Anaysis of the Impact of LGBT Market Dissertation

Anaysis of the Impact of LGBT Market - Dissertation Example Impact of LGBT Market 19 3.11. Pink Money and Valuation 22 Topic Page No. 4. Research Methodology 23 4.1. Collection of Data 23 4.2. Limitations of the research 23 5. Finding and Analysis 24 5.1. Answer to the research question 1 38 5.2. Answer to the research question: 2 39 5.3. Answer to the research question: 3 40 6. Conclusion 41 7. Bibliography 42 8. Research Questioners 45 9. Appendix 48 1. Introduction: Decades after invisibility and reaching critical mass, a breakthrough was achieved on July 1991 article in the conservative Wall Street Journal, when they termed the lesbian and gay community "a dream market."At present, the American market is anticipated to be valued at $835 billion in 2011 -- based primarily on U.S. population growth and with a steady 7% representation of gays and lesbians within the overall population. (Comercialcloset; 1) In 2004, Commercial Closet reported that around 36% of Fortune 100 companies endorse their products and services as well as advertised di rectly to the lesbian and gay market. Today, American corporations use up about $307 million annually in gay print media. According to the report published in the Gay Press 2011 from Rivendell Marketing and Prime Access, which tracks 109 U.S. gay press publications. Apart from that, it has to be noted that much more is spent on sponsorships and online advertising. The amount spent in online advertising is not calculated while the report of Gay press is published. If we consider that amount, then the overall amount will increase many fold. (Comercialcloset) Approximately, another $27 million is spent in online gay media, an estimated $20 million on Viacom-owned LOGO gay network, and over $6 million more spent annually on sponsorships in the gay community, as per 2006 and 2007 Commercial Closet reports. Very few numbers of advertisers, for example, companies like IBM and American Express, have sought the business-to-business market, targeting around 800,000 to 1.2 million gay and lesb ian-owned businesses. It is very important that one should remember that the so called "gay community" or "gay market" is not monolithic -- it is more like a union of individuals with identities and presence as diverse as the general population of any country. (Comercialcloset) Gay men may live in different countries, in different cities all across the world, they may be traveling truckers, own a home in the suburbs with a partner and child, they may be in a retirement home, or they could be struggling in any particular part of the locality or the society. Lesbians may own a vegetarian restaurant in Northampton, they may run a major media company, own a home in the suburbs with a partner and child, or they could be working at a discount store. But the bottom line is for any organization they are also a target audience and the increasing number making them more and more relevant for the world business community to think upon and look upon. Like everyone else, they face issues of race , class, ethnicity, sing always, be certain whom you want to speak to with your message, do good research, select your media outlets with care, and spend enough money to do your brand justice. One has to remember that "brand loyalty" is earned over time, not overnight. If this huge population could have been tapped then the potential of earning a huge market share is absolutely evident for all the organizations. (Comercialcloset) 2. Research Question: Our main objective of this paper to find out how the increasing purchasing power