Eng 105

Advanced Composition Section 23

Date of Submission: 26th September, 2020

Submitted to: Dr. Nadra Islam

Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!
Department of English & Modern
Languages
1
North South University
 Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Acknowledgment
First of all, I would like to show my gratitude to my parents, my

elder brother, and my dearest friends because of their constant

support. Throughout this research journey, our honorable faculty

member, Dr. Nadra Islam ma'am, has always helped me out and

given me a proper guideline to finish my research work accordingly.

My words won't be enough to show my gratitude towards ma'am.

During this pandemic, we all had to face the new normal by staying

at home and doing our work from home. It was challenging for most

of us, but ma'am made this journey more accessible

by assessing us online. I would also like to appreciate my

respondents for participating in the survey for my research and

sharing their valuable opinions with me.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Abstract

Globally women are more likely to buy products that look eye-

catchy, whereas men prefer features over the appeal of the products.

Market researchers use this intrinsic gender nature and turn this into

an effective marketing strategy, which results in the pink tax. This

pink tax is not illegal in any way but is unethical, as this promotes

gender discrimination. The world is getting ready to get rid of such

discrimination. My encouragement behind this research work was

that our country also has a lot to contribute to this movement. This

research clearly showed how much we need to educate our people

on this. During this research work, while trying to connect with my

respondents, I discovered that most people were ready to stand this

issue. While choosing this sensitive yet crucial issue, my biggest

motivation was to bring awareness among people on this issue, at

least to some extent. This research revealed that people in our

country barely know anything about this kind of gender-

discriminatory taxation system. People associated with this study

agreed that proper steps are to be taken by both the government and

its citizens. However, people who are making money out of this

unfair pricing try to manipulate consumers with their tactics. This

study thoroughly uncovered how they make their consumers believe

that this extra payment is ethical.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ...............................................................

......................................5

BACKGROUND .................................................................

......................................7 RESEARCH

QUESTIONS .......................................................................

..............10

HYPOTHESIS ....................................................................

.....................................10 RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY: .............................................................

..............11 DATA PRESENTATION AND

ANALYSIS.........................................................11

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH

FINDINGS .............................................................27

RECOMMENDATION ......................................................

.....................................28

REFERENCES.....................................................................

....................................29
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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

INTRODUCTION
The pink tax is not an actual tax. No government legally imposes this

tax on its citizens. It is more like a hidden tax, which we can also

consider as an invisible tax. Most of the global population is still

unaware of this tax, though they are already the victims of this unfair

levy. There are many brands worldwide that are imposing this tax on

people, and people even pay that extra amount unknowingly in most

cases. Therefore, we can consider this as a hidden tax. We address

this specific payment as the "pink" tax as it is associated with

women's products only. It means they apply the pink tax to feminine

products only, and this is discriminatory towards women.

Most of the manufacturing companies have collections of both the

male and female versions of their same products. In most cases, both

the versions are identical to each other but differ only in

appearances. For example, we can think of blue products solely

intended for men and pink products designed exclusively for

women. Here, it was natural to assume that the pricing would also be

the same. But that is not what we get in most cases; what we get is

that the pink product costs more than the blue one. For example,

whereas the Barbie doll will cost you BDT 2680, the Ken doll will

cost you BDT 2480 (Islam, 2020). Here, the price difference is

unacceptable as the purpose of both products is the same. Although

the company manufactures both the dolls the same way, they still try

to develop some tactics to manipulate their consumers into paying

that extra amount.

Till today, the maximum population of Bangladesh treats sanitary

napkins as luxury items. Most of them cost from BDT 70 to BDT

145 per pack (Anushka, 2019). But it is hard for a young girl to pay

this much money for sanitary napkins every month, mainly when the

average pay of the family is below BDT 10,000 per month. Apart

from this essential item, from cosmetics to garments, every other

commodity or service costs more for women. In short, men's

shopping isn't

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

as costly as ladies' shopping. As of late, there have been some

dynamic conversations about this expense issue, and individuals

have requested to crush the "luxury item" tag of sanitary napkins for

a start.

