FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeffrey S. Garber
OpusComm Group, Inc.
315 Highland Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13203
Many Gays and Lesbians Spend $100-$299 a Month on Entertainment, New Study Reveals
Syracuse, New York – October 17, 2001 - Just released findings reveal that 41.3% of respondents to the “2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census” spend between $100 and $299 a month on entertainment. The most popular forms cited were magazine reading (77.9%); cable satellite TV viewing (71.5%), book reading (68.9%) and theatrical movie attendance (62.3%).
The census, a joint project of OpusComm Group, The S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University, and media/entertainment company GSociety, is the most in-depth study to date to explore the consumer patterns of gay and lesbian people. Of 6,351 respondents, 5,869 are from the United States.
“We’re finding a mix of gay and mainstream options among the favorite sources of entertainment,” says project leader Jeffrey Garber, president of OpusComm Group, Inc. “For example, the magazines cited by our respondents as most popular were The Advocate, Out, Time, Newsweek, and Curve. Gay people and lesbians respondents enjoy the same kinds of entertainment/news publications as the general public, but they also demand gay-oriented magazines, TV shows, and web sites.”
The interesting finding is that gays and lesbians are faithful consumers of mainstream as well as gay media,” says Amy Falkner of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. “Add up the top three newsweeklies -- Time, Newsweek and U.S. News -- and they easily finish as No. 2 on the magazine list. This indicates mainstream publications and television shows are viable options for advertisers who value diversity and want all their consumers to know that.”
“It’s natural to find that gay-oriented media is popular among gay and lesbian people,” Falkner explains.. “What is significant is that the study reveals a large proportion — more than 50% of our respondents — live in a committed relationship with a combined income considerably higher than the national mean. That means increased ratings and sales to media which is gay-friendly.”
Favorite television programs among study respondents are Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, ER, Sex and the City, and Friends. Six Feet Under, The West Wing, Law and Order, and The Simpsons also rank high with those answering the survey. Most visited web sites include Yahoo.com, Gaywired.com, Gay.com, Lesbianation.com, Planetout.com and Google.com.
“There’s a strong gay and lesbian preference to buy from gay-friendly companies and service providers,” says Cary Gilbert, vice president of GSociety. “We shouldn’t be surprised to see that preference carry over into entertainment and the media. Everyone likes to see or read about characters they can identify with and understand,” Garber adds. "We now have characters of all economic levels and races in television commercials and shows. The gay profile revealed by the survey — the relative affluence of the population, in particular — promise an increase in gay visibility in both advertising and the media.”
The Census is the combined
effort of three partners:
OpusComm Group Inc., (Founder of the 2001
Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census Partnership) The principals of the
OpusComm Group have been providing exciting and effective marketing, public relations
and advertising to a broad range of clients from Fortune 500 to small
businesses for over sixteen years. Now,
as one of the world's leading researchers in Gay/Lesbian consumerism, we provide
the strategy that can guide you through implementation to reach untapped
markets. Our strength is consultation
of sensitive issues and market plan development for all types to target the
gay/lesbian community in the mainstream media. www.opuscommgroup.com
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse
University -
As one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions in the field
of communications, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse
University is leading the development of the Census. www.syracuse.edu
GSociety, Inc.
- A media/entertainment company whose reach and distribution channels target the
millions of gay and lesbian consumers worldwide. The GSociety family of companies provides advertisers direct access
to this valuable market. For more
information, visit www.gsociety.com
Media Sponsors: Advocate, Axess Promotions, Curve Magazine,
Express, Gay Crawler, Instinct, Joey Magazine, Metro, Proud Parenting, and She
Magazine
For
further information contact Jeffrey Garber, president, OpusComm Group, at (315)
422-6250 or jeff@opuscommgroup.com.
Full
highlights of this study on Income, Politics, Consumer Behavior, Media
Habits,
Relationships and other findings are available at www.glcensus.org
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ALL PORTIONS OF "2001 GAY/LESBIAN CONSUMER ONLINE CENSUS" INFORMATION PROVIDED .:
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are authorized to quote from this report only if credited as follows:
"A Syracuse University, OpusComm
Group, GSociety Study".
You may also want to add: “For more information please visit http://www.glcensus.org”
