Mindful Marketing
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Mindful Meter & Matrix
    • Leadership
  • Mindful Matters Blog
  • Engage Your Mind
    • Mindful Ads? Vote Your Mind!
  • Expand Your Mind
  • Contact

Should Plus-Size Women Pay More?

1/17/2015

 
Picture
People expect to pay more for larger things, whether it’s a venti coffee or a king-size comforter.  It costs more to make bigger products, so producers need to price larger items accordingly.  The same principle applies to clothing.  However, should one gender pay more than the other for plus-size pants?

Old Navy has sparked a size/gender controversy with its jeans pricing.  While the cheap-chic retailer typically sells a pair of its “big” men’s jeans for the same price as the standard-size pants, it charges considerably more for plus-size women’s jeans than it does for the same style of regular-size ones.  For instance, here are some specific examples from the company’s website:

-  Regular Men’s Premium Loose Fit Jeans  $39.94
+ Big Men’s Premium Loose Fit Jeans  $39.94  
-  Women’s Regular Rockstar Midrise Skinny Jeans  $30.00 
+ Women’s Plus-Size Rockstar Midrise Skinny Jeans  $44.00  

As you can see, that’s a 0% difference for larger men and a 46.7% difference for larger women.  This significant discrepancy has not gone unnoticed by consumers.  Many have criticized Old Navy’s pricing practices, including over 95,000 who have signed a Change.org petition.  Although the petition claims victory, at the time of this post the retailers’ web pricing remains imbalanced, as reflected in the example above.


An Old Navy representative has responded to consumers’ discontent saying that its women’s plus-sized clothing contains special curve enhancing features not typically found in men’s garments.  As a result, the design and manufacture of larger women’s clothing necessitates higher costs that must be covered by higher prices.

That explanation does have merit—special features and designs certainly can increase product costs.  What’s hard to reconcile, however, is the magnitude of the price difference.  Give that they’re jeans, not smartphones, what product enhancements could account for a difference of nearly 50%?  By comparison, Macy’s sells its line of women’s Levi’s 512 jeans at a list price of $54 for regular sizes and $58 for plus sizes—a difference of just 7.4%.

It also may be worth noting that Athletica, which like Old Navy is also owed by the Gap, Inc., sells its plus-size pants for the same price as its regular size pants.  Of course, Athletica’s active wear is different than jeans.  Still, one would think that there would be some price difference between the women’s regular and plus sizes given the large variation in Old Navy’s prices.

Short of a production audit, it’s hard to categorically condemn Old Navy’s jeans-pricing-policies: we just don’t know the products’ actual cost structure.  What can be chastised, however, is the firm’s tactical inconsistency—pricing that is out-of-step with that of its men’s lines, its competitors’ products, and its sister company’s apparel.

If nothing more, this pricing inconsistency gives Old Navy the appearance of impropriety on an issue of great social concern—women’s body image.  As a result of missing the mark both in terms of marketing efficacy and values encouragement, Old Navy’s plus-size pricing can be deemed Mindless Marketing.


Picture
Picture
Subscribe to Mindful Matters blog.
Learn more about the Mindful Matrix and Mindful Meter.
Check out Mindful Marketing Ads and Vote your Mind!
Beth Clark
1/19/2015 11:30:07 am

Jess Wilson
1/23/2015 06:21:38 pm

I personally agree that this is very mindless. I don’t see any reason why women’s plus size clothes should cost more, especially if men’s plus sizes don’t increase in price. Just like we discussed in class, when you buy a large vs. a small sweatshirt the price doesn’t change. So even though the plus size clothing has more fabric, there still is no reason for the increase in price. For as much as our nation is trying to become more accepting of all body shapes, it seems like this action really draws attention to the difference between women’s body sizes. I personally would be offended if I had to pay more for my clothes just because I was bigger and a woman. In general, I believe that either both men’s and women’s plus size clothing should both be raised or they should remain the same is the regular apparel price.

David Hagenbuch link
1/26/2015 02:33:02 am

Good points, Jess.

Angela Martin
1/27/2015 12:23:21 pm

I agree that this is mindless marketing. If our societal values are to encourage women (and men) no matter their size, then Old Navy has definitely not upheld this belief. According to the amount of people that are upset over this, it doesn’t create stakeholder value either. In my experience, Old Navy jeans are made way too small to begin with. I usually have to try on two sizes larger than my normal size to find the right fit. Because of this and the price of their jeans, I have never bought any from Old Navy. I can’t imagine that bigger women have an easy time finding jeans that fit them at Old Navy, and I would definitely not pay that price! This is price discrimination. The fact that Old Navy is making such high prices for their plus size jeans, though, suggests that women are still buying them- otherwise, they would be losing business and would most likely look to lower the price to bring in more customers. It wonders me if many women don’t know that the plus sized jeans are so much more. For people who have never been a smaller size, they probably wouldn’t think to compare prices! I still don’t believe that it’s ethical.