Only half of our population is paying this pink tax. Pricing experts

contend that the pink tax on personal-hygiene items seems

legitimate according to their economic sense. They believe that they

are just following an effective pricing strategy. This strategy says

that the price of some product should depend on how much its

consumer is ready to pay. They try to justify the pink tax imposed

on personal-hygiene products by saying that women are more likely

to spend on personal hygiene products than men. They claim that

since ladies are happy to pay more, the brands charge them

accordingly. The bundling will, likewise, be unique. The pricing

argument is that this makes the items more appealing to ladies, and

consequently, the fee is higher. Lastly, they contend that any lady

who would not like to follow through on the higher cost can
purchase the less expensive male form. Pricing experts name this

strategy as gender-based pricing.

Through my research, I would like to know how aware are people of

the pink tax and the pricing strategy for women's items. I would also

like to explore why there has been no success in bringing a halt to

this unfair taxation in our country. Throughout this research, raising

awareness of the pink tax will be the most significant motive. By

conducting the research, I want to determine what extent people

already know about this pink tax. If they already know, then I would

like to know what their current perceptions about this pricing are. I

am also going to explore the possible hurdles which have hampered

bringing changes. I hope that this research will at least create some

awareness among women about this gender-pricing. This awareness

later may lead them to work for some abiding and fair changes in

the system.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

BACKGROUND
The pink tax is a gender-biased concept. Women love things to be

sparkly, shiny, and colorful. This preference of some women has

become a social standard of being feminine. Therefore,

manufacturing companies try to present their products in a more

typically feminine way. Then, they charge women a lot more than

they usually charge men. Those products are barely different from

each other. But still, they differ a lot in price just because of their

appearance or some other mild difference like aroma. Mostly, both

gender-biased versions function the same way. From children to

adults, every type of female product has this hidden tax attached to

them. It affects almost all the aspects of women's day to day life.

Researches say women are incurring more than men by 42% yearly

(Anushka, 2019). It has become a global situation currently.

Source: (bankrate.com, 2020)

From this above graph of cumulative data, we can see how

drastically the annual expenditure rises year-wise. Though the price

difference does not seem to be big initially, it adds up at the end.

That

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

is why we have to be careful enough, even if the price difference

seems affordable when a smaller purchase is made. Our

consciousness can save us from this discriminatory pricing strategy.

We all know women love to shop more. In contrast, men tend to

spend less time than women on average. Thus, brands are taking

advantage of this weakness by charging women extra. This extra set

amount is the pink tax. The pink tax is known as the unfair price hike
 for female-oriented products. It is something that most of the

consumers of the world are unaware of. Thus, most of us are paying

such tax and unknowingly supporting it.

Products Women's Men's Average Price Percent Difference

Average Price Price Difference

Razors BDT. 599 BDT. 450 BDT. 150 33% Razor Cartridges

BDT. 850 BDT. 679 BDT. 171 25% Shampoo BDT. 200 BDT.

180 BDT. 20 11% Fairness Cream BDT. 334 BDT. 281 BDT.

53 19% Shower Gel BDT. 420 BDT. 375 BDT. 45 12%

Chart: Price discrimination on personal care

products in Bangladesh Source: chaldal.com,

daraz.com.bd

The argument on whether the pink tax is justified or not is a flawed

discussion. Sometimes, we may not be able to measure the exact

amount we are paying extra. It is because some products do not have

reasonably comparable male versions. From the above chart, we can

easily visualize the

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

intensity of this kind of discrimination from Bangladesh's

perspective. There is also a misconception that women are more

likely to maintain personal hygiene than most men, which is not

necessarily the case. Manufacturers often use this myth as an excuse

to justify the higher price on women's items. But this strategy does

not make their point clear as the pricing of any product or service

can not be fixed depending on personal preferences.

