photo credit: NY Times

In my classmate Aiken’s blog post about gender balancing the toy industry, she mentions the benefits of promoting gender neutrality in both the workforce and toy industry. Although I strongly agree with the pros that come with having a gender balanced company, the strong evidence from a marketing perspective shows creating gender neutral products is not the way to maximize profits.

When I walk down the toiletries aisle of any drugstore, the course material from Comm 101 has allowed something to stand out to me now that never did before: market segmentation. More specifically, gendered marketing.

Many if not all brands in this aisle have done it. They have created both a male and female version of deodorants, razors, shaving cream and eye gel just to name a few. But why do they do this when we both know gender neutrality brings all genders closer and promotes a product’s points of parity? The answer is to overcome gender contamination. By creating a more masculine version of a feminine appearing shampoo by making the packaging more rigid for example, men become less discouraged to purchase the product while women don’t feel as if their product has become more masculine. Their original shampoo still exists… just for women!

Is the idea of gendered market segmentation morally wrong? I think so, as it splits buyers into two categories when the products in both categories perform equally. But from a business perspective, this clever market segmentation has become a game-changer. Or in other words, an easy way to increase sales.

Check out this great video on Gendered Marketing! 

References:

Nobel, Carmen. “Gender Contamination: Why Men Prefer Products Untouched By Women.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

Photo Source:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/12/23/sunday-review/23GRAY/23GRAY-articleLarge.jpg