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한국복식학회(IJCF) 학술지영문홈페이지
[ Article ]
International Journal of Costume and Fashion - Vol. 23, No. 1, pp.46-58
ISSN: 2233-9051 (Print) 2288-7490 (Online)
Print publication date 30 Jun 2023
Received 02 Jun 2023 Revised 22 Jun 2023 Accepted 23 Jun 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7233/ijcf.2023.23.1.046

The Occurrence and the Background of ‘Pink Tax’, the Interaction between Consumers and Industries

Sunyang Park†
BK Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Correspondence to: † syspark@snu.ac.kr

Citation Park, S. (2023). The occurrence and the background of 'Pink Tax', the interaction between consumers and industries. International Journal of Costume and Fashion, 23(1), 46-58.

Abstract

Pink tax refers to a pricing disparity of goods and services by gender. Discourses on the issue have been steadily growing over the past five years. This study aimed to explore the pink tax phenomenon that has occurred in the domestic (South Korean) fashion industry. Case analyses were conducted with a qualitative approach. The data was collected from online news written from April 2018 to March 2023. The findings expand specific and diverse cases of pink tax within South Korean fashion industry. A total of 196 news articles were collected. Then, the articles duplicated or irrelevant were excluded. Total number of 62 articles were analyzed. The findings reveal the scheme of pink tax occurrence demonstrating the social and cultural background. The industry insiders have the idea of gendered norm, which is eventually applied to their marketing strategy. It led to a lower quality and higher retail price of women’s products. There are several implications for academia and industry. This study provides insights under the topic of gender and clothing studies, and for the qualitative research methods of using news article as research data. Fashion brands are advised to consider pink tax free as an attractive option.

Keywords:

Pink tax, Price disparity based on gender, Price disparity, Gender issues

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