The Mainstreamer

The Mainstream:

The Mainstreamer is by far the most populous, and most busiest groups of people. They tend to be one with the crowd, and almost like sheep, they will always be together in one group, rather than being on their own. Doing something that requires them to leave their normal, social habit, would not be something the Mainstreamer would consider. The Mainstreamer would always consume the same media texts every day, rather than watching different genres, or different media texts, for example Coronation Street. The show is popular, and the sense of familiarity and similarity means that the Mainstreamer would enjoy this text, they can relate to other Mainstreamer consuming this type of text, something key for the Mainstreamer if they want to stay in their social group. They know what to expect from the media text, it changes very rarely, and will always have similar storylines in the text, something the Mainstreamer wants from a text.

The Aspirer:

An Aspirer's goal in life is to be the perfect image for other people. They thrive off the attention that other people give them because there main goal in life is to look perfect to others, rather than what they perceive themselves to look like. The Aspirer is a strange group to associate people with, as it would be hard to target them with specific media texts as they are more interested in how people see them, rather than their image. High-end Fashion magazines are usually the best media texts that the Aspirer would consume as they want people to see them as the best looking, it's an attention-seeking group, so the middle/upper class designer clothes would appeal to the Aspirer as they want the flashiest, best, classiest designs to make themselves stand out. The image that these high end magazines produce are perfect for the Aspirer as they want to become the ones in the magazine, the perfect, beautiful image.

The Succeeder

The Succeeder I think, is the most unique group that anyone can be associated to. They prefer to have the responsibility, they want to be leaders of their groups rather than sitting back waiting for someone to do something for them. They would much rather take charge and do something for themselves, rather than do nothing and sit back. They thrive off getting the success that they believe they deserve with the amount of hard work that they put into doing a certain thing, and they always have an aim in their life that they want to achieve at some point in their future. The Apprentice is an example of media text that the Succeeder would enjoy, particularly due to the amount of money on the program. They want to become leaders, and take charge of something so they can do well in their life, something the Succeeder can relate to. 

The Explorer

Finally, the last group in society is the Explorer. This, I think, is the complete opposite to the Mainstreamer. Explorers thrice of being different and unique, they couldn't sit around doing the same old thing they did yesterday, or last week, every day is a new challenge that they want to do, whether it is easy or difficult. They simply need go be different to the past self as they want to be the odd one out, they like to be the one doing different challenges and quests, however it is a hard group to target due to the extreme diversity in the group. Their core need in life is difference, and discovery, where as the Mainstreamer wants security, a big contrast between the two.

b) I don't believe they are useful at all, particularly due to how outdated and old the theory is. The idea that there are only 7 types of people in the world, is stupid, because every person is different. People in the "Mainstream" category may have different tastes of music, or to shows, to other people in the same category, so how can different types of media target these groups when they can't possibly appeal to everyone in the groups as they will all share different ideologies, beliefs and hobbies. It's impossible to categorise 7 billion people into 7 groups, it can't be done as they will easily have different types of media texts that they will hate, or enjoy. 

c) A programme currently on television right now is one of my favourite programs, Family Guy. It's a program that is pretty offensive, yet harmless at the same time. It is being targeted at the younger audience, usually 16-35 years old would enjoy this program as the humour that they use, and the time that it is on (after the watershed) would be something that is ideal for this specific age group. It would definitely not suit the older generation who are stereotypically known for having different humour to the young people, and they are known for not enjoying these types of programs. It also is target at men, controversial as it sounds, but women are known for being into different programs, such as the Great British Bake Off, as they done share the same type of humour as males, regardless of their age group.  

d) Family Guy is a very hard program to categorise, however, I'd choose the Traditionalists out of all of them. This is because Family Guy's image has remained the same for a number of years, nothing has changed much, same characters, same style of humour, it's the same, which is wha Traditionalists are, they want everything to remain the same, with no change. It would be beneficial for the Traditionalist to watch Family Guy as they would be used to the humour due to the sense of familiarity that they have with the program. The Traditionalist would also watch Coronation Street, again, its the sense of similarity that keeps the Traditionalist consuming the program, they like the fact that there is no difference in the media text, that's what they want and desire.