June is here and so is the start of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, so you’ve probably seen emails from different brands hit your inbox commemorating the month. But how do these campaigns resonate with the LGBTQ+ community?
According to new CivicScience survey data, the majority of adult respondents who identify as LGBTQ+ say they are more likely to support brands who engage in Pride Month in this way (51%). However, nearly one-quarter say they are less likely to support these brands.
Support has wavered, too. LGBTQ+ respondents are less likely to say they’re more likely to support brands that do this, down six percentage points from previous survey data. This year, LGBTQ+ respondents are more likely to say they’re less likely to support brands who do this, a figure that is up seven percentage points.
One can infer that in a world where brands and social issues have become intertwined, engaging with Pride Month, or any other social or cultural issue, is not viewed as much of a novel concept anymore. One could also infer that maybe some consumers just see this as another way for the companies to, no doubt, make a buck but not necessarily support the marginalized individuals that make up the LGBTQ+ population.
When asking another survey about brands doing this, but then using their profits to support people in the LGBTQ+ community, support definitely grows, but there is still a similarly strong contingent that would still be less likely to support these brands, as well as those who say it doesn’t make a difference either way. Does this segment feel that most brands’ Pride Month campaigns are insincere?
Possibly. When looking at data tracking the importance of social consciousness when choosing where to shop and what to buy, it appears that the importance of social consciousness over time among the LGBTQ+ community, has decreased overall. Further CivicScience data show that this figure has decreased among the Gen Pop as well. Again, perhaps it’s less of a novel concept, and people just expect brands to do this as a baseline.
As the following cross-tabulation shows, those who say they are less likely to support brands who celebrate Pride Month over-index in saying social consciousness is not at all important to them.
Additionally, this could just be driven by people thinking brands shouldn’t take a stand either way on social or political issues. The majority of respondents who said that they are less likely to support brands who do Pride advertisements said they don’t think companies should take a stand.
In honor of Pride Month, CivicScience will be exploring additional data on the well-being of the LGBTQ+ community next week, so stay tuned.
