In recent years, the social and economic influence of sexual minorities has been growing, leading to an increase in research on their experiences and their relationship with marketing. However, how sexual minorities are perceived by others remains unclear. This study investigates how people perceive gay men and lesbians using the concept of social prototypes and examines the impact of these perceptions in the context of consumer research. The findings reveal distinct physical, socio-economic, and psychological prototypes associated with sexual minorities. Additionally, it was shown that when a gay SNS poster aligns with these prototypes and collaborates with a brand that also fits the prototype, consumer responses to both the posts and the brand are more favorable compared to situations where there is no alignment. In contrast, no such effect of prototype alignment was observed for lesbian posters, highlighting differences in perceptions of gay men and lesbians. This study expands the field of social prototype research and contributes to consumer studies on diversity, inclusion, and equity.

It has been pointed out that appealing to consumers' emotions, rather than simply providing information, is an effective approach to changing their attitudes and behaviors toward social issues. This study systematically reviewed existing research to examine the effectiveness of emotional appeals in social marketing. The results showed that many studies indicated the effectiveness of negative emotional appeals. However, in comparative studies, more research suggested that both positive and negative emotional appeals can be effective, depending on the attributes of the target audience. Furthermore, it was confirmed that a “mixed emotional appeal” combining both types can also be effective. Additionally, the effectiveness of emotional appeals was found to vary significantly depending on the theme, cultural context, and characteristics of the audience. Based on these findings, three research agendas are proposed to guide future studies on emotional appeals in social marketing. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of their effectiveness and offers valuable insights for the design of social marketing strategies.