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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jeffrey S. Garber OpusComm Group, Inc. 315 Highland Ave. Syracuse, NY 13203 Sexual Orientation Among Gays Often Stronger Identifier than Ethnicity, New Study Shows Syracuse, New York - October 17, 2001 - Gay men and lesbians often identify more strongly with their sexual orientation than their ethnic background, according to 2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census results just released. 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. Fifty-three percent of the U.S respondents to the Internet survey identified themselves as gay and 36 percent as lesbian. When asked, “Do you identify more strongly with your ethnicity or your sexual orientation,” 81.4 percent perceived themselves first as gay. Perceptions differed according to race. White respondents identified more closely with their sexual orientation (85%). However, 63 percent of African-Americans and 55 percent of Korean Americans said they identified more strongly with their ethnic and cultural backgrounds than their sexual preference. “This is significant information for advertisers interested in capturing the gay market,” explains project leader Jeffrey Garber, president of OpusComm Group, Inc. “We find that gay men and lesbians prefer to buy products and services from gay-friendly companies. The census now shows that gay-oriented advertising may often be more effective than racially-geared advertising in attracting this sector.” “It’s a matter of identification,” says Cary Gilbert, vice president of GSociety. “The higher the percentage of people identifying more strongly with their sexual orientation, the greater the amount of audience identification we’ll find with gay ads. Couple this with the study’s findings that gay and lesbian couples earn incomes 50% higher than the U.S. median, and you can see why the advertisers are starting to scramble.” The census also learned that nine out of ten correspondents are out to their friends. Eighty percent are openly gay to family members, and 65 % are out at work. “Any stigma to being gay has been enormously lessened in the United States over the past three decades” says Amy Falkner of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. “Gay people are not staying in the closet anymore. They are out, vocal, and affluent. Gay-friendly advertisers who realize this and target the gay market will be far ahead of the pack in sales of products and services to this growing group.” The study also revealed that 88.9 % of respondents have attended college, with 36.7 % having undergraduate degrees and 20.4 % holding Master or Doctorate’s degrees. 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.educ 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 ### 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” |