The language of

gender-based
negotiations in
Morocco
By : OUAAD haitham Supervisor : H. chekiri
Table of content:
A. Introduction.
B. Definitions.
C. The strategies used in negotiation
1. The absence of greeting vs usage of terms of endearment.
2. The strategy of insisting.
3. The strategy of quality depreciation of commodity.
D. references.
 introduction

Negotiating the price of goods in moroccan

markets is a very well know phenomenon, people
bargain to reduce the price of almost any article
they wish to buy: clothes, food, electronics…
 introduction

“The woman’s market is volatile”

“He who enters the women’s souq, beware”
“They’ll show you a ton of profit”
“And walk away with your capital”
definition

“Shtara” : Shtara means bargaining here in

morocco, it is a term that might have originated
from the word “shater” which roughly means
someone who is intelligent, clever, or cunning.
(Kapchan 1996)
Statistics

59,69% of women bargain

40.31% of men bargain
The absence of greeting

Two main reasons:

First one is women tend to be careful to avoid establishing

an atmosphere of solidarity or familiarity especially when
the salesperson is a man

The second one is women do this so they can bargain more

comfortably.
example
Terms of endearement
examples
Usage of terms of endearment
The strategy of insisting
statistics

men use the strategy of insisting less because they dont want to
damage their sense of dignity or self-importance.
The strategy of quality depreciation of
commodity.
statistics

This strategy is very face damaging that’s why it is more likely to be

used by men
references
KHARRAKI, A. (2001). Moroccan sex-based linguistic difference in bargaining. Discourse & Society,
12(5), 615–632. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42888390

Kapchan, Deborah. (1996). Gender on the market: Moroccan women and the revoicing of tradition.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.