When the pink tax meets Double 11, the marketing trap buff is stacked

No. 4051 Cultural Industry Review

A rational return to Double 11, will there still be a pink tax? Whether it's the price of goods or the Double 11 marketing plan, the pink tax has become a commonplace economic phenomenon. Female consumers who have been "given special care" are trying to reject the invasion of the pink tax in their own way.

Author | Meng Meng (Author of Cultural Industry Review, Researcher of Sanchuan Huiwen Cultural Tourism and Sports Research Institute)

Editor| time

Edit| peninsula

Source | Cultural Industries Review

The guns have gone off for the 11.11 shopping spree, is your wallet okay?

△ The courier station downstairs of the author has been occupied

At this time of year, we will be surrounded by various promotions, red envelopes, full reductions, and limited-time specials, which will dazzle people. However, behind this seemingly happy shopping spree, there is a hidden force that is secretly manipulating our shopping carts --- the Pink Tax.

What exactly is the Pink Tax? What kind of chemical reaction does it have with Double 11?

Let's explore this girly-sounding but actually evil economic phenomenon.

Why pink？ Pink tax?

The concept of the "pink tax" first emerged in the United States.

In 2015, the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a compelling study in which they found that products and services designed specifically for women cost an average of 7% more than those designed for men. What is even more alarming is that even if there is no substantial difference in the quality of these products or services, the price gap still exists.

Gu Yu data has visualized this research, which can more intuitively reflect the power of the pink tax.

△ Have you been Pink Taxed?

More than 40 percent of all products surveyed are priced at a higher price for women than men. Interestingly, in all comparisons, men's products were more expensive than women's, such as underwear, shaving cream, etc., accounting for only 18% of the total number of products surveyed. In this survey, the pink bicycle produced by Radio Flyer (an American toy company) was sold for twice as much as the same bicycle in other colors, so the "pink tax" became a proper noun to refer to "women's premium to goods".

Why does it have to be pink? This has to do with gender stereotypes of color choices. Today, pink is usually the color of women by default, for example, Barbie, which focuses on the female market, is represented by pink.

Another example is the classic image in Japanese girl anime, which also loves pink.

△ The subtitles of the moon hare must also be pink!

△ Kulo girl must have cherry blossom pink

However, this gender stereotype about color choice does not exist since ancient times, you must know that in medieval Europe, people used to think of pink as a masculine color because the color of blood dilution was similar to pink, and it symbolized blood and masculinity.

△ Madonna blue and Christ pink represent the original gender division of the two colors in Europe

After the popularity of colored fabrics, merchants began to deliberately exaggerate the concept that different genders should wear different colors of clothes in order to let consumers buy more clothes of different colors but the same style. Since then, the concept of a feminine fit for pink has only become popular in Europe and the United States in the mid-twentieth century. For example, Chrysler's 1954 "Companion" concept car was explicitly designed with two gender-specific exterior designs, and pink was the dominant color for the women's model.

△ Chrysler created two "Companion" concept cars, "Le Comte" represents men, using bronze and black paint; "La Comtesse" represents women and uses pink tax and light gray paint. Pictured above is "La Comtesse", the Countess.

In 1955, Chrysler's Dodge brand reorganized its product lineup and officially launched the first car aimed at the female market, "La Femme".

△ Dodge La Femme

So why target women and not men?

A number of surveys, such as "Winning the Economy: Re-understanding Female Consumers in the Digital Age", "China's Middle-class Women's Consumption Report", "2019 Workplace Newcomer Consumption Insights", and "Insight into the Power of "She": 2023 Chinese Women's Online Consumption Power Trend Report", have all stated a similar view: appearance and appearance are the key criteria for women to select products. A good-looking design and exquisite appearance can stimulate women's willingness to spend.

In other words, "women are more concerned about the appearance of goods" is a secular notion in marketing. The pink tax is essentially a gender tax specially designed for women by merchants according to women's consumption habits, with the intention of transferring design costs. Merchants charge higher prices for products that are the same or very similar in function and quality, and targeted consumers for women, simply because female consumers are more likely to spend money on those products. It also means that certain goods or services are priced solely on the basis of gender, in violation of the principle of fair dealing.

Merchants associate goods with gender, give them specific colors and attributes, and use consumer symbols to define and discipline women, which makes consumers at risk of being brainwashed when purchasing, and invisibly consider their gender and identity according to "secular concepts", and ultimately lead female consumers to pay higher fees.

