{"id":3496,"date":"2015-12-27T09:19:55","date_gmt":"2015-12-27T15:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3496"},"modified":"2015-12-27T08:39:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T14:39:28","slug":"is-pink-flation-a-legitimate-complaint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/12\/is-pink-flation-a-legitimate-complaint.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Pink-flation a legitimate complaint?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Yes, that\u2019s my attempt to coin a term, not the author\u2019s usage, but here\u2019s a Wonkblog piece that got picked up in the Tribune under syndication: \u00a0\u201cWhy you should always buy the men\u2019s version of almost anything<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The claim of the article: \u00a0products made for or marketed to women \u2014 from pink vs. red Radio Flyer wagons to razors to clothing \u2014 are more expensive than those made for\/marketed to men, or marketed generically.<\/p>\n

The author linked to a study by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, which<\/p>\n

compared nearly 800 products with female and male versions \u2014 meaning they were practically identical except for the gender-specific packaging \u2014 and uncovered a persistent surcharge for one of the sexes. Controlling for quality, items marketed to girls and women cost an average 7 percent more than similar products aimed at boys and men.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After providing examples, and further comparisons to services such as haircuts and insurance, the author then provides some context and rationale:<\/p>\n

Ravi Dhar, director of the Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management, said how we perceive \u201cwomen\u2019s\u201d products could help explain why gender markups persist in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany men\u2019s products are not seen as men\u2019s products,\u201d he said. \u201cThey might just be seen as products in the category.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which makes the \u201cpink\u201d version a specialty product, he said. \u201cHis\u201d and \u201chers\u201d items likely stemmed from a retailer\u2019s embrace of gender stereotypes, but our appetites for personally tailored goods could have kept the distinction alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople see a greater fit between the product and their tastes,\u201d Dhar said, \u201cand may be willing to pay more.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So I looked at\u00a0the study website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With respect to some of the products, it honestly makes a lot of sense for women\u2019s prices to be higher: \u00a0clothes that are more fitted and have more detailing and styling,for example; and beauty products touting\u00a0greater \u201cmoisturizing,\u201d anti-aging, and other properties (think of a man\u2019s shampoo, designed to clean hair, and a woman\u2019s shampoo, which claims to smooth and\/or volumize hair).<\/p>\n

Other items, well, there\u2019s no reason based solely on the product differences for two sets of hooded baby blankets to be priced differently, solely because one set has \u201cboy\u201d prints and the other \u201cgirl\u201d prints, as figure 13 in the PDF report<\/a> shows. \u00a0What\u2019s behind this? \u00a0It makes no sense to label this \u201cdiscrimination\u201d in the sense of creating penalties for women, as these products are hardly purchased by their immediate recipients, boy and girl children, but parents pay the cost in any case, and even single mothers are equally likely to have sons or daughters. \u00a0Perhaps in some cases, there are volume\/manufacturing issues, as when there are fewer pink than red Radio Flyer scooters sold, so the per-item manufacturing cost is higher. \u00a0And perhaps in other cases, there is \u201cprice discrimination\u201d in the classic sense, of pricing girl-targeted items higher because mothers are more willing to pay higher prices for \u201ccute\u201d things for their girl than their boy babies, and girls are more likely to prize, say, a \u201cFrozen\u201d-themed backpack, than a boy would a Transformers one.<\/p>\n

In any case, should this be \u201cfixed\u201d by more legislation? \u00a0No, of course not. \u00a0But there certain seems to be value in a study such as this, simply to remind consumers not to be sucked in by marketing, and to be careful about comparing prices.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, that\u2019s my attempt to coin a term, not the author\u2019s usage, but here\u2019s a Wonkblog piece that got picked up in the Tribune under syndication: \u00a0\u201cWhy you should always buy the men\u2019s version of almost anything.\u201d The claim of the article: \u00a0products made for or marketed to women \u2014 from pink vs. red Radio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Pink-flation a legitimate complaint?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yes, that's my attempt to coin a term, not the author's usage, but here's a Wonkblog piece that got picked up in the Tribune under syndication: \u00a0"Why you\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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