(Dis-)honesty: Measuring overcharging in a real-world market

Conrads, Julian; Ebeling, Felix; Lotz, Sebastian (2015). (Dis-)honesty: Measuring overcharging in a real-world market. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 57, pp. 98-102. Elsevier 10.1016/j.socec.2015.05.003

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The present research investigates the occurrence of honest vs. dishonest behavior in a real-world competitive retail market involving the sales of loose candy that is priced according to a pay-per-weight scheme. Our results provide evidence for a high degree of honesty among sellers. There are only a few cases of overcharging, in particular when scales are hidden from the buyer (Study 1). Further details suggest that many sellers are consistently honest over repeated sales, and that honesty is robust to the appearance of the buyer or the amount that was purchased (Study 2). We discuss sellers’ concerns for reputation as a plausible explanation for our results.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Organization and Human Resource Management > Organisation

UniBE Contributor:

Berger, Sebastian

Subjects:

600 Technology > 650 Management & public relations
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 330 Economics

ISSN:

2214-8043

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Claudia Probst

Date Deposited:

08 Aug 2017 10:20

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:02

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.socec.2015.05.003

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.94967

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/94967

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