What is the Gay Market?
Gays and lesbians are sometimes elusive to quantify, but major advertisers
have increasingly found that their efforts are well worth the investment
to find them and for good reason. A recent study conducted by the
Connecticut-based Greenfield Online, found that the average annual
household income for gays and lesbians is $57,000. The New York-based
Company, Spare Parts, Inc., which helps companies market to gays,
estimates that the United States gay and lesbian population is between 15
million to 23 million. According to another study (Inter@ctive Week,
August 30, 1999. Pg. 20.), the US gay community consists of over 19
million people with an estimated buying power of $800 billion. Worldwide,
these figures are much larger.
Below is a benchmark that helps to bring this market more into focus,
allowing us to compare it to other diversity niche communities in the US
marketplace.
Market
Population
Buying Power
Buying Power
Per Capita
African American
30 Million
$535 Billion
$17.8K
Gay American
16.5 Million
$450 Billion
$27.3K
Hispanic American
31 Million
$383 Billion
$12.4K
Asian American
11 Million
$229 Billion
$21.0K
Sample Demographics Analysis From Various Gay & Lesbian Websites: (Click on links for more detailed demographics)
Reaching The Gay Market:
Reaching the gay market effectively means creating advertising and other
marketing communications specifically directed toward their consumer
mindset. In the early '90s, it was sufficient to run mainstream
advertising in a gay publication to capture the attention of the market.
Today, with more marketers vying for the gay consumer dollar, the bar has
been raised. Gay consumers now expect advertisers to address them for who
they are, directly and openly. In focus groups nationally, gay men and
lesbians express a definite preference for advertising that specifically
reflects their mindset and sensibilities.
Rarely can gay marketing efforts rely on traditional advertising alone.
Extending your reach among this audience requires understanding the
community infrastructure available to access them. The result is often a
sophisticated mix of advertising, direct marketing, community presence and
Internet promotions.
This site provides resources to gays,
lesbians, bisexuals and anyone else who may find the information
useful. Please note that not all businesses, organizations or
individuals listed on this site are declared to be gay owned,
operated, employed or an employee of a gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Although this site is suitable for all general audiences, it is
advised to take caution when going to links that are outside of
GayCityUSA's Web Site.
Straight, Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual... 
