Audience Profile Investigation: Black Veil Brides: Results

Previous Post: Hypothesis

 

Responses back from the Black Veil Brides Audience Profile Survey

 One of my assumptions about fans of Black Veil Brides was the age range of them. I estimated that they were young adults, mostly teens between the ages of 13-20. From my results, I was correct in this estimate with the majority of those who answered my survey were in that age range. Despite this, the way I conducted the survey was through Survey Monkey which is online, and I reached out to people via forum and fan sites. 

Another assumption which I was correct about was fans favourite music genre, which correlated with the BVB's music style. There is a small variation and it was surprising when one person said they liked Pop as their favourite genre. The majority however, 67%
 preferred Rock music.

When asked, 55% they do creative activities as a past time and the second biggest playing a musical instrument and reading with 18% . From these sample we can gather most Black Veil Bride fans are very creative and musically influenced. One person broke this trend by saying sport which isn't a common trait in your stereotypical BVB fan. This highlights a possibility that fans are varied and are not in one typical category.  

Most responses came back at Internet based on how they found Black Veil Brides. This relates to the age range and also the platform I used to conduct this survey. The fact internet is dominant suggests fans spend a lot of time on the internet and on Youtube, instead of more traditional hobbies like camps etc. Friends is the second biggest with 33%, which is significant as friends do have a influence on what you like and what you listen to. 

 26% was Black Veil Brides shirt with Skinny Jeans, which was the second highest response with consists mainly of black in third. The assumption made about BVB fans is their consistency to wear black and emo. This was proven true from my responses, however the majority described their dress sense as smart casual 35%. This puts into perspective that not all Black Veil Bride fans choose to follow the emoish style, but the majority tend to express themselves in that way. [Links in with Young & Rubicams: Aspirer]      

Only 9 out of 23 people who did the survey have actually seen Black Veil Brides. I found this to be quite high considering the sample number, but it is also backed up with Black Veil Brides only doing big main tours in America and then joint tours across countries. For example, Black Veil Brides were last in the UK on the Kerrang Tour, which featured 4 bands, but they were the headline act. Considering this and the traditional rock fans, I predict over time as Black Veil Brides become more well known more people will have seen them live.

"Some fans are only obsessed with Andy Biersack." What is your opinion?

The majority of feedback from this question frowned upon the idea of fans being obsessed with just the lead singer. The feedback received focused mainly on the whole band and how they are as a group not as a person. This fits in with Young and Rubicams mainstream qualities and the idea of security and family. Brands that are welcomed into this scenario carry a large emotional charge of trust and reliance. This trust is a big part of the value in ‘value for money’ and the loyalty in ‘brand loyalty’, in this case "BVB loyalty". This also links in with Young and Rubicams idea of control and people standing up to what they believe in and attempting to take control, ending up being obsessive. 

"I like the band as a whole! Andy isn't the only member in this band.. yes he was the founder of the band. but people need to look at all the members in the band, not just andy."

"Well that's not really a fan is it? I mean a true fan knows that there is always more than one person in a band. Andy is just the singer. He is great that much is true, but Jinxx is a wonderful guitarist and is an expert in strings. Jake is fantastic on the guitar. Ashley is great at singing also and add the fact he plays bass, f****** fantastic. Then we have CC who is an energetic drummer. What's not to love?"

"I believe that some people have Andy as their favorite band member because he's the creator of BVB, or their his lyrics and words that have saved them in a way. That's fine, however, the band as a whole deserves to be recognized."

"Andy is one fifth of BVB, Without the others, there would be NO BVB"

"That it's true, but it's mostly the fanbase, not the BVB army." - (This comment implies that the BVB army is a community and that they don't see the fan-base and BVB army as the same thing. That they are different parts of the Black Veil Bride fandom.)

The responses from the questions are generally against the comment I suggested, but they admitted it is true. It was also pointed out by the that different fans are obsessed with different band members, Andy is just the most well known as he is the front of BVB.

"They are not always obsessed with him. The band has great music and are all talented and good looking. Ashley is also a topic of obsession as well as CC. There is no "only obsessed with Andy" because I, myself, am obsessed with the whole band and everything they believe in."

And of course I received simple, blunt comments...

"Weeelll....we all have our favorites"

"I'm obsessed with Christian Coma"

Do you think sometimes people look at BVB fans in a negative light? If so, why? 

Most comments highlight the negativity is caused by out of control fans and their different, dark sense of dress. Which ultimately leads to prejudice and stereotyping of the whole group. People made it clear that their fashion sense was a factor causing this,

 "Due to their appearance","Mostly because of their clothing style" and "They have a dark atmosphere."

Prejudice is a big part of fans of Black Veil Brides. The band are associated with the Emo culture and many react badly because of its connotations of self harm and suicide. The stereotypical emo basis is the idea of insecurity and emotional stress and depression which causes bad acts. This then reflects badly on fans, because of the stereotype.

"Emo is publicised a lot, so BVB are associated with that culture and acts like self harm. Also some who take things too far in defending which give others a negative view."

The second major point brought up was some of the fans. The minority who are wild and vicious are best known and most people then believe all fans are like this. Some comments received back made it very clear that these fans aren't everyone and once again it comes back to being mainstream as they want to be treated like any other fan for a band.

"Fangirls. If you haven't met any, or don't understand them, run. Run and never look back"

"There are wild teenage girls that would attempt to tear people apart for talking about BVB negatively."

"Because a quarter of them obsess over Andy, another quarter obsess over Ashley, another quarter are sh** stirrers for tweets and the last quarter stay quiet because they don't feel the need to prove sh** to nobody. They just wanna go to a BVB concert and rock out."

"Some fans can be full blown out of control when people hate on BVB, and say unnecessary things. Also, they hate on the band members' girlfriends for various reasons. (You don't have to like them, just tolerate them if anything.)"

"I believe that all people see are the younger fans being 12-14 years old. They judge the entire fan base on a specific part of the group. Many of us aren't saying we're having band member's babies. The majority of us aren't all that bad." <- Particularly this comment points out a defensive civilised attitude, but also the need for attention by younger fans which is being successful in getting publicity.

I took the Young & Rubicams questionnaire and highlighted parts which link to Black Veil Bride fans characteristics. The first box states, "You care a lot about other's opinions...others judge you", this is present when fans are defensive over criticisms and the idea of people being prejudice towards them by their appearance. "Your creativity is expressed" is proven when asked about hobbies most fans said about taking a creative past time and fashion is once again linked at the bottom. As found, the majority tend to follow the trend of Black Veil Brides and emphasise they are a fan of them through their clothing.