ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter I explored shifts in the market research methods and practices of the 1980s advertising industry. The next two chapters examine the impact of concepts of ‘lifestyle markets’ and ‘consumer segmentation’ on the women’s magazine industry. Faced with advertisers’ desires for media environments that would be suited to new understandings of women’s lifestyles, aspirations and attitudes, the magazine industry was compelled to respond. However, in the early 1980s, the large magazine publishing companies operated through rigid organizational and managerial structures that were not sympathetic to change. Indeed, despite the hunger of advertisers for new media vehicles for young women, the early 1980s saw only one attempt from the ‘Big Four’ to launch a new ‘lifestyle’ magazine with IPC’s Options in 1982.
