According to a national readership survey among the GLBT community, readers of the nation’s top gay newspapers are more socially outgoing, travel more frequently, are technologically savvy, and are more concerned with health and fitness than the general U.S. adult population

The National Gay Newspaper Guild (NGNG) first surveyed its readers in 1984 to provide a reader profile to prospective advertisers. The poll was noted as one of the first statistically reliable demographic marketing studies of the GLBT market. Conducted every four years since 1984, the Guild survey has become one of the premier U.S. sources for GLBT marketing data.

The NGNG hired Harris Interactive to conduct a research study to better understand their readership as compared to the U.S. general population. The survey questions were designed to explore demographic, lifestyle and psychographic issues.

The sample included 3,801 U.S. adults aged 18 or older who are readers of a NGNG publication, which includes the Gay & Lesbian Times. The U.S. general population sample included 2,731 U.S. adults aged 18 and older. Interviewing was conducted online among readers.

“People talk about the gay market in general terms, but truly the Guild represents the best of the best. They are that gay market that advertisers want – the double income, no kids, high income earners, loyal consumers,” said Todd Evans, CEO of Rivendell Media, the company that organized the NGNG in 1982.

Related to health and fitness, Guild readers are three times more likely than the general population sample to belong to a health club (51 percent vs. 17 percent). They also were three times more likely to have a personal trainer (13 percent vs. 4 percent) and more than twice as likely to get a massage (36 percent vs. 14 percent).

In terms of personal grooming, Guild readers use nearly all personal care products more frequently than the average U.S. adult. For example, 53 percent of Guild readers use skin cleanser or toner compared to 37 percent of the U.S. adults surveyed.

Guild readers were more active socially than other adults as one in seven (15 percent) attend a live theater performance two to three times a month or more, compared to two percent of other U.S. adults. Also, Guild readers are three times more likely to go to the movies, parties and nightclubs. In addition, Guild readers host parties more often than other adults (31 percent to 14 percent).

Evans noted when data from initial Guild readers surveys first came out in the mid ‘80s it was misused and the myth of an affluent gay and lesbian community emerged.

“I’ve always felt that an average gay person will be just like an average American, if not under the glass ceiling there. The Guild represents the top 13 gay markets, which are generally the top 13 U.S. markets. They’re naturally higher income brackets just alone,” Evans explained. “I used to always say if you have a survey of straight white men in these same markets it would be through the roof. This is continuation that really shows that this research is solid and true … the piece of business that everyone is looking for within this market.”

Simmons Market Research Bureau released a similar study in October, which consisted of a comprehensive study of the nation’s GLBT population. Highlights of its “Gay and Lesbian Consumer Study” mirrored many of the findings in the NGNG survey.

The Simmons study found that GLBT adults are more likely than the total adult population to dine out in a restaurant, attend a live theater show, or go to a nightclub or bar. GLBT adults were also more likely to purchase new gadgets, appliances, and buy electronic products they wanted regardless of cost.

“The trend is that information equals power and the more information we have out there, the more power the gay and lesbian market has,” Evans said.

Technologically, Guild readers were more attuned with the latest gadgets and other electronic devices. They were more likely to own an iPod (17 percent vs. 8 percent), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) (25 percent vs. 13 percent), have Wi-Fi access at home (25 percent vs. 12 percent) and own a laptop (46 percent vs. 29 percent).

In terms of travel, nearly nine in 10 Guild readers (87 percent) have ventured within the continental U.S. in the past year, compared to 70 percent for the average U.S. adult. Nearly six in 10 (58 percent) traveled internationally in the past three years versus 28 percent of the general population. Additionally, Guild readers traveled to Europe more than twice as often.

Joyce Marieb, the executive director of the Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA) – San Diego’s gay and lesbian chamber of commerce – was not surprised with the Guild’s findings and noted the current estimate of GLBT spending power in the U.S. is significant at $600 billion per year.

“At the GSDBA Expos in 2003 and 2004, we presented a profile of our market to San Diego. More and more mainstream businesses are becoming aware of this fast growing market segment,” Marieb said.

Marieb said the GSDBA recently participated in a seminar with the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau (ConVis) where San Francisco-based market research firm Community Marketing, Inc., who specializes in the gay and lesbian consumer, presented data very similar to the Guild’s survey results.

The GSDBA has become active in attracting gays and lesbians to San Diego with the inaugural San Diego City Navigaytor published in August, Marieb said.

“This year we published the first tourism guide touting San Diego as a gay-friendly travel destination,” she said.

The City Navigaytor was published in conjunction with the Altus Group, who released the first guide in Philadelphia, then Pittsburg and is currently publishing a Chicago version.

In addition to the Gay & Lesbian Times, the NGNG is comprised of 12 other GLBT newspapers in the nation and has a member circulation larger than the leading national GLBT magazines combined. Other member publications include: Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco; Bay Windows, Boston; Between the Lines, Detroit; Dallas Voice, Dallas; Frontiers, Los Angeles; Houston Voice, Houston; New York Blade, New York; Philadelphia Gay News, Philadelphia; Southern Voice, Atlanta; Washington Blade, Washington, D.C.; The Weekly News, Miami; and Windy City Times, Chicago.