NEWS & INSIGHT
THE HIDDEN COST OF ADVERTISING TO WOMEN SCHOOL : Universidad Carlos III de Madrid COUNTRY : Spain
The ‘pink tax’ is a well-known phenomenon, describing items that carry a higher price when marketed for women than their exact equivalents when packaged and aimed at men. However, new research from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and IMDEA Networks reveals that it is also more expensive to advertise to women. The study found that advertisers had to pay 65 per cent more when trying to reach a female audience than if they were targeting men in a category defined as ‘hobbies’. In ‘style and fashion’, they paid 53 per cent more and in ‘travel’ the cost was 49 per cent more. These results stem from an analysis of data from more than 4.5 million Facebook audience groups in 187 countries and 40 territories, using the the application programming interface (API) of the social network’s advertising platform to collect data on advertising costs for male and female audiences. “Our understanding of the world is determined by the information we consume, much of which is filtered through algorithms that determine what we see on the internet,” reasoned study co-author and researcher at UC3M’s Department of Telematic Engineering Rubén Cuevas.
PhD student at UC3M and lead author Amir Mahrjoo added: “These algorithms, although designed to optimise the user experience, may inadvertently perpetuate biases with significant social consequences. Our research highlights one of these biases, the digital marketing pink tax, demonstrating how seemingly neutral algorithms contribute to gender inequality.” The study also found a significant correlation between this digital marketing pink tax and a country’s level of development. The suggestion is that developed economies have a larger proportion of women as household decision-makers on purchases, increasing the demand and price of advertising to them. In lesser‑developed economies, the researchers speculate that entrenched gender roles reduce the focus on advertising to women. Published in the journal EPJ Data Science , the research encourages advertisers and policymakers to introduce stricter regulations and guidance on discriminatory practices in the field. EB
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Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2024 | 11
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