Who prefers to buy improved period products in India? Evidence from list experiment

In the backdrop of significantly high reporting of usage of hygienic period products by Indian women in different surveys including National Family Health Survey 5 (2019–21), the current paper attempts to elicit young married girls’ attitude towards spending on sanitary napkins. This might be important because menstrual management in low-and-medium-income countries are often shrouded by shame and sense of impurity, creating a background of Social Desirability Bias (SDB). This study employs List Experiment (LE) technique alongside direct questions in a survey of 1200 young women from Bihar and West Bengal to present a new measurement of preference for marketed sanitary product and detect SDB in reporting in direct question. The results show strong presence of SDB, particularly among women belonging to Islamic faith (32 %), general castes (30 %) and with more than primary education (31 %). Correlates of menstrual spending with true responses provide new insights into product choice, revealing that the motivation is driven more by the desire to conceal menstruation than hygiene concerns. Post-marital intra-household agency and access to open discussions about menstruation with all genders assume a crucial role in understanding the need for spending on period products, drawing policy highlights on inclusive IEC and initiatives to discard the menstrual disgrace.