Targeting a Minority without Alienating the Majority: Advertising to Gays and Lesbians n Mainstream Media

Gillain K. Oakenfull, Michael S. McCarthy and Timothy B. Greenlee

Although marketers generally consider homosexuals to be a desirable market segment, they are not targeted using mainstream media because it is expected that heterosexuals will react negatively to homosexual advertising messages.

Targeting a Minority without Alienating the Majority: Advertising to Gays and Lesbians in Mainstream Media

Gillian K. Oakenfull, Michael S. McCarthy and Timothy B. GreenleeMiami University

A MODERN DAY MARKETER'S DILEMMA

Many marketers consider the homosexual consumer market to be a sort of “Dream Market” because of the belief that these consumers represent a sizable market segment possessing relatively large amounts of disposable income. One bit of evidence in support of this belief is a 1993 study by Overlooked Opinion, a gay-focused market research firm, that estimated homosexuals represented about 21 million people with total...

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