Jing Daily: China’s LGBTQ+ market and the US$900 billion missed opportunity

CHINA. Luxury western brands in China could be missing the opportunity to grab a substantial slice of a US$900 billion pie, according to Jing Daily (partner in an information-sharing alliance with The Moodie Davitt Report).

The influential media title said that the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and other sexuality (LGBTQ+) community represents a great opportunity for luxury brands looking to target an emerging, affluent market.

“If someone told you that there’s a market out there with a spending power of hundreds of billions of dollars, who love luxury products and aren’t being targeted by any of your competitors, what would you say? You’d be crazy not to jump at it.”

Jing Daily touched on the background of the US LGBTQ+ movement, highlighting the 28 June anniversary of the Stonewall riots. In 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn – a gay club in New York City – caused violent protests in support of the gay community. The riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the western world.

Today in China, Jing Daily stated, the country’s own LGBTQ+ movement is starting to gain momentum.

“If someone told you that there’s a market out there with a spending power of hundreds of billions of dollars, who love luxury products and aren’t being targeted by any of your competitors, what would you say? You’d be crazy not to jump at it,” a Shanghai-based Marketing Expert told Jing Daily.

“But that’s not happening with this market. It’s been proven that they have huge spending power, but luxury marketers still think they don’t exist in China. It’s a lot to do with visibility – the community is hidden from Chinese media, so brands are scared the market is just too small.”

Jing Daily noted that the Chinese market the expert is referring to is the largest LGBTQ+ community in the world. China is home to an estimated LGBTQ+ population of 90 million, over three times larger than the US equivalent. This month, as part of global Pride celebrations, ShanghaiPRIDE drew a crowd of 8,000 for its 10th annual festival.

Flying the LGBTQ+ flag in China: Jing Daily believes brands could be missing out on a huge market.

According to Hong Kong-based venture capital firm LGBT Capital, as of 2017, the annual purchasing power of China’s LGBTQ+ population amounted to US$938 billion – a number that has risen dramatically from 2015 when it stood at US$300 billion. In comparison, the spending power of the US LGBTQ+ community rose from US$933 billion to US$965 billion over the same period.

Daxue Consulting (a Chinese market research company) Research Manager Thibaud Andre examined the emerging Chinese LGBTQ+ market, and believes they have ample spending power for luxury goods.

“The organisation WorkForLGBT recently released a survey of more than 18,000 non-heterosexual Chinese people. The survey found that the average monthly income of the group reached CNY10,298 (US$1,555), five times the national average. In terms of disposable income, because they have no children in China, the difference is even higher,” he said.

Jing Daily noted Andre’s belief that a brand needs to actively showcase support of LGBTQ+ issues in order to benefit from the market’s booming spending power.

“According to the second China LGBT Group Living Consumption Index Report released in 2015, 48% of all interviewees said if businesses or enterprises introduced relevant regulations to support LGBTQ+ groups, it would have a crucial impact on their purchase decisions,” he concluded.

Jing Daily said despite the lucrative opportunity, the market in China is still being almost entirely ignored by Western and Chinese luxury brands alike. Examples of Pride-targeted campaigns in the West include Calvin Klein’s Pride capsule collection, Nike’s BeTrue Pride line, and Gucci’s selection of rainbow-design luxury sneakers. Of these brands, only Nike – which sponsored the BeTrue t-shirts at ShanghaiPRIDE’s Pride Run – has extended its LGBTQ+ campaign to China.

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*This article was originally published by the much-respected JING DAILY, a Moodie Davitt Report content partner.

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