Twenty Million New Customers!: Understanding Gay Men?s Consumer Behavior (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trends, a marketing scholar involved in quantitative methods research, or a manager interested in retiring your old, outdated business savvy to the closet and exchanging it for a flashy, new, informed sense of marketing pizzazz, read Twenty Million New Customers!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.

Steven M Kates