Gays, Lesbians Penalize Companies For Unfriendly Policies

Roughly 70% of gay men and lesbians report they have switched products or services after learning a company had policies they considered inimical to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community, according to a new survey from Harris Interactive.

Even in situations where the first company didn't offend, 24% report switching to another brand that was said to actively support GLBT causes; 32% of gay men reported switching brands for the latter reason.

The findings translate into bottom-line ad and consumer economics. According to the most recent edition of the Gay Press Report, produced by Prime Access Inc. and Rivendell Media, ad spending in gay and lesbian publications reached $223.5 million in 2006--a 205% increase from 1996. In an especially telling result, the Harris survey also found that 66% of GLBT adults said they were likely to remain loyal to a brand if it was supportive of the community--even if another brand offered a lower price or was more convenient. That number rose to 75% among gay men and lesbians specifically. Wes Combs, president of Witeck-Combs Communications, remarked: "They are among the consumers most motivated to vote with their dollars."

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Combs summarized the findings: "Consistently, no matter how we frame the questions, we find GLBT consumers place a high value on brands that earn and grow respect within the community. They remain loyal to companies that support causes that are important to them, and are highly motivated to learn about corporate social responsibility in all its forms."

The survey comes on the heels of separate studies which found that GLBT-specific advertising--including ads in GLBT publications and ads with an obvious GLBT theme--has grown significantly in the last 10 years.

Observers trace this increase to a new understanding among advertisers that appearing in gay media can build intense customer loyalty. Indeed, the Gay Press Report agreed that "as a group, gay and lesbian consumers hold greater brand loyalty than do their straight counterparts."

The Harris survey of 2,868 U.S. adults, conducted Aug. 7-13 in cooperation with Witeck-Combs Communications, included 350 respondents who self-identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Harris deliberately over-sampled GLBT adults, producing a somewhat higher proportion than the oft-cited 10% figure from Alfred Kinsey's classic 1948 study.

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