Apart from the above chart, other product categories are not free

from gender biases. For example, between an Avengers-themed

backpack and another with unicorn horn and glitter ears, there is a

BDT 100 price difference (Islam, 2020). Women start facing this

pricing discrimination from their very childhood. In Bangladesh, we

face pricing discrimination even in baby products and accessories.

People often categorize baby toys by stereotypical gender roles. In a

society like ours, baby boys are typically encouraged to play with

toys themed superheroes. Whereas, baby girls are mostly asked to

play only with barbie princess-themed toys, which are also with a

comparatively higher price range.

The most saddening part of this pricing strategy is when they

discriminate against the pricing of medical equipment. The same

companies are charging more for the canes or braces made for

women significantly more than the men's one. Authorities impose the

same discrimination on adult diapers also. Already, women are

earning less. Moreover, they are subjected to pay a lot more than

men on average. We have to take action against this injustice by

boycotting products associated with the pink tax. We may use

gender-neutral products or blue products until or unless this

overpricing of pink products is neutralized.

In this present world, people still consider female personal hygiene

products as luxury items. The government should not impose tariffs

on female hygiene products as these are women's necessities, not

any luxury. The USA has recently successfully demolished the tax

on tampons in 16 states and

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

has tried to reduce gender discrimination to some extent (King,

2019). It shows how much creating awareness can help us to remove

stereotypical prejudices from our society. By raising awareness, we

may demolish the pink tax from our Bangladesh as well soon.

Awareness removes ignorance.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In my research, I would like to learn more about the reason behind

such price differences between men's and women's products due to

the "Pink Tax". My research will address the following research

questions:

1. What do women perceive about the pink tax?

2. How is it affecting their lifestyle?

3. What is the reason behind knowingly or

unknowingly paying this extra amount? 4. What is

their view on such discrimination persisting in our

society?

5. What were the products for which they had to pay

the most as the "Pink Tax"? 6. What do they suggest

to stop such discrimination?

7. How is such biasness creating mental stress among them?

8. How are they going to act after knowing about the pink tax?
HYPOTHESIS
The pink tax is a type of tax that shows support for gender

discrimination. From my research, I assume that women in our

country are still unaware of this tax. Thus, they are paying this extra

amount and unknowingly supporting such discrimination. I surmise,

if they become conscious about such a bias, then they will take

decisive steps to stop such discrimination. I also presume

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

that most women in Bangladesh must face various other challenges,

which are probably somewhat correlated with discrimination like the

pink tax, resulting in unnecessary mental stress.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
For my primary research, I have conducted an online survey using

google forms. The respondents were mostly the students of North

South University and other professionals like jobholders,

businesspersons, and homemakers. The purpose of this survey is to

find out the opinions of my respondents regarding the pink tax. Most

of my questionnaires include MCQs related to my research topic.

For my secondary research, I used related online articles, journals,

newspapers, books, and other published materials on my research

topic to help me to be better informed about the real scenario.

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

To collect the data, I surveyed a total of 108 people online using the

"Google Forms," as it was not possible for us to convey an offline

survey due to the current pandemic. This survey was intended to get

to know more about the pink tax perception among the people.

Below are the survey questionnaires mentioned. The first three of

these questions are for demographic reasoning. The rest of them are

my actual queries.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 1: What is your gender?

The above bar chart shows the gender preference for this specific
survey. The horizontal line "X axis" indicates the number of

respondents, and the vertical line "Y-axis" shows the genders.

As the phenomenon "pink tax" creates gender discrimination more

towards women, we preferred women more as our respondents.

Among 108 respondents, 90 of them were female, and the other 18

were male.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 2: Which age group do you belong to?

The above bar chart shows the age groups of the respondents. The
horizontal line "X-axis" indicates the number of respondents, and

the vertical line "Y-axis" shows the age groups.

