A recent national survey provided extensive insight into the lifestyles of Out & About Newspaper readers.
This year’s GLBT community survey received an unprecedented 45,000 survey respondents, a 50% increase over last year. The survey, which included more than 50 questions, was performed by Community Marketing, Inc. an NGLCC-Certified, gay-owned, independent market research company, founded in 1992, and based in San Francisco. The results of 570 Out & About Newspaper readers were analyzed.
The results showed that nearly one-third of respondents (31.8%) had taken a major vacation during the past year, while a similar percentage of respondents had purchased laptop computers (33.1%) and high definition television (30.1%). Laramey Lawson, senior vice president and media buyer for GS&F and a Nashville GLBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLBTCC) board member, says that those numbers represent a normal trend for the GLBT community.
"The GLBT audience continues to be proportionally higher purchasers of big-ticket items – computers, major vacations, furniture, automobiles for example," Lawson said.
A majority (63%) of GLBT individuals defined their workplace as being very GLBT-friendly, with scores of 7 or better on a scale of 1-10. They are also heavily influenced by local and national media, with nearly half of respondents being regular readers of GLBT publications such as Advocate (45.1%) and OUT Magazine (44.4%). Lawson says that continual positive messaging is the key motivator for the GLBT community.
"The most effective ways of reaching and impacting the GLBT segment is through supportive employment practices, event sponsorships and print advertising," Lawson said.
John Wade, president of the NGLBTCC, hopes that the survey results show signs of growth for a struggling economic climate.
"It would be great to see this trend occurring due to improved consumer confidence and, eventually, an improved economy," Wade said.
Other key results from this year's survey:
44.3% of respondents currently live with a spouse, partner or lover; 28.1% of respondents live alone, and 14.4% live with one or more roommates
57.5% own their homes
84.2% are white, with 4.8% black and 4.3% Native American
42.1% have a bachelor’s degree, and 19.9% hold a Master’s degree
Only 25.5% of respondents are active on Twitter, while 48.5% use Facebook daily