Aaron Poole
1/27/2015 02:12:49 pm

You are definitely correct to say that this falls under "Mindless Marketing." No stakeholders are going to support something that is so upsetting to a large number of people, so it's doing both the customers and the stakeholders a disservice. It certainly isn't in line with our societal values to charge one group of people more for the same product than others. There isn't any conceivable excuse for this decision, especially with such a big price jump. This isn't business smart and it's certainly not ethical.

Corbin Willard
1/27/2015 05:11:58 pm

I Agree as well that this would fall under mindless marketing. Granted that maybe the bigger jeans may use for fabric, the mens section would have the same amount used to. There is no difference between different waist and length size price so why would there be a difference for a girls plus size. Old Navy is almost putting a sexist label on themselves because they aren't doing the same for the men. Since women are more into fashion the market would be easier to sell for a higher price, but the way they are going about it is wrong. If the plus size is going to cost more, both sexes should have to pay more, not just the women.

Andrew B
3/4/2015 07:18:59 am

I don't really see a problem with this. Old Navy has every right to charge whatever they want and if you think it is too much or it offends you, you have every right to not buy it. Also there could be other factors affecting the price besides just the amount of fabric. I don't know the sales numbers but it could be that they sell far more men's plus sizes than women's. If this is the case then they might have to charge more for the women's due to decreased profit margins. For instance if they make 250,000 men's plus sizes and only 50,000 women's they may be able to sell the men's for less due to savings on manufacturing and distributing them in larger quantities.

Rachel Barkey
3/4/2015 08:12:08 am

I agree that this advertisement is mindless. Obviously, it does not create stakeholder value. Women who need to buy the plus size jeans can clearly see the near 50% increase in price, and will be less likely to purchase the jeans. If it truly costs more to manufacture the jeans, it make sense for them to be more expense. However, because other companies can sell plus size jeans at the same price, or a price just slightly higher, than regular size jeans, this does not seem to be the case. Not only does this practice not create stakeholder value for the company, it also does not uphold societal values. Now more than ever, measures are being taken to be sure people have a positive view of the body. Making bigger women pay more for their jeans could be discouraging, leading to a negative body image. Some differences of pricing could be considered necessary due to manufacturing costs, but such a large disparity only leads to a decrease in stakeholder value, and does not uphold societal values.

Sherrilyn Basri link
3/30/2015 10:54:33 pm

I totally agree that this marketing strategy is Mindless. As a woman who wears a big size pants, I find this strategy insults and hurts me. I mean, why should they make different prices for females but not the males? I am sure there are many critics out there who do not agree with Old Navy's market strategy. Even though it may cost more to product big size pants, they do not need to make the prices different. I would not buy anything from Old Navy anymore after knowing its marketing strategy. I will move to another brand because other brands also provide big size pants and their marketing may not insult me. Marks and Spencer will be one of the examples of the brand that I will choose because their products are also high quality and the brand is also careful in their marketing strategy. Therefore, it is mindless because Old Navy does not think that it may hurt the customers' feelings and does not create stakeholder value because the customers, especially the big sized women, do not want to buy at Old Navy anymore because it hurts their feelings.

Alejandra Arreola
10/29/2015 06:23:15 pm

I agree that this advertisement is mindless because women's body image is a social issue for many who are insecure of their figure. No one should be paying more than the original price. I can understand that women's plus-sized clothing contains special features and designs, but it should not increase product costs. Both genders must be treated equal.


Comments are closed.
    Subscribe to receive this blog by email

    Editor

    David Hagenbuch,
    founder of
    Mindful Marketing    & author of Honorable Influence

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All
    + Decency
    + Fairness
    Honesty7883a9b09e
    * Mindful
    Mindless33703c5669
    > Place
    Price5d70aa2269
    > Product
    Promotion37eb4ea826
    Respect170bbeec51
    Simple Minded
    Single Minded2c3169a786
    + Stewardship

    RSS Feed

    Share this blog:

    Subscribe to
    Mindful Matters
    blog by email


    Illuminating
    ​Marketing Ethics ​

    Encouraging
    ​Ethical Marketing  ​


    Copyright 2020
    David Hagenbuch

Proudly powered by Weebly