Publications

July 2021
Article

Consumers—Especially Women—Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher Gender Pay Gaps

By: Tobias Schlager, Bhavya Mohan, Katherine DeCelles and Michael I. Norton

We document a unique driver of consumer behavior: the public disclosure of a firm’s gender pay gap. Four experiments provide causal evidence that when firms are revealed to have gender pay gaps, consumers are less willing to pay for their goods, a reaction driven by... View Details

Keywords: Pay Gap; Perceived Wage Fairness; Purchase Intention; Gender; Wages; Fairness; Perception; Consumer Behavior

03 May 2016
First Look

First Look, May 3, 2016

Past By: Kouchaki, M., and F. Gino Abstract—Despite our optimistic belief that we would behave honestly when facing the temptation to act unethically, we often cross ethical boundaries. This paper explores one possibility for why people... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

Author: Michael C. Jensen Abstract There is confusion between integrity, morality, and ethics. In our much longer paper on the topic (see "Integrity: A Positive Model that Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2022
Working Paper

Beliefs about Gender Differences in Social Preferences

By: Christine L Exley, Oliver P. Hauser, Molly Moore and John-Henry Pezzuto

While there is a vast (and mixed) literature on gender differences in social preferences, little is known about believed gender differences in social preferences. This paper documents robust evidence for believed gender differences in social preferences. Across a wide... View Details

Keywords: Social Preferences; Gender; Behavior; Attitudes; Values and Beliefs

Article

Conveniently Upset: Avoiding Altruism by Distorting Beliefