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Gay and Lesbian Consumers More Likely to Follow Latest Styles and Trends

Nearly half (48%) of gay and lesbian adults say they like to keep up with the latest styles and trends, compared with 38% of heterosexual adults, according to an online survey by Harris Interactive, conducted in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.

A similar survey in January 2007 found 38% of gay and lesbian adults reported that they like to keep up with the latest styles and trends (compared with 32% of heterosexual adults):

Among gay men, more than half (53%) report that they like to keep up with the latest styles and trends, compared with fewer than one-third (30%) of heterosexual men. In the earlier survey, 39% of gay men said so, compared with 32% of heterosexual males.

Gay and lesbian adults are also more likely to upgrade to the latest model compared with their heterosexual counterparts:

The latest survey shows 45% of gay and lesbian adults say they tend to upgrade to the latest model or version of a product, compared with one-third (33%) of heterosexual adults.

Among gay men, nearly half (49%) report they tend to upgrade to the latest model or version of a product, compared with 35% of heterosexual men.

“The LGBT community has long been known not just for trend-spotting but also trend-setting,” said Wes Combs, President of Witeck-Combs Communications. “They are very savvy consumers and often motivated to spend a little extra on new products and upgrades.”

About the data: The nationwide survey of 2,637 US adults (age 18+), of whom 343 self-identified as gay or lesbian (which includes an oversample of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults), was conducted online between June 9 and 16, 2008, by Harris Interactive. Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. In addition, the results for the gay and lesbian sample were weighted separately based on profiles of the gay and lesbian population. Propensity score weighting also was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.