Laura’s Blog

Products marketed to women can cost up to 50 percent more than similar products for men, according to a new article in Consumer Reports.

We’re talking twin products – ones that have identical ingredients yet have different packaging, description, or name.

Curious to see if I am falling prey to paying 50 percent more because of gender labeling, I did some snooping around my house. Found two cans of shaving cream, pictured below:

My husband’s Rite Aid Extra Thick Shave Cream for Sensitive Skin (14 oz), and my Skintimate Essence “Soothing Escape” Moisturizing Shave Gel for Dry or Sensitive Skin (9.5 oz).

The cost for each:

• Rite Aid Shave Cream – Approximately $1.79 for 14 oz
• Skintimate – Approximately $3.00 for 9.5 oz (I bought the Costco 3-pack, so it was probably a bit less per can)

Now, these aren’t identical products, but they’re close enough. The four main ingredients in both products are:

1. Water
2. Stearic Acid (hubby’s) Palmitic Acid (mine)
3. Triethanolamine
4. Isobutane (hubby’s) Isopentane (mine)

Turns out I paid closer to 70 percent more for my girlie shave gel (even more, when you consider that his can is 4.5 oz larger than mine). And for what?

A “pretty,” skinny can with a picture of a leaf on it.

My husband’s thick, stubby can has a bold, “manly” type font and ugly clip art of a blob of shaving cream.

But I’ll bet both formulas help remove hair with equal efficiency.

According to a product manager Consumer Reports interviewed, girlie shaving cream costs more because 80 percent of women shave in the shower, and cans with aluminum bottoms don’t rust. Also, tall, thin cans cost more to manufacture than short, squatty ones. And women’s products usually contain more fragrance.

Consumer Reports discovered gender-based price discrepancies in other products, including antiperspirant, pain reliever, eye drops, body wash, and razor blades.

I confess: I succumb to the allure of gender-based marketing. I like my feminine-smelling shampoo, body wash, moisturizing lotion, and shave gel! (I’m the only female my four-person household; that might explain why.)

But from now on, I’m going to think twice before paying extra just for pretty packaging.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

• How can you make your brand more desirable?

• Brainstorm a gender-based product you could provide (in which you would charge more for an identical product marketed to either men or women). Write out a 2-sentence description of your product and post it in the Comments area. We’ll give you feedback.

Source:

• “Men win the battle of the sexes,” Consumer Reports, January 2010, pp. 8-9.