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Getting LGBTQ+ Representation Right in Advertising
Deepak Varma – Head of Neuroscience Insights, North Asia, South East Asia & Pacific, Kantar
Anna Wilgan – VP Product Marketing, Kantar
According to the latest U.S. Census, between 8 percent and 12 percent of the U.S. population identify as within the LGBTQ+ community, yet this demographic is represented in just 1 percent of advertising. Kantar asked: Is the advertising industry creating ads that will reach this audience, and how can it do better? Insights into these questions came by conducting research using both explicit and implicit measures. Deepak Varma (Kantar) explained the use of explicit and implicit tools that measure reactions to advertising. Explicit measures track enjoyment (of the ad and the brand, asking questions on inclusion and diversity), while implicit measures track involvement or engagement with the ad (i.e., use of facial coding to measure smiles). The questions ask whether an ad represents a modern and progressive view of society, and whether the ad have a positive effect on those who are underrepresented in advertising. Using Kantar’s global database, “we found that any positive reactions to these two statements means that the ad is progressive both in terms of race and gender.” Then, using facial coding, in the firm’s database of 55,000 ads, Deepak and team found that ads that are more expressive actually lead to a higher potential of sales success and that for ads “that make you smile, people like those ads more.” Two other reaction-time techniques are intuitive associations: “Instead of asking a question, we flash words for 2.5 seconds so that all a participant has to do is agree that the word corresponds to the act…. We wanted to understand at a spontaneous level, is the ad inclusive/diverse, does it provoke any kind of negative reaction.” Bottom line: “What people say and what they feel, especially in as it pertains to LGBTQ+, is different.” Reactions to a Zola ad showing a lesbian couple getting married, and to an Indeed.com ad about a nonbinary person (played by a real-life nonbinary actor) interviewing for a job, supported the following findings.Key Takeaways
- Straight/cisgender respondents’ positive and negative reactions to the ads were within the norms; implicit measures showed greater acceptance than their verbal responses.
- Not surprisingly, the majority of survey participants who identify as LGBTQ+ (73%), Gen Z (53%) and millennials (46%) say there needs to be more representation for LGBTQ+. But importantly, more than one-third of Gen Z and millennials said they would stop buying brands that don’t support the LGBTQ+ community.
- Authenticity trumps representation in ads: Just showing underrepresented groups has no impact on an ad’s ability to build brand equity or increase short-term sales. But showing underrepresented groups in a positive way, meaning in progressive, non-stereotyped ways that tell a meaningful, accurate story about, for example, day-to-day life experiences (like getting married and interviewing for a job), can dramatically accelerate both immediate sales lift and long-term brand equity. If you cast a celebrity, make sure they’re true/authentic to their role. This supports previous research (Garretson, 2018) that exposure to positive media portrayals increase acceptance of LBGTQ+ people.
- In terms of theme, make sure you understand what you’re talking about. Use humor carefully. Empathy, authenticity and having the community as part of the creative process is key. Connect your creative with concrete examples of how your business is supporting LGBTQ+.
