Advertising has come out: Viewers’ perception of the portrayal of lesbian, gay, and transgender characters in advertising

Research on LGBT-inclusive advertising has been limited to analyzing ad content and commercial effectiveness. This study focuses on viewers’ perception of advertising featuring lesbian, gay, and transgender characters and its prosocial potential. It analyzes the open-ended answers given by participants involved in a survey experiment. These reveal their belief that advertising could support positive social change by normalizing sexual/gender minorities in everyday life. The findings underscore the nuances in audiences’ critical view of the way in which individuals are represented. Avenues are suggested for further research on the prosocial potential of LGBT-inclusive advertising.