A new study of U.S. consumers reveals that superficial attempts to appeal to members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies may no longer suffice—especially among Gen Z and Millennials. 

Over the past several years, many brands have increased the representation of the LGBTQ+ community in their marketing content, with the annual outpouring of rainbow-colored packaging and colorful logo redesigns during Pride Month highlighting this ostensible support for LGBTQ+ consumers.

Today, Do the WeRQ, a nonprofit organization that works to advance LGBTQ+ representation across advertising and marketing, and consumer insights platform DISQO released a report detailing the findings of their study of over 9,300 consumers and their perspectives of the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in advertisements. According to the report, while many American consumers believe the overall visibility of LGBTQ+ people in advertising has increased, they say the quality and authenticity of this representation haven’t progressed at the same rate. 

The overall population of LGBTQ+ Americans is “the fastest-growing U.S. minority segment” per the report, with recent U.S. Census data revealing that 8% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+. According to the report, the LGBTQ+ community currently represents $1.4 trillion in annual spending; and with nearly one in five members of Gen Z identifying as LGBTQ+, the spending power of the LGBTQ+ community is only expected to increase. 

“The era of dissociation is coming to an end,” David Grabert, brand VP at DISQO, said in an interview. “People scroll as easily as they breathe, and we can see more and more that brands are being held accountable for what they’re doing—not only their marketing practices, but their other business practices.” 

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In the report, over 93% of respondents reported seeing at least some LGBTQ+ representation in advertising, compared to only about 80% of consumers in last year’s report from the two organizations. The survey left the definition of "LGBTQ+ representation" open to respondents' interpretation, but this type of representation typically correlates with images of same-sex couples and gender non-conforming individuals.

Consumers also reported seeing more LGBTQ+ people of color and transgender or nonbinary people in ads, with 27% of consumers recalling ads featuring LGBTQ+ people of color and about 20% recalling ads including transgender or nonbinary people. However, many consumers said this representation was primarily featured in ads specifically targeting the LGBTQ+ community, rather than in mainstream content aimed at general audiences. 

Additionally, 31% of consumers said they desired more LGBTQ+ representation in advertising, up from only 21% in the 2021 study. The wish for increased LGBTQ+ content in ads was strongest among Gen Z respondents, at nearly 40%. The strong support for LGBTQ+ representation among Gen Z consumers comes as, according to the report, two-thirds of 18-to-24-year-olds have a friend or relative who identifies as LGBTQ+. And younger consumers increasingly factor in a brand’s position on political and social issues—including their support of the LGBTQ+ community—when making a purchase. 

Among all consumers, 85% reported at least occasionally taking a brand’s “social and political activities” into account before buying a product, and nearly 60% of respondents under age 24 said they would refuse to purchase a product if they disapproved of the brand’s stance on social or political issues. 

“Younger people may be less likely to reward brands for supporting their views,” the report states, “but are more likely to punish those who do not.” 

'LGBTQ+ advertising echo chamber'

Many consumers also felt ads lacked “authenticity” in their representation of the LGBTQ+ community, with many respondents saying they only viewed ads featuring LGBTQ+ people in the context of “content made specifically for the community”—such as spots aired during TV shows aimed at LGBTQ+ audiences, Grabert said. Only one in three LGBTQ+ consumers recalled seeing themselves represented in mainstream marketing content, suggesting that many brands fail to include LGBTQ+ representation in larger campaigns and have instead contributed to an “LGBTQ+ advertising echo chamber,” the report states. 

Many brands only show support for LGBTQ+ consumers during Pride Month and are often accused of “rainbow-washing” for failing to put action behind their annual monthlong acknowledgment of the LGBTQ+ community. A 2021 report from the Association of National Advertisers found that only 40% of its members actively market to LGBTQ+ consumers. 

David Azulay, executive VP at Omnicom and co-chair of the agency’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group, said many brands will choose to confine ads featuring LGBTQ+ people to the month of June, rather than incorporating the community into their overall advertising. Omnicom partnered with Do the WeRQ and DISQO on the report, and Azulay aims to use the data from the study to underscore to brands the importance of increasing LGBTQ+ representation in their marketing content. 

Although historically brands have treated LGBTQ+ consumers as a niche audience only necessary to appeal to during Pride Month, the report highlights that U.S. consumers increasingly don’t feel the same. 

“We’re not ready for the scale of change that’s coming,” Graham Nolan and Kate Wolf, co-chairs of WeRQ, wrote in the report. “What we’re seeing clearly is that the line where cultural margins have existed is moving. The sequestered are becoming the mainstream, and the next generation of consumers are going to wield their wallets to demand inclusion.”