Apparel Consumption and Embodied Experiences of Gay Men and Transgender Women in India: Variety and Ambivalence, Fit Issues, LGBT-Fashion Brands, and Affordability

Authentic brand positioning or woke washing? LGBTQI+ consumer perceptions of brand activism

“…This duality in support attempts is perceived by the LGBTQIþ community, which views these actions with distrust and often as having ulterior motives and offering no genuine support to the community (Demunter and Bauwens, 2023). Since consumers seem to be used to heteronormative standards in their experiences, technologies and social interactions (Chauhan et al, 2021;Parry et al, 2023), they also seem more attentive to the discourse adopted by brands and its underlying elements. Consumers are generally critical and engage in moral judgment with regard to how brands position themselves and…”

“…This quote is evidence that brands are struggling to adopt a more inclusive and diverse communication and position, which is aligned with corporate management values. Non-conforming individuals are challenged daily by social relationships, technologies, product offerings and workplace and consumption experiences that are framed in accordance with heteronormative principles (Chauhan et al, 2021;K€ ollen and Rumens, 2022;Parry et al, 2023). In this sense, brand communication seems to be one more element that adds to this social construction that focuses on the identity binary and as such awakens skeptical and suspicious perceptions in consumers who are part of the LGBTQ þ community.…”

“…Activist brands often adopt positions on issues that may result in controversy in the market and with their consumers, such as aspects related to race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation (Sibai et al, 2021;Intharacks et al, 2022). The focus of this research is specifically on activism in relation to LGBTQIþ s (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and others), especially because this social group may have consumption experiences of services and brands that differ from those of other consumers (Chauhan et al, 2021) and are often context-dependent (Demunter and Bauwens, 2023).…”

“…Although there are studies focusing on this social group (Pichler et al, 2017), they are relatively recent in the field of marketing. Some studies have analyzed LGBTQIþ inclusive advertisements and consumer reactions (Eisend and Hermann, 2019;Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005), while others have investigated the negative reaction of heterosexual consumers to the position adopted by a brand, consumer harassment of LGBTQIþ employees (Ueno et al, 2023), aspects that are related to perceived brand authenticity (Ciszek and Pounders, 2020), advertisements (Demunter and Bauwens, 2023), or consumption experiences (Chauhan et al, 2021). The perception of LGBTQIþ consumers regarding brand activism, however, is still lacking a deeper understanding (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005;Ciszek and Lim, 2021).…”

Relationships Between Dress and Gender Identity: LGBTQIA +

“…Symbolic interactionism (Stone, 1962) and self-verification theory (Swann, 2012) suggest that dress is useful in establishing and maintaining gender identities. The extant research with members of the LGBTQIA + community suggests there are appearance norms (Levitt et al, 2003) as well as expectations concerning body modifications (McGuire et al, 2016) that are tied to gender expression and that one clothing attribute important to the successful use of clothing to express gender is fit (e.g., Chauhan et al, 2019; Reilly et al, 2019).…”