LOS ANGELES—Lovehoney.com.au has partnered with Paul Maginn, an associate professor at the University of Western Australia, to analyze and map the geographical distribution of more than $10 million in sales of adult product since the last election Down Under.
“Adult retailing is big business in terms of sales and revenue,” said Maginn, a prolific researcher of the geography of sex work who is based in Perth, Australia. “The growth in the adult retail sector, especially online stores, plus the consumption of sex toys, lingerie and fetish-related products is a useful indicator not only of the state of our sexual consumerism but also our sexual citizenship.”
Maginn continued, “The data from lovehoney.com.au basically shows that adult products are being purchased by people across urban, suburban and regional Australia.
“I think what we are seeing here is the economic, social and cultural mainstreaming of adult retailing and sex toys. We are becoming more sexually curious and adventurous. This will invariably raise policy questions in relation to adult retailing, sexuality and commercial forms of consensual sex.”
By mapping this data at the federal electorate level the study has created what Lovehoney and Maginn are calling an “Oz Dildex Poll Rating.”
The “Oz Dildex” ranks the overall value and volume of sales of adult products by each electorate in order to identify the broad spatial patterns of sexual consumerism across Australia.
This has created a table of “Australia’s sexiest electorates.”
The “Top 20” sexiest electorates are led by Deputy Opposition Leader, Tanya Plibersek, the member for Sydney. Her electorate dominated the Oz Dildex in terms of both the overall value and volume of sales. The Honorable member for Sydney also took the prize for highest average spend per voter. Second was The Green’s Adam Bandt and Third was WA’s Melissa Price.
The complete Dildex ranking, listed in order of Party, Member, Electorate, Electoral Margin %, and Average Sales per voter #, is as follows:
1) Labor - Hon Tanya Plibersek - Sydney - 12.9% - $2.21
2) Greens - Hon Adam Bandt - Melbourne - 5.3 % - $1.77
3) Liberal/LNP - Hon Melissa Price - Durack - 15.2% - $1.46
4) Labor Hon - Michael Danby - Melbourne - Ports - 3.6% - $1.35
5) Liberal/LNP Hon - Teresa Gambaro - Brisbane - 4.3% - $1.30
6) Labor - Hon Alannah MacTiernan - Perth - 2.2% - $1.20
7) Labor - Hon Gary Gray Brand - 3.7% - $1.13
8) Liberal/LNP - Hon Christian Porter - Pearce - 9.3% - $1.12
9) Liberal/LNP - Hon Trent Zimmerman - North Sydney - 15.7% - $1.10
10) Liberal/LNP - Hon Natasha Griggs - Solomon - 1.4% - $1.10
11) Liberal/LNP - Hon Steve Irons - Swan - 7.3% - $1.10
12) Labor Hon - Kate Ellis - Adelaide - 4.0% - $1.10
13) Labor Hon - Anthony Albanese - Grayndler - 18.8% - $1.06
14) Labor Hon - Terri Butler - Griffith - 3.0% - $1.03
15) Liberal/LNP - Hon Malcolm Turnbull - Wentworth - 18.9% - $1.02
16) Liberal/LNP - Hon Jane Prentice - Ryan - 8.5% - $1.00
17) Liberal/LNP - Hon Ken O'Dowd - Flynn - 6.5% - $0.99
18) Liberal/LNP - Hon Kelly O'Dwyer - Higgins - 9.9% - $0.94
19) Labor Hon - Matt Thistlethwaite - Kingsford Smith - 2.7% - $0.93
20) Labor Hon - Melissa Parke - Fremantle - 5.4% - $0.92
“Adult products are about fun and enjoyment and enhancing sexual health and lifestyles and I think the Prime Minister and Opposition leader have some interesting bed-time reading with these statistics,” said Rob Godwin Director of Lovehoney.com.au.
“The election campaign has dragged on for weeks and there’s a need to put some buzz into the election. With many of the top 20 sexiest electorates being marginal seats, the leaders could be very progressive and consider the sexual wellbeing of their voters! Happy, sexy voters = loyal voters!”
In terms of the rank order of overall sales value, the Prime Minister’s electorate, Wentworth, came in at a respectable 15th. In comparison, Bill Shorten’s electorate of Maribyrnong came in at a disappointing 131st.
Lovehoney.com.au asked Fiona Patten, MP and Leader of the Australian Sex Party for her comments.
“On the basis of this remarkable survey, I’m predicting a hung parliament,” she said. “Tanya Plibersek and Albo both deserve their high ratings but Adam Bandt looks like he should join the Pink Bits Party rather than the Greens. And Christian Porter coming in at 8th place! And all the time he thought the buzz was coming from the churches in his electorate...”
Lovehoney’s top selling products in this nationwide survey were:
1) Happy Rabbit 2 G-Spot USB Rechargeable Rabbit Vibrator
2) Womanizer Rechargeable Clitoral Stimulator
3) Lovehoney Jessica Rabbit 10 Function Rabbit Vibrator
4) Lovehoney Magic Wand
5) Tracey Cox Supersex USB Rechargeable Rabbit Vibrator
6) Fifty Shades of Grey Greedy Girl G- Spot Rabbit Vibrator
7) Doxy Wand
8) We-Vibe 4 Plus Couples Vibrator
9) Tracey Cox Supersex Bullet Vibrator
10) Lovehoney Enjoy Water-Based Lube 100ml
Maginn, who co-edited the 2015 book “(Sub)Urban Sexscapes” along with Christine Steinmetz, presented a paper titled “Orgasmic Geographies: The Socio-spatial Distribution and Cultural Significance of Sex Toys in Australia” at the Association of American Geographers conference in San Francisco earlier this year. He co-authored the piece with Alistair Sisson, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney.
The paper was based on research they conducted on sales data from SexToys24/7, an online store, and Lovehoney, the U.K.’s largest sex toy retailer/distributor that also has a robust presence in Australia and the U.S.
Any U.S.-based adult retailers interested in having their sales data mapped should contact Maginn at [email protected].
