- Mark Dolliver

Maybe they're buoyed by the Christmas-carol lyric "Don we now our gay apparel," heard repeatedly this time of year in stores' piped-in music. In any case, a Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs survey finds lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) consumers more apt than their heterosexual counterparts to say they'll increase their expenditures on holiday gifts this year.

Among LGBT respondents to the survey (conducted last month), those expecting to spend more on holiday gifts this year than last year slightly outnumbered those expecting to spend less (29 percent vs. 26 percent), with most of the rest saying they'll spend about as much this year as last. The pattern was wholly different among the poll's heterosexual respondents, among whom just 9 percent said they expect to spend more than last year, while 47 percent expect to spend less.

This disparity in willingness to spend is reflected in the different ways LGBTs and heteros are approaching their holiday-gift shopping. Asked to identify the most important consideration in their shopping, 65 percent of heteros said it's "finding the best sales and discounts," vs. 35 percent of LGBTs.

Conversely, LGBTs were more likely than heteros to say the most important factor is "shopping where the experience is calm and enjoyable" (23 percent vs. 11 percent), "shopping where I can get the best customer service" (13 percent vs. 7 percent), "shopping at stores where I have built a relationship" (10 percent vs. 5 percent) and "shopping where I can find the 'hot' products of the season" (7 percent vs. 2 percent). LGBTs were just a shade more likely than heteros to pick "shopping wherever it's most convenient" (11 percent vs. 10 percent).

Aside from marketers, who will benefit from LGBT consumers' willingness to spend? Forty-five percent of LGBTs said they'll spend more on gifts for immediate family members (vs. 18 percent among hetero respondents). Thirty-one percent of LGBTs said they'll spend more on extended-family members, and the same number said they'll spend more on gifts for close friends. (The figures for hetero respondents were in single digits.)

The gap in holiday-spending intentions is in sync with respondents' differing outlooks on their financial prospects in the coming months. Thirty-four percent of the survey's LGBTs said they expect their household's financial condition to be better in the next six months, an optimism shared by just 17 percent of the heterosexual respondents. Likewise, the LGBTs were just half as likely as the heteros to say they think their financial condition will worsen during that period (18 percent vs. 36 percent).

There has been virtually no improvement in heteros' personal-economic mood since a similar survey this past March, while LGBT respondents' outlook has brightened considerably.

See also:

"Holiday Shoppers Move Online"

"Hope for the Holidays?"

"With Social Media, Who Needs Santa?"