This morning, GLAAD released the findings of its 2024 Visibility Perceptions in Advertising, based on a survey of 200 decision-makers and marketing executives from advertisers and advertising agencies to understand perceptions, commitments, and challenges to featuring the LGBTQ community in advertising.
While GLAAD’s research on representation in advertising has historically found LGBTQ people underrepresented, our 2024 Visibility Perceptions in Advertising study revealed that an overwhelming majority of decision-makers and executives in the advertising industry want to include LGBTQ communities in their adverts and campaigns.
So, what’s stopping them?
We cannot let fear and fringe anti-LGBTQ activists dilute the work that has been done in the name of visibility, acceptance and opportunity. As GLAAD and leading civil rights organizations noted in an open letter earlier this year: “Diversity, equity and inclusion best practices are not only essential for business success, they are needed to drive the future economy.
“Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences on business success — ultimately shirking fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers, and shareholders. Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent from across the full talent pool and limit their company’s performance overall.”
See the full Study HERE
Key Findings:
- The study found increases across the board on whether advertising industry professionals felt it was important to represent specific LGBTQ communities in advertising:
- The importance of transgender representation in advertising among industry leaders increased by +71% compared to 2021.
- The importance of bisexual representation in advertising among industry increased by +69% compared to 2021.
- The importance of nonbinary representation in advertising among industry increased by +34% compared to 2021.
- The study found the industry is more fearful of facing backlash due to LGBTQ inclusion, as opposed to facing backlash for lack of LGBTQ inclusion.
- This, despite the fact that consumers – and especially younger consumers – are +51% more likely this year to say the industry is not doing enough to represent the LGBTQ community appropriately, according to GLAAD’s soon-to-be-released Advertising Visibility Index.
- The study found that 90% of the industry says it’s very important to feature the LGBTQ community in advertising.
- The study revealed an +80% increase in the industry saying the LGBTQ community is very important to their business, compared to 2021.
- The study found that 69% of advertisers and agencies have funds specifically allocated to targeting our community, up +17% from the prior survey in 2021.
- The study found that industry is +55% more likely to say they don’t have the expertise and knowledge to get LGBTQ representation “right” compared to 2021.
- The study found that nearly half of the industry completely agree that companies must be prepared to stand by their decision to support or include LGBTQ people in advertising, and this grows to nearly 90% among those in the industry that agree completely or agree somewhat.
- The study found that companies that have faced backlash are up to 1.6x more likely to increase their commitment to feature LGBTQ people compared to companies that have not faced backlash.
- The study found that partnering with nonprofits to provide guidance is the top action item industry leaders mentioned needing to be more committed to this work.
From GLAAD President & CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis:“Our 2024 Visibility Perceptions in Advertising shows there is significant work to be done to empower brand and agency leaders to not only ‘get it right,’ but to partner with organizations like GLAAD as a business partner to meet shared goals. We cannot let fear and fringe anti-LGBTQ activists dilute the work that has been done in the name of visibility, acceptance and opportunity. Now is the time for action and to put years of data to the test to meet this bifurcated cultural moment. One path leads to turning your back on millions of new consumers entering the marketplace and workforce, while the other welcomes growth and new business opportunities. The question is not if LGBTQ people should be included, but how. Our teams look forward to partnership that places companies on the path of inclusion and success.”
From GLAAD Senior Director of Agencies, Brands and Engagement, Meghan Bartley:“This report underscores what GLAAD and many researchers have uncovered in the past few years: LGBTQ inclusion is a future-proofing brand growth strategy. While Gen Z and Millennial consumers are more likely to be, know, and support LGBTQ people and the purchasing power of LGBTQ people in the U.S. is $1.4 trillion, the real argument for inclusion lies with expectations of consumers across demographics. A majority of consumers support pro-LGBTQ brands, are more likely to buy or use brands with demonstrated commitments, and are more likely to support brands facing backlash rather than the critics. The industry understands this, which is why we see an increase in expected brand commitments to LGBTQ efforts since 2021. Brands who have yet to engage in LGBTQ strategies must start today for long-term growth.”
This study was made possible by a grant from the Nielsen Foundation through their Data For Good program, and is a follow-up to the 2021 Advertiser & Agency Perspectives on LGBTQ Inclusion Study published in partnership with P&G, which exposed myths and unveiled new facts about the industry’s commitment to LGBTQ inclusion in advertising.
Brands interested in partnering with GLAAD to improve their quality of LGBTQ support and representation should contact the GLAAD Partnerships team directly: [email protected]
See the full report HERE.
Read the full press release HERE.
