The total buying power of the U.S. LGBT adult population in 2006 is projected to be $641 billion, according to the latest analysis by Witeck-Combs Communications and Packaged Facts (a division of MarketResearch.com). The estimate was originally derived in a joint study by both organizations entitled, “The U.S. Gay and Lesbian Market.” In 2005, the gay buying power projection was estimated at $610 billion, comparing favorably with the African-American, Hispanic and Asian markets.
In sharing the 2006 projection, Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications said, “Estimating buying power is a standard business tool for companies and policy decision-makers. This offers us a snapshot of the dynamic economic activity of America’s diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population.” Since 1993, Witeck-Combs Communications has provided expert marketing communications counsel to Fortune 500 companies in their strategies to reach the gay consumer market.
Witeck emphasized that “buying power does not equate with wealth nor can one infer that same-sex households are more affluent than others. We have seen evidence from researchers that gay men may earn slightly less than their heterosexual counterparts.
“The 2000 U.S. Census data on same-sex couples supports the conclusion, however, that gay populations are more concentrated in major metro areas, and less likely to live in rural areas — a characteristic generally associated with higher than average income,” Witeck continued. “Second, same-sex couples are less likely than their married heterosexual counterparts to have children, and they are more likely to have both partners in the workforce, factors which yield higher per capita household income, especially in the case of gay male couples.”
“In today’s competitive marketplace, it is no longer prudent for a leading corporation to ignore the buying power of the gay market,” explained Wesley Combs, president of Witeck-Combs Communications. “Marketers that do risk leaving market share on the table for others to capture.”
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