Brands that bend to anti-LGBTQ+ pressure lose more customers, study says

Vancouver Pride 2019
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Despite recent right-wing attempts to punish brands for LGBTQ+-inclusive marketing, a recent study has found that majorities of consumers are okay with LGBTQ+-inclusive ads, and brands are more likely to lose customers by stopping their LGBTQ+-inclusive marketing efforts in response to anti-LGBTQ+ criticism.

Earlier this year, right-wingers began boycotting Target and Bud Light for their LGBTQ+-inclusive marketing campaigns. While both brands experienced an immediate downturn in profits, each one’s different response may determine how well they fare in the long term: Target pledged to continue its LGBTQ+ support, but Bud Light said it had made a misstep, signaling possibly pulling back its LGBTQ+-inclusive marketing in the future.

Brands that are willing to include LGBTQ+ people and stand by them amid criticism can help increase consumers’ opinions, trust, and interest in purchasing from them, according to a recently released study from the marketing firm Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and the industry organization Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing.

An estimated 59% of 2,300 consumers said they’d either feel “motivated” or “strongly motivated” to support brands that treat all employees and customers equally regardless of sexual orientation. Additionally, large majorities of all consumers — even those who don’t identify as allies of the LGBTQ+ community — said they felt…

Read full story, and more, from Source: Brands that bend to anti-LGBTQ+ pressure lose more customers, study says