Profiles of Mafalda Fans

The most amazing aspect of the Mafalda phenomenon is that a cartoon series that was discontinued in 1973 should remain popular over all these years everywhere without any sign of fading. Clearly, this character struck a common and universal chord among many hearts and minds.

In the 1997 edition of the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica Kids Study, we found

• 32.2% of all Latin American kids between the ages of 7 and 11 have heard of Mafalda.
• 3.4% of all Latin American kids between the ages of 7 and 11 consider Mafalda one of their favorite characters
• 15.8% of all Latin American kids between the ages of 7 and 11 consider Mafalda to be 'very good'

The demographic profile of Mafalda fans (defined to be those kids who consider Mafalda to be 'one of their favorites' or 'very good') is as follows:

• the baseline is 3.4% + 15.8% = 19.2% among all kids between the ages of 7 and 11
• 23.6% of girls are Mafalda fans, compared to 14.8% among boys
• 20.4% among kids 10-11, compared to 18.3% among kids 7-9
• 28.3% among kids who are magazine readers
• 40.7% among kids who are newspaper readers

The psychographic profile of Mafalda fans is as follows:

• 39.7% of them are concerned about what the government does, versus 35.7% among all kids
• 68.0% of them are concerned about crime in their neighborhoods, versus 62.7% among all kids
• 64.0% of them are concerned about the problem of alcoholism, versus 56.6% among all kids
• 69.9% of them are concerned about the problem of drugs, versus 64.8% among all kids
• 61.6% of them are interested in meeting new people, versus 45.7% among all kids
• 42.6% of them say they are among the first to try new things, versus 33.8% among all kids

In summary, the typical profile of a Mafalda fan among Latin American kids (age 7-11) is an elder girl who enjoys reading, cares about social issues and is curious about the world. Does that not sound like Mafalda herself?

Other Mafalda references: Al's Mafalda Page, Indiana Mafaldita Page, Mafalda & Soup, Rene Chavarria: Quino's Mafalda, La Página Mafalda de Dan, El Genial Quino

Other Mafalda pages on Zona Latina

• Mafalda & Soup  (posted in 9/96)  A vignette piece on the relationship between the comic character Mafalda and her hated soup
• Mafalda Fans & Toys (posted on 11/4/99) What kinds of toys do Mafalda fans own?

(posted by Roland Soong on 4/20/98)

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