US consumers favor LGBTQ+ inclusivity – and many will boycott brands that backtrack on this commitment

Stephen Whiteside

Significantly more consumers in the US support LGBTQ+ representation in ads than oppose it, research by the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) has found.

Marketers that backtrack on their support for the LGBTQ+ community in the face of criticism – such as by moving away from representation in ads – risk boycotts and permanently losing customers.

This insight emerged from a survey of 2,300 adults in the US conducted by the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) – a unit of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) – and the Cultural Inclusion Accelerator, the measurement company.

“What we found was that backtracking on social issues that consumers feel are important – like equality, diversity and inclusion – is a losing proposition for brands,”...

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