As it was an online survey, we only could manage respondents who

are involved online. Among 108 respondents, 68 were the 16-25

years old young adults who are the most involved online. Twenty-

eight of them were 26-35 years old mature adults who are

comparatively less involved. 8 of them were 36-45 years old middle-

agers who are less engaged than the mature adults. The other four

were 46-55 years old, who seems to be the least engaged online.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 3: What is your profession?

The above bar chart shows the professions of my assenters. The

horizontal line "X-axis" indicates the number of respondents, and

the vertical line "Y-axis" shows the occupations.

In terms of professions, among 108 respondents, 76 were students,

whereas sixteen respondents were homemakers, 12 were jobholders,

and the other 4 were business people. The intention behind

surveying people of different professional backgrounds was to gather

more diverse opinions about the pink tax from different

perspectives.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 4: The first time you heard about the pink tax, what came into
your mind?

Through this question, I wanted to know the first thought that came

into mind when the respondents heard about the pink tax for the first

time. By asking this, I intended to learn more about the

preconception people may have about the pink tax.

The above pie chart shows that the maximum respondents, who are

83.3% of the total, could not think of anything relevant when they

heard about the pink tax for the first time, maybe because they had

no clue about this delegitimized taxation system beforehand. It may

indicate that most of the people in our country are still unaware of

the pink tax.

The chart also shows that 9.3% of the respondents thought the pink

tax is a legal tax imposed by the government. These people

misconceived the pink tax as an actual tax, maybe because of the

word "tax" itself attached to the phenomenon.

5.6% of the respondents presumed this pink tax as a legit tax

imposed on the pink-colored products only.

Surprisingly, only the rest 1.9% could identify this as the extra

amount charged on female products, maybe as they already had

some idea regarding gender-discriminatory pricing strategy.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 5: When was the first time you heard about the pink tax?

I asked my respondents this question to know how recently they got

to hear about the pink tax. Their response can help us realize
initially how late this country's people have raised this issue.

From the above pie chart, we can see that the maximum people, who

are 75.5% of the total respondents, heard about the pink tax for the

first time after starting to do this survey. As I added a short

definition about the pink tax at the beginning of the google form,

they acknowledged the phenomenon while heading towards the

initial survey procedure.

However, 13.2% of the responders heard about this recently, 9.4% of

them a few months ago, and only 1.9% of them a few years ago.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 6: These two products have similar functionality

but different in color, so can you guess the price?

I asked this question to my assenters to determine if they ever

noticed the significant price difference between any two products

with similar functionality but different colors. In short, my motive

behind this question was to identify if they ever had a clue

beforehand regarding this gender versioning.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

The above pie chart represents that 70.4% of my assenters presumed

both the products' prices, as mentioned above, to be the same. From

this, we can easily assume that the maximum is entirely unaware of

such discrimination in pricing.

20.4% of the respondents could not even guess the price as they had

no idea beforehand. 5.6% even believed that blue product costs

more than the pink product.

However, only an insignificant amount of people, who are 3.7% of

the total, could think of the actual price, which seems disheartening.

I intended this question to be in disguise only to have a quantitative

idea about precisely what percentage of people can be unaware of

brands' pricing policy.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 7: How do you feel about the existence of

gender-biased tax like the pink tax?

While answering this question, my responders already started having

a minimal idea about the pink tax's existence. This question queries

them about their perception of this whole issue.

As per the above-collected data, 50.9% believe that a lack of

awareness results in such gender biased tax. 32.1% of my total

responders realized that it is creating gender inequality, 13.2%

reported this whole issue is unfair.

The rest believes that if there is a logic behind such discrepancy, this

extra amount makes sense. However, this 3.8% of people

presumably think of this pink tax as an efficient pricing strategy that

can be legit according to their economic significance.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 8: What was the main reason for you to pay the pink tax?
As we all have been paying this pink tax throughout our life

knowingly or unknowingly, this specific question queries about the

circumstances under which my respondents paid the extra amount as

the pink tax.

