Are you a Super Gay media consumer?

The Asterix Group recently released a study on gay and lesbian consumers aimed at helping marketers understand how to target their product to queer customers. (You can also read a 50-page condensed version of the report as a PDF presentation.) The overall point of the study is that companies can't reach out to gay and lesbian customers with a one-size fits all approach. Instead the report divides gays and lesbians into five categories that each have different interests and therefore demand distinct approaches.

The report's five groups are:

• Super Gays are the most aware of gay identity and the most conscious of anti-gay discrimination. They're very open about who they are and tend to seek out diversity.
• Habitaters tend to be in long-term relationships and are primarily concerned with domestic issues like children and health care. They go out less often than any other group and watch more TV than any group.
• Gay Mainstream mix their interest in gay issues and media with mainstream concerns. They come from a variety of demographics and their tastes tend to fall in the middle on most issues.
• Party People are the most cutting edge and urban in their tastes and the most likely to spend money on personal pampering. They see sexual orientation as an important part of their lives and tend to go out frequently.
• Closeted tend to be older, living in small towns and aren't likely to have many gay friends or belong to LGBT organizations. They don't follow gay media very often and are the only group that doesn't frequently read The Advocate (the group's most-read magazine is Readers Digest).

The report also addresses why companies should reach out to gay and lesbian customers: over 70% of the respondents said they would pay more for products made by a company that supports the gay community and a similarly large amount said that they prefer TV programs with gay characters and themes. Or, to put it another way, a company that is ignoring queer customers is at a disadvantage to a competitor who courts them.

That's demonstrated in their media choices. The three most popular magazines named in the survey included two LGBT-aimed publications (The Advocate and Out) and People, which featured three major gay celebrity stories recently when Lance Bass, TR Knight and Neil Patrick Harris came out. The list of five most-watched TV networks (ABC, Discovery, NBC, Logo and Bravo) notably sidelines three broadcast networks in favor of basic cable channels that regularly reach out to queer audiences.

Which demographic do you think you fit into? Do you find yourself identifying with any of the study's conclusions?