FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeffrey S. Garber
OpusComm Group, Inc.
315 Highland Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13203
Computer Technology and Education Lead Gay/Lesbian Jobs, Major Survey Reveals
Syracuse, New York - October 17, 2001 - Computer and technology jobs lead the employment field for gay men and lesbians, respondents to a major study reveals. Education follows close behind.
Newly released results from the “2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census” show 9.7% of all working lesbian and gay respondents work in the fields of computers or technology. The next largest group, 8.9%, held jobs in education.
The census, a joint project of OpusComm Group Inc., The S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University, and media/entertainment company GSociety Inc., 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.
“What we are finding in the study is that a good percentage of the gay and lesbian population are highly trained professionals, who hold down well-paying jobs,” says project leader Jeffrey Garber, president of OpusComm Group, Inc.
Gay and lesbian people are also well represented in the professions of healthcare (6.2% of respondents), retail (4.5%), and banking/finance (3.3%).
Median household income for the survey respondents was $65,000, which is nearly 60 percent higher thanU.S. median household income of $40,816 , according to 1999 U.S. Census figures. “Professional jobs mean good pay,” according to Amy Falkner and Beth Barner, of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications, “and the survey bears that out.”
“It’s a wake-up call to advertisers, who are starting to follow the more traditionally gay-friendly companies into the marketing fray,” says Cary Gilbert, vice president of GSociety. “Everyone knew there were a lot of well-educated, highly paid gay and lesbian people out there, but until this survey we couldn’t put a number on it. Now we can, and the numbers are impressive.”
Over 50% of the gay and lesbian survey respondents describe themselves as in a committed relationship. Good jobs and combined household incomes mean big dollars to gay-friendly advertisers.
“We’re seeing that gays and lesbians overwhelmingly prefer to buy from gay-friendly retailers and service providers,” says Garber. “Several advertisers have targeted the gay market for the past few years, with positive results and impressive sales. Now that word is out on the size and financial strength of this minority population, advertisers will be scrambling to define their niche in the emerging gay marketplace.”
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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IMPORTANT NOTICE:
IN GRANTING
BROADCAST/PRINT PERMISSION TO PUBLICIZE ANY/OR ALL PORTIONS OF "2001
GAY/LESBIAN CONSUMER ONLINE CENSUS"
INFORMATION PROVIDED .:
You
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”