According to the pie chart above, our collected data says that 85.2%

of the selected respondents consider a lack of awareness as their

main reason to pay the pink tax. It means that whenever they paid

the pink tax, they were not even aware of its existence.

9.3% of the respondents stated that they had no other option but to

pay the pink tax, maybe because their desired female product

includes the pink tax.

3.7% of them had a chance to choose male products but still did not

want to use them, maybe as this was pushing them out of their

comfort zone.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!
Only 1.9% supported the option of avoiding the product that has the

pink tax included. From this, we can surmise that the most common

reason for my respondents to pay the pink tax was their

unawareness.

Question 9: Which of the following product categories

charges the most as the pink tax? (Please answer based on

your experience)

My intention behind asking this question to my respondents was to

identify initially which product category charges them the most as

the pink tax, based on their personal experience.

Here, 38.9% of my respondents believe that personal care products

charge the most as the pink tax, based on their personal experience.

9.6% think of children's accessories and toys as the most charged

product category. Whereas 16.7% think of clothing and the other

14.8% think of health care products as the mostly charged product

category.

Converging these data, as mentioned above, we may assume that

women face the most discrimination regarding the personal care

product category's pricing.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Question 10: How much do you agree or disagree on the

claim that the pink tax is ethical?

There has always been a debate on whether the existence of the pink

tax is ethical or not. Brands often try to justify the extra amount they

charge by addressing this as an efficient pricing strategy. This

question was meant to determine what the regular people perceive

about this vague justification, which is often supported by the

pricing experts.

Here, 51.9% of the respondents strongly disagreed that the pink tax

is ethical, which means they strongly asserted that the pink tax

seems unethical. 35.2% of the total participants also expressed that

they do not find this taxation system ethical.

However, 7.4% decided to stay neutral regarding this issue. These

people neither agreed nor disagreed.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

Surprisingly, some 5.6% decided to agree on the pink tax being

ethical. Those respondents may have the same perspective as some

pricing experts or professionals. Considering all the responses to this

very question, I am assuming that the people's percentage with such

a view will be regarded as negligible in the long run.

Question 11: To take a stand against the pink tax, what will

you prefer to do from the following options?

By far, we have been able to identify the perception of the pink tax

issue through the respondents' eyes. By this specific questionnaire,

we are trying to focus more on what may be our considerable

solution. This question queried people about what they would prefer

to do to stand against the pink tax.

From the data we collected by surveying this very question, we can

observe that most respondents chose to create awareness of this tax

being unethical. They were 44.4% of the total participants.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

31.5% of the people who participated in this survey preferred to

choose the blue version of their desired products instead of the pink

ones whenever they invalidly charge extra.

Some 20.4% of the respondents even supported the suggestion of taking help from
law agencies.

However, the rest 3.7% agreed on still purchasing the products

associated with the pink tax as these goods look attractive. This

3.7% of the participants are even ready to pay the pink tax, maybe

because they find the eye-catchy packaging worthy of that extra

amount.

Question 12: How is this price discrimination affecting your lifestyle?

I asked my respondents to determine what kind of adversity this

issue has created the most in their personal lives. Data collected

through this question may show us how this price discrimination is

affecting their lifestyle.

 24

Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

The above 3D pie chart clearly shows this price-discriminatory

taxation system affects 42.6% of the people psychologically. This

issue seems to create unnecessary mental stress among people.

40.7% of people are facing financial inconvenience due to the pink

tax, according to the above chart. They have been paying the extra

amount in the name of the pink tax. At the same time, 13% of my

respondents are being affected socially.

However, 3.7% reported to be not being affected in any of the

before stated ways. Question 13: After acknowledging the

pink tax, what will be your first alternative?

By asking this question to my respondents, I wanted to know what

step they would like to choose as a stand against this unfair system,

as by now, they acknowledged the intensity of the issue.

This doughnut chart shows 50.9% of them decided to purchase the

blue version of their same desired product, as the pink ones include

pink tax.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

28.3% of the respondents chose to switch to gender-neutral products,

which probably means they will not purchase products that support

gender versioning in any way.

