article "Heatwave Beauty: the face that starts at twilight" is on page 58. (repeat ->) A WHAT? reading would be that Vogue emphasises an importance on female beauty, with the audience agreeing at the time due to a lack of countering representations

A preferred reading would be that Vogue emphasises an importance on female beauty, with the audience agreeing at the time due to a lack of countering representations

WHich 1965 example article headline promotes an importance of female beauty which was hegemonic at the time?

"Heatrave beauty: the face that starts at twilight"

In the 1965 issue, the article "Picnics probable and improbable" is on page 36. (repeat ->) A WHAT? reading would be that Vogue promotes how women are expected to provide for the men

A preferred reading would be that Vogue promotes how women are expected to provide for the men

In the 1965 issue, the cover line "'scintillate" is included. (repeat ->) A WHAT? reading would be that Vogue is highlighting that women need to be 'scintillating' in any environment, but adapted to view this as being overtly stereotypical

A negotiated reading would be that Vogue is highlighting that women need to be 'scintillating' in any environment, but adapted to view this as being overtly stereotypical

On the 1965 issue, the cover image features a direct gaze from Loren, with her chin aloof. (repeat ->) A WHAT? reading would be that Vogue is encoding a sense of star status, however an audience might acknowledge that Loren is no smiling - emphasising that men are in control

A negotiated reading would be that Vogue is encoding a sense of star status, however an audience might acknowledge that Loren is no smiling - emphasising that men are in control

On the 1965 issue, the central image is a photograph of Sophia Loren from her latest film. (repeat ->) A WHAT? reading would be that Vogue is showing a successful film star, in Sophia Loren, however there is the point that its taken by David Bailey, and Vogue also points that the film stars male actors and producers

A negotiated reading would be that Vogue is showing a successful film star, in Sophia Loren, however there is the point that its taken by David Bailey, and Vogue also points that the film stars male actors and producers (behind every woman is 10 men)

On the 1965 issue, the iridescent turquoise colour palette connotes glamour, luxury and wealth. (repeat ->) An WHAT? reading would be that Vogue is representing an unrealistic aspiration, with the 1960s being a time controlled by men

An oppositional reading would be that Vogue is representing an unrealistic aspiration, with the 1960s being a time controlled by men

On the 1965 issue, the cover line "mad midsummer" hints at the economic prosperity during the 60s. (repeat ->) An oppositional reading would be that Vogue is taking advantage of the economic situation by promoting expensive holidays (Abu Dhabi, Spain etc.)

An oppositional reading would be that Vogue is taking advantage of the economic situation by promoting expensive holidays (Abu Dhabi, Spain etc.)

"Vogue is inspirational...and unique" - A what reading?

Preferred reading

Vogue is full of "pictures of underweight models in clothing that normal everyday people wouldn't be caught dead in" - A what reading?

Oppositional reading

"I love probably about half of the content in this magazine, but I wish they'd cut down on all of the ads!" - A what reading?

Negotiated reading

Vogue is a high-end women's...

fashion magazine

Vogue, therefore, has a more...

specialised focus

On the other hand, Vogue could be considered mainstream (repeat)

On the other hand, Vogue could be considered mainstream

Mainstream products includes characteristics such as - large scale productions aimed at...

homogeneous audiences

Mainstream products includes characteristics such as - Owned by commercial...

companies

Mainstream products includes characteristics such as - Carriers of dominant...

discourse and representations

Gerbner argues that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can s? and in? the way in which people perceive the world around them

shape and influence

Jonathan Bignell argues that 'women's magazines encode the identities they offer to females in certain ways and not others. Some feminine gender identities are coded as "N...

"natural" while others are not....

"Natural" feminine identity - A consumer of products - For example, in the Revlon advert phrases such as 'you're blushing'.. 'deliciously alive' imply a sense of...

desire to look attractive (buy products to potentially please a man)

"Natural" feminine identity - A consumer of...

products

"Natural feminine identity - A heterosexual woman whose identity is defined to a significant extent by her relationships with men - For example, the Revlon advert uses language such as 'fluff' and 'softly' to reinforce the stereotype of women as being...

dependent (on men)

"Natural feminine identity" - A heterosexual woman whose identity is defined to a significant extent by her...

relationships with men

"Natural" feminine identity - Female as mother - For example, in the Imperial Leather advert there is an idealised image of woman as mother in the home - nurturing a young child, focus fully on the child, lighting highlights her...

hair and the baby's skin (she is smiling - content in this role)

"Natural" feminine identity - Female as...

mother