FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“BEST BRANDS FOR GLBT CONSUMERS”
GAY/LESBIAN CONSUMERS WEIGH IN
ONLINE STUDY RELEASES ANNUAL RESULTS
Marriott, Bank of America, Bravo, Bud Light, Google, Showtime, State Farm,
VISA are among gay/lesbian consumers’ top brands
NEW YORK, NY (June 22, 2006) – The Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Study (www.glcensus.org), an annual survey of demographic, lifestyle, consumer and media patterns of nearly 5,000 GLBT consumers, released along with Scarborough Research, a study highlighting leading product brands for GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender) consumers.
“Quality continues to be a key factor when making purchasing decisions among GLBT consumers. Thirty-four percent of men and 38% of women state that quality is even more important than price when making a purchase decision,” said Jeff Garber, President, OpusComm Group, and G/L Study founding partner. “Many top 500 advertisers asked us to expand the list of brands we monitor, revealing some keen insight into GLBT brand preferences.”
In the automotive category, the study finds that State Farm tops the list of auto insurance companies used by GLBT consumers, followed by Geico, Allstate, Progressive and Nationwide. When it comes to car purchases, Ford heads the list of the top auto brand currently owned, but Toyota tops the list of auto brands for consideration within the next year. Additionally, the G/L Study new brand highlights include:
- Banking: Bank of America leads the pack followed by Citibank, Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank One.
- Beer” Bud Light is the top pick, followed by Miller Lite, Corona Extra and Light, Michelob Ultra and Coors Light.
- Wine: the top honors going to - Yellow Tail, followed by Kendall-Jackson, Beringer, Turning Leaf and Robert Mondavi.
- Credit Cards, VISA leads in the arena followed by MasterCard, American Express, Discover and Diners Club.
- Online, Google and Yahoo respectively take the honors of the most visited websites.
“The GLBT consumer is not unlike the general market. Differences appear by gender especially in media habits, with GLBT females preferring Showtime as their Cable TV choice, whereas Bravo is viewed as GLBT male’s top Cable TV choice. The split continues with GLBT males tuning into ‘Will & Grace’ as their top TV show, and GLBT females, opting to view ‘The L Word’,” said Dan Fedrizzi, VP, OpusComm Group.
“Ironically, ’Desperate Housewives’ - even though it is one of the nation’s top 10 shows, according to Nielsen Media - is included in the GLBT Male Top 10, but not visible on the GLBT Female list. This illustrates not only the viewing differences between the genders of the GLBT community, but the overall differences between Gay and Straight viewers,” comments Mr. Fedrizzi.
The GLBT gender divide continues in hotel preferences with males identifying Marriott as their Top Choice on where to stay followed by Hilton, Marriott Courtyard, Holiday Inn and Best Western – compared to females who identify Best Western, Comfort Inn & Holiday Inn (tied), Marriott, and Marriot Courtyard as their top picks.
“Targeted advertising to the GLBT segment does extremely well - with 90% of respondents being more likely to remember advertisements that feature GLBT themes than advertisements they do not. Targeted messages that are GLBT ‘themed’, with the right media placement hits a home run,” said Amy Falkner of Syracuse University (S.I Newhouse School of Communications), lead G/L Study Researcher.
A full copy of the GLBT brands report can be found on the Scarborough Research website at www.scarborough.com/freestudies.php.
*The information in this report is from an online survey of approximately 5,000 gay/lesbian consumers. Survey field dates were July-August, 2005. Respondents were recruited using a variety of awareness-raising methods both online and offline, utilizing gay and mainstream media. The 55-minute survey was conducted online for reasons of anonymity, sensitivity, ease of use, and to create in-depth profiles. It was conducted by professional researchers adhering to industry-accepted privacy guidelines.
About Scarborough Research
Scarborough Research is the leader in identifying local, regional and national shopping patterns and media usage for the American consumer. With a sample size of over 200,000 adults nationally covering 75 local U.S. markets and countless categories and brands, Scarborough data is a valuable tool for marketers and media professionals in their quest to achieve optimum marketing and sales ROI. Scarborough Research is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and VNU Media Measurement & Information. For additional information, please log on to www.scarborough.com.
About OpusComm Group
OpusComm Group Inc., the founder of the annual GLBT Consumer Online Study, is led by co-principals, Jeffrey Garber and Dan Fedrizzi, who have been providing effective marketing, public relations and advertising to Fortune 1000 marketers for almost 20 years. As one of the world's leading researchers in GLBT consumerism, OpusComm provides consulting services and market plan development for businesses seeking to target the gay/lesbian community in the mainstream media. For more information, please log on to www.info@opuscommgroup.com.
About the GLBT Consumer Online Study
The GLBT Consumer Online Study (www.glcensus.org.) is conducted annually via a partnership between OpusComm Group, Inc. and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Professor Amy Falkner is the lead researcher on the project the G/L Studyis the largest and most comprehensive GLBT consumer and media study and the only one sponsored by a major university. It addresses many consumer categories including demographics, purchasing behaviors, lifestyles and media usage. For more information, please log on to www.glcensus.org .
For More Information:
Allyson Mongrain, Scarborough Research, 703-451-3174, amongrain@scarborough.com