One of your coworkers makes the argument that the higher price on the pink helmet makes sense because it is an example of value-based pricing. Her argument is that a consumer who does not want to pay the higher price for the pink helmet can buy the blue version. Respond to her argument.

Your firm did market research and realized it can maintain demand and charge $20 more for a pink version of a bicycle helmet than the blue version. Both helmets cost the same amount to produce. Your manager asks you whether the firm should charge a higher price for the pink helmet. As you research your response, you come across a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. The report found that about half of the items it evaluated—which included deodorant, shaving gel/cream, razors, perfumes and body sprays, and financial products—cost more when they were marketed to women, which is sometimes referred to as a “pink tax.” Gender-based pricing differences are legal, and the GAO could not conclude that bias was to blame for the price differences. However, you also find information that suggests consumers have requested laws that punish retailers and manufacturers that charge higher prices for women’s versions of products when there is no cost-based justification. Further, you learn that consumer activists are publicly shaming brands that charge higher prices for certain population segments.