Twenty Million New Customers!: Understanding Gay Men's Consumer Behavior (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies) (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies)

Most of the world's population is in the dark when it comes to the consumer patterns of gay men. But in Twenty Million New Customers!: Understanding Gay Men's Consumer Behavior, you'll leave all the dark, homophobic myths behind where they belong--in the closet--and come out into the light. In its colorful and informative chapters, you'll see why gay men are a vital consumer lifeline to today's clothing industries as you tap into revealing psychological characteristics that will benefit any business manager. A scholarly yet personal, poignant study, Twenty Million New Customers! is a mixed shopping bag, taking you on a day-in-the-life tour of the buying patterns of 44 gay men. As an up-to-date catalog of scholarly data, it helps you see how “mainstream” businesses can tailor their marketing methods to this rapidly expanding demand in a competent, professional, and ethical manner. As a commentary on lifestyle, it transports you to unexplored consumer behavior territory that most people still consider “deviant.” Specifically, you'll read about: in-depth, personal interviews from gay consumers real-life problems and market needs of gay men consumer behavior as political protest self-concept, identity, community, and culture the creation and maintenance of gay consumer subculture research methods and managerial implications of the studyA recent survey estimates that over six percent of U.S. consumers openly acknowledges themselves as gay--clearly a priceless niche. So if you're a gay man trying to get the skinny on the latest bodysuit trends, a marketing scholar involved in quantitative methods research, or a manager interested in retiring your old, outdated business savvy to the closet and exchanging it for a flashy, new, informed sense of marketing pizzazz, read Twenty Million New Customers! It'll shut the closet on the harmful myths surrounding gay consumerism and open the door to success.

Most of the world’s population is in the dark when it comes to the consumer patterns of gay men. But in Twenty Million New Customers!: Understanding Gay Men’s Consumer Behavior, you’ll leave all the dark, homophobic myths behind where they belong--in the closet--and come out into the light. In its colorful and informative chapters, you’ll see why gay men are a vital consumer lifeline to today’s clothing industries as you tap into revealing psychological characteristics that will benefit any business manager.

A scholarly yet personal, poignant study, Twenty Million New Customers! is a mixed shopping bag, taking you on a day-in-the-life tour of the buying patterns of 44 gay men. As an up-to-date catalog of scholarly data, it helps you see how “mainstream” businesses can tailor their marketing methods to this rapidly expanding demand in a competent, professional, and ethical manner. As a commentary on lifestyle, it transports you to unexplored consumer behavior territory that most people still consider “deviant.” Specifically, you’ll read about:

• in-depth, personal interviews from gay consumers
  
• real-life problems and market needs of gay men
  
• consumer behavior as political protest
  
• self-concept, identity, community, and culture
  
• the creation and maintenance of gay consumer subculture
  
• research methods and managerial implications of the study

  A recent survey estimates that over six percent of U.S. consumers openly acknowledges themselves as gay--clearly a priceless niche. So if you’re a gay man trying to get the skinny on the latest bodysuit trends, a marketing scholar involved in quantitative methods research, or a manager interested in retiring your old, outdated business savvy to the closet and exchanging it for a flashy, new, informed sense of marketing pizzazz, read Twenty Million New Customers! It’ll shut the closet on the harmful myths surrounding gay consumerism and open the door to success.

Booknews

Sheds light on consumer patterns of gay men and shows how mainstream businesses can tailor their marketing methods to this population. After a chapter overview on deviant subculture, gay identity, and symbolic meaning of consumer products, 44 gay men from Toronto are introduced and their day-to-day buying patterns are explored. Includes questionnaires and informant data. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

A scholarly yet personal study, Twenty Million New Customers!: Understanding Gay Men's Consumer Behavior is a mixed shopping bag, taking you on a day-in-the-life tour of the buying patterns of 44 gay men. As an up-to-date catalog of scholarly data, it helps you see how "mainstream" businesses can tailor their marketing methods to this expanding demand in a competent, professional, and ethical manner. As a commentary on lifestyle, it transports you to unexplored consumer behavior territory that most people still consider "deviant." Content: Ch. 1. An ethnographic study of gay men's consumption -- ch. 2. Meet the informants -- ch. 3. The creation and maintenance of gay consumer subculture -- ch. 4. Consumer behavior and the construction of gay identities -- ch. 5. Consumer behavior and the construction of gay communities -- ch. 6. Consumer behavior as political protest -- ch. 7. Consumer behavior, gay community, and identity -- ch. 8. Managerial implications of the study -- ch. 9. Conclusion. The so-called "deviant" consumer behavior of gays and lesbians is a much neglected focus in the mainstream consumer research literature (Sanders 1989; Wardlow 1996) while consumer perspectives are similarly rare in gay and lesbian studies. This book primarily addresses the consumption patterns, habits, and styles of gay men as reflected in their feelings, thoughts, values, and experiences