International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Pink Tax: Do women’s products cost more than mens?

This paper examines the existence and underlying cause of the "pink tax", which is a form of gender-based price discrimination in consumer markets. While it's not a formal tax, the pink tax refers to the higher prices often charged for goods and services marketed towards women. With the use of product-by-product analysis of razors, deodorants, hair care items etc, this study compared price, quantity, function, research and development, and labour inputs to assess whether price differences are justified. The findings suggest that in many cases, products that are marketed to women are priced higher despite offering similar functions and production characteristics. These disparities most often appear explicitly in everyday consumer goods and essential services, where differences in packaging and branding don't fully explain the magnitude of the price gap. The paper also considers a key counterargument that attributes price differences to product differentiation, acknowledging its relevance while identifying its limitations across categories lacking meaningful variation. The analysis over here indicates that the persistence of the pink tax may be better understood as a demand-side phenomenon, which is influenced by market segmentation, consumer behaviour, and relatively inelastic demand. Overall, the paper argues that gender-based pricing reflects broader structural patterns within the market therefore, raising important questions about fairness, efficiency, and the role of policy in addressing such disparities.