A Narrative Review of LGBTQ+ Marketing Scholarship

Abstract

Marketing research on LGBTQ+ people has increased over the past two decades, entering mainstream marketing discourse – aligning with greater societal acceptance. This paper provides a contemporary review of marketing scholarship on LGBTQ+ communities published in Q1, and Q2 ranked Scimago marketing journals. Taking a social justice lens, this review examined whose voices were represented and how those voices were represented. The finding suggests samples studied were skewed towards heterosexual samples and those from the Global North. Where LGBTQ+ samples have been included, these were predominantly gay men. Three theoretical perspectives were adopted: attitudes and identity, meaning and interpretation and critical perspectives. In addition, the focus of the studies centred on four main themes: LGBTQ+ imagery in advertising, consumer behaviour of LGBTQ+ people, brand positioning and LGBTQ+ as a consumer market segment. Based on the findings, future scholarship should consider nuancing the multidimensional nature of the LGBTQ+ markets and investigates LGBTQ+ consumers as individuals with real and unique needs in their own rights.