Pinkflation, when fashion is more expensive for women
As a recent study showed, women are more affected by the current inflation crisis than men. This new concept now has a name: Pinkflaktion
It is not a new phenomenon that products marketed for women are sold at higher prices than products for men. Shavers are often cited as a classic example. Service providers, such as hairdressing salons, also quote different prices for women - and this despite the fact that not all short haircuts are equally elaborate.
The extent of this phenomenon is large and known as the "pink tax". However, the fact that the inflation rate for these product prices is twice as high for women is relatively new. But what to do about pinkflation?
According to Eurostat, the annual inflation rate in the eurozone rose to 8.6% in June 2022, up from 8.1% in May 2022. These price increases are partly due to the war in Ukraine, but also to the Covid 19 pandemic and the climate crisis. A recent study by Comparatis found that men's clothing prices have increased by 0.3% in 20 years for men and 6.51% for women, and that women are the victims of inflation.
Inflation for no apparent reason
Inflation is therefore proven on women's shelves. But what is the reason, then? Why is it that only women's clothing is affected by this price increase?
A direct reference to the ‘pink tax’, a term used to describe a gendered price difference between similar products and services at the expense of female consumers, ‘pink inflation’ is difficult to explain. For example, women’s and men’s clothing are generally made from the same raw materials and in the same factories. Moreover, the sheer number of players in the women’s fashion sector should discourage brands from raising prices, thus respecting the laws of supply and demand.
“From a competitive point of view, there is no apparent reason why women’s fashion has become more expensive, whereas this is not the case for men’s and children’s fashion,” explains Michael Kuhn, an expert on consumer issues at Comparis, a price comparison service that participated in the study.
It is just a matter of appearance?
So how can this discrepancy be justified? Could it be another stroke of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” or simply a matter of chance? The explanation is a little more rational: “Female customers react less elastically to price increases in fashion items”. Men, on the other hand, “seem to be more inclined to sometimes give up or switch to the cheapest product when a garment increases in price. This is at least what the producers fear”, the Swiss media NZZ Am Sonntag reports. In other words, the textile industry is speculating on women consumption patterns.
Dominique Grisard, a lecturer at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Basel, told the NZZ that “prices reflect the fact that women in our society attach more importance to the way they present themselves”, an element that benefits retailers.
Indeed, the price increase would not stop their shopping spree. This only serves to remind us of the price inequalities that women are already experiencing, particularly in the hygiene department or in hairdressing salons. Above all, it should be remembered that there are two equivalent products: one for men, and the other marketed for women. The one for women will always be more expensive.
