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Queer eye for a gay guy: Using market‐specific symbols in advertising to attract gay consumers without alienating the mainstream
Author(s) -
Oakenfull Gillian K.,
Greenlee Timothy B.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20066
Subject(s) - mainstream , lesbian , queer , advertising , psychology , population , homosexuality , social psychology , sociology , business , political science , psychoanalysis , demography , law
Although advertisers have flooded gay and lesbian print media in recent years, it is estimated that more than half of the gay and lesbian population does not read gay media. Hence, this study addresses the question: How may marketers target gays and lesbians in mainstream media without alienating heterosexual consumers? As such, this study assesses responses of both heterosexual and homosexual consumers to advertising content that includes mainstream imagery, implicit gay and lesbian imagery, and explicit gay or lesbian imagery to provide advertisers with a better understanding of how to effectively crossover into mainstream media with gay‐targeted advertisements. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.