△ A coat of a big brand, the full price of the women's model and the men's model are discounted, which is more than half more expensive.

△ On an orange software, men's yoga mats are half cheaper than women's yoga mats.

But, did the Pink Tax really make the business succeed?

This Double 11, have you been pink taxed?

Women have always been the main consumer group of Singles' Day.

According to the analysis of men's and women's consumption during 2020 and 2021 Singles' Day, it can be found that women's consumption during Singles' Day is about one-third higher than that of men.

△ Pictures and data source: @ Qianolk Big Data

This year, the publicity and marketing of Tmall's small black box almost put "female consumers" on the door of the brain, whether it is the selection of categories in the promotional video, or the embodiment of brand spokespersons, it reflects the "special attention" to female consumer groups everywhere.

△ Tmall small black box: Let me see whose consumption DNA is moving

Putting aside the controversy in Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room, "All Girls" has successfully changed from a live broadcast to a brand under the operation of Mei ONE, and even extended the exclusive variety show on Double 11: "All Girls' Offer" - with women as the target audience, all words and selections are aimed at female groups, and try to use "all girls" as a symbol to establish an "imaginary consumer community" among consumers.

But does women's consumption performance on Double 11 really prove that women are more likely to spend impulsively and fall into the trap of the "pink tax"?

Let's take a look at the "accusations" of a few Xiaohongshu up masters.

On November 1, Xiaohongshu user @AngelinaShufener's experience bluntly said that the pink tax does not distinguish between ages, only gender.

Also when Double 11 first opened, the UP master of Xiaohongshu named Anta, accusing the brand of a pair of unisex shoes, just by changing the color, the price fell directly from 200+ to 100+.

Push forward to this summer, and the sudden popularity of "Old Man Style" on social platforms is actually a kind of action feedback from women against the pink tax.

Xiaohongshu's "Reject Pink Tax" entry has more than 10 million views, and the anti-pink tax cheats have gradually become the new social platform traffic password.

The Pink Tax, a sexist sexist sounding marketing trap, has long been accurately identified by smart female consumers. Especially at the moment when the concept of rational consumption is returning, it is becoming more and more difficult for businesses to transfer design costs with pink tax.

Let me see, whose sane brain moves?

Almost every article that discusses the current concept of mass consumption will talk about the same trend: mass consumption returns to rationality.

The 2023 China Consumer Insights Report surveyed 1,266 Chinese consumers on their consumption logic, psychology and behavior, and found that there is a clear trend of "consumption cooling" among female consumers. 93% of the women surveyed said that they were more interested in the cost performance of goods, and they were more cautious about the "pseudo-demand" atmosphere created by merchants.

So, is the "pink tax" only ineffective because of this storm of reason?

The answer is no.

The latest work of Liang Jianping, an associate professor at Sun Yat-sen University's School of Management, shows a completely different story: it is not only female consumers who have been cheated by the "pink tax", but also businesses that believe that the "pink tax" is indeed useful.

This study proves that the idea that women pay more for their looks is a biased and secular notion that often fails when applied to marketing.

Here's an example.

Let's go back to the La Femme launched by Dodge in 1955, the appearance and color are all aimed at women, and even strengthen the rendering of the consumer concept that women want to use "pink cars", but in the end the sales were dismal, and the product was withdrawn from the market after only two years of its launch. Obviously, the merchants don't make a lot of noise about what happened to La Femme after it came out.

Through 11 experiments, Associate Professor Liang Jianping's team verified that when people buy goods for themselves, there are no significant gender differences in the trade-off between form and function.

The "Pink Tax", a marketing trap based on worldly prejudices, hurts others and is not good for themselves, and it is time for brands to abandon it.

conclusion

Let's turn our perspective back to this year's Singles' Day.

On October 31, Alixplatinum released the "2023 "Double 11" Annual Research Report, which shows that compared with the previous two years, consumers' consumption sentiment and budget have rebounded significantly, but consumer behavior is more purposeful, and "rational return" has become the key word of this year's Double 11. This year's "lowest price" competition among major e-commerce companies also reflects the importance of consumers' attention to cost-effective psychology.

The data of Double 11 will be released tomorrow, and the Cultural Industry Review (ID: whcypl) boldly speculates that this year's female consumers will show a more purposeful and savvy consumption psychology.

I'm a consumer and I refuse the pink tax. What about you?