Target Audience

I subscribe to a couple motorcyclist-oriented magazines. (Rider and American Rider, specifically.)

And on a somewhat regular basis, I shake my head in wonderment at the ads, mostly for motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson's are particularly nauseating. They seem a little on the "poetic" side. Blah-blah-blah about the open road, leaving civilization behind, being an individual, etc. (Much to-do about the "experience," very little to do with the machine they are selling.)

A Kawasaki ad most recently caught my eye. For one of their metric cruisers.

It's a streetscape, with small-town buildings. Fashion-model-looking babes are everywhere - in the crosswalks, struttin' their fashion-model stuff down the sidewalk, etc.

Their attention is involuntarily drawn to the hunk-of-a-man on his Kawasaki metric cruiser, rolling down the street.

The copy reads:

One does not earn respect with side air bags and a power moon roof.

... followed by a superlative-laden description of some of the motorcycle's features. And then...

... all the power, confidence and charisma you'll ever need.
Others can't help but worship the ground it rolls on.

So - who's the target audience?

One must assume it's aimed at men who:
- are lacking in confidence and charisma
- believe that if they ride a motorcycle, they'll finally get the respect they deserve
- are buying a motorcycle to impress people who will see them riding.

You can tell all those babes want, in the worst way, to be on the back seat of that awesome bike!

I s'pose people make purchasing decisions for many reasons.