WOMEN LOSING THEIR SHIRTS OVER GENDER PRICING
Oct 25th, 2011 by haileyrae
A recent airing of female infuriation over gender-based pricing, or to put it plainly, gender gauging, has women losing their shirts. CTV’s Lynda Steele hosting ‘Steele On Your Side’ has taken a closer look at the market differences between the sexes.
Many women have a subliminal awareness that they pay more when it comes down to larger purchase negotiations, but Steele suggests it’s more widespread than we think. She points out that, “…it is estimated that Canadian women pay 30 to 50 percent more for many goods and services, from cars to items at the cosmetic counter … .” 1
Steele goes on to expose dry cleaners and hair salons as two of the worst offenders, and when interviewed, Tim Silk of UBC’s Sauder School of Business added, “…gender pricing won’t change until women actively fight back against discriminatory pricing.”2
Given that, “…Women earn less money than their counterparts — 78 cents for every dollar a man gets. But they make more than 80% of buying decisions in all homes. And…Females research more extensively and are less likely to be influenced by ads.” 3 women should be expecting equity when the bill shows up.
In the end, men may be from Mars and women from Venus but the girls still want to know why it costs more to fuel their rockets.
1Steele, Lynda. “Gender Price Gauging Taking Women to the Cleaners.” ctvbc.ca. Wednesday Nov. 9, 2011 3:21 PM PT. 2ibid 3Gogoi, Pallavi.“I Am Woman, Hear Me Shop.” Special Report. February 14, 2005. New York, From Bloomberg BusinessWeek Online