The rest 20.8% of people even supported the option of boycotting the

brands which support the pink tax.

Question 14: How do you think brands try the most to impose this tax
on people?

I included this question to my survey to figure out what the familiar

people think about how the brands try to impose this tax on them.
The above 3D doughnut chart shows that 35.8% of the people

supported that the brands try the mos to impose this tax on people

by painting different colors on different versions.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

According to the collected data, 28.3% think that the brands add

unnecessary features to the pink products to convince their

consumers to pay that unnecessarily extra amount.

Whereas, 24.5% of them approved that the brands try to manipulate

people into paying the pink tax by keeping the packaging different.

The rest of my respondents, 11.3%, think that brands try to justify

the pink tax by tagging this as an efficient pricing strategy.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

The most alarming finding of this research work is that people of this
country are still not aware of the existing pink tax. People often

misconceive the pink tax as an actual legal tax due to ignorance on

this very issue. Only a few people have some ideas regarding such a

gender discriminatory pricing strategy.

In Bangladesh, this issue has created a buzz among the people very

recently, whereas this pink tax issue has dominated our society with

gender inequality for a long time. The first world countries started

fighting against this a lot before than us. It may take us longer to

acknowledge the intensity of this issue.

Educating the ordinary people to build a more robust economic sense

is now a crying need. Only creating awareness can bring a much

noticeable change regarding such discrimination. Brands often try to

trick people by charging extra, and it becomes easier for them when

the consumers lack enough knowledge about the pricing policy.

Some people believe that if there is a logic behind such

discrimination, it makes sense. This kind of misconception has been

encouraged by the brands.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

The findings of my research have almost been as expected and

matched my hypothesis to a great extent. This research completely

supported the fact that people are paying the pink tax unknowingly.

Nearly every product category includes the pink tax. To sabotage this

discrimination, our people can channelize their awareness into action

and demolish the pink tax issue, just like the other developed

countries.

The research has certain limitations. These limitations occurred since

there was a limited time given to complete the research study.

Because of the pandemic, I had to collect all my data online. There

were not many options for having personal interviews or site visits.

RECOMMENDATION
From this research, it is evident that most of the respondents are

unaware of the pink tax, and they also suggested that creating proper

awareness can solve this issue. Therefore, I would recommend

creating awareness of this tax being unethical. People should start

purchasing the blue product instead of the pink ones. If we begin

purchasing the blue products manufactured targetting men, brands

will be forced to charge the pink products the same. However, we

can also switch to gender

neutral products. This way, we can easily avoid paying the pink tax.

Taking legal actions against those brands may force the brands not

to charge extra. In support of this movement, I would like to

recommend people to boycott brands charging the pink tax.

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Pink Tax: Why it costs more to be a woman!

REFERENCES
Anushka, N. (2019, April 10). The cost of being a female consumer:

'Pink Tax'. Hifipublic. Retrieved September 3, 2020, from

 https://hifipublic.com/en/2019/04/10/the-cost-of being-a-

female-consumer-pink-tax/

Bankrate. (2020, March 31). The Pink Tax: How women pay more

for pink [Data set]. Retrieved September 3, 2020, from

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/pink-tax-

how women-pay-more/?fbclid=IwAR04eZfgiju-

1xg4IgQTKyXNz

nwwdt3kuxQEmPr1gSgGz7vb_ytPK89VKM

Islam, H. (2020, February 20). The Pink Tax: Why women pay

more for everything. The Daily Star. Retrieved September

3, 2020, from https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/news/the

pink-tax-why-women-pay-more-everything-1870279

King, D. (2019, November 9). 'Pink tax' to end in Ohio, though

advocacy far from over. The Columbus Dispatch.

Retrieved September 3, 2020, from

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191109/pink-tax-to-end-

in-ohio-though-advocacy-far from-over

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