Why Market Your Product or Service to Our Audience?

A 1998 study by Greenfield Online and Spare-Parts found the following:
	•	The typical gay Internet user is male (68 percent) and mainly aged between 25 and 44 years. 39 percent of respondents said they were living in a domestic partnership. The vast majority (89 percent) have some level of college education and a further 23 percent have completed postgraduate work.
	•	At USD 57 thousand, the average income of the gay Internet user is slightly higher than that of the general user, which GVU estimates at USD 52 thousand.
	•	Greenfield found that lesbians and gays included in the survey spend an average of three hours per day using the Internet. This does not include time spent using email. 80 percent of those surveyed said they own a PC. 20 percent plan to buy a new computer in the next 6 months. In keeping with general trends, Greenfield found that significantly more gay men than women shop online.
	•	Additionally, Greenfield found that 78 percent of gay online users prefer to buy from companies that advertise to the gay market. And 71 percent of gay online users have made credit card purchases online.

Computer Economics says:
	•	There will be 22.4 million gay and lesbian Internet users by 2005, according to the latest research from Computer Economics.
	•	This group will be largely concentrated in North America but gay and lesbian Internet user numbers will grow rapidly in other regions, particularly in the Middle East, South America, Asia/Pacific and Africa.
	•	Computer Economics analysts say the gay and lesbian online population is growing much faster than the Internet population as a whole. This hypergrowth is attributed to factors such as privacy, online communities and relevant information that appeals to this demographic.

Simmons' research comparing gay consumers to the national index of consumers, reports that typical gay consumers are:
	•	71% male/29% female.
	•	Over twice as likely as national index to be professionals/managers.
	•	Twice as likely to have household income over $60K.
	•	Twice as likely to have household income over $250K.
	•	Twice as likely to have graduated from college.
	•	Three times more likely to be online than the average American.
	•	Four times as likely to spend over $150 on long distance monthly.
	•	Twice as likely to spend $250 on cellular service.
	And that, of those surveyed:
	•	Over 90% took a domestic trip this year.
	•	60% took a foreign trip in the last three years.
	•	65% identify themselves as having to have the "latest".
	•	68% upgrade to a product's latest model.
	•	77% "believe in indulging in themselves".
	•	57% "prefer to buy top of the line".
	•	59% buy themselves whatever they want.

Gay And Lesbian Travelers Represent A Lucrative Niche Market, According To Forrester Research.
	•	Online gay and lesbian consumers are not only more likely to book travel online than their straight counterparts, they also have more buying power, representing a lucrative niche market, according to Forrester Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORR). In a recent study of online travelers, Forrester found that 41% of gays and lesbians had booked travel on the Net compared with 28% of straight consumers. The study also found that gay and lesbian Bookers -- who account for 3.5% of online travelers and represent more than 5% of all online travel buyers -- will research nearly $2.9 billion of travel online in 2001.
	•	"A closer look at the behavior of gay and lesbian travel Bookers reveals a potential gold mine for travel marketers. According to our findings, compared with their straight counterparts, gay and lesbian Bookers are better educated with higher incomes, are big fans of online shopping and new consumer technologies, and are more willing to pay for premium services. Couple these demographics with a passion for travel, and you have a marketer's dream audience."

Gay Internet users more likely to purchase online than non-gays, reports a new study by Witeck Combs Communications.
	•	A January 2001 study shows that 28 percent of LGBT respondents conducted banking transactions online in the previous 3 months, compared to 21 percent of non-gay web users. Gay respondents are also more likely to make online purchases than non-gays (63% vs. 59%).
	•	32 percent of Gay and Lesbian Internet users are online for more than 21 hours per week, not counting time spent in email. This is up from 25 percent reported in April 2000. Non-gay usage showed a minor decline to 17 percent from 18 percent of those user reporting being online for more than 21 hours per week.
	•	Sixty-three percent of Gay and Lesbian respondents said they were likely to buy goods or services over the Net, compared with 59 percent of non-gay respondents.