FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2009
Gaywheels.com Dealer Locator Data Reveals Gay Car Shoppers are Brand Agnostic
River Edge, NJ – Data from Gaywheels.com shows that the majority of gay car shoppers are brand agnostic when searching for a new vehicle. The analysis examined how in-market gay car shoppers search for new car retailers, found that more than half (54%) of gay consumers allowed their purchasing decision to be driven by the proximity of a gay-friendly dealership rather than an allegiance to a specific make of vehicle.
Gaywheels.com Top 10 Dealer Locator Brand Searches
“Gay consumers are concerned that when they enter the showroom with a partner of the same sex, they won’t be afforded the same respect as a straight car buyer,” said Gaywheels.com founder Joe LaMuraglia. “These concerns, whether right or wrong, are what drives gay car shoppers to seek out a gay-friendly dealership first and foremost when it comes time to spend money on a new car, truck or SUV.”
When gay car shoppers did search for a specific brand, Mazda was the most-requested nameplate with 5% of the search results, which equates to 2.4x their market share. Other brands that over-index with this demographic include Audi (2.9x), BMW (1.8x), Volkswagen (1.8x) and Mercedes-Benz (1.4x).
Every franchised new-car dealer in the U.S. is listed in the Gaywheels.com dealer locator, but dealers have the option to advertise via premium listings that allow the user to email the showroom, get directions or click directly to the dealers’ web site. While Gaywheels.com does not classify dealers as gay-friendly, simply advertising to the Gaywheels.com user is generally interpreted as such by gay car shoppers .
“Many dealers are missing an inexpensive and easy way to increase showroom traffic and sales,” added LaMuraglia. “63% of the respondents to the survey said that advertising in gay media is a way for a company to define themselves as gay-friendly and these results indicate that the users are seeking a gay-friendly dealer near them.”
The Top 10 Dealer Locator brands list is based on website statistics gathered from January 1 – April 30th, 2009 from Gaywheels.com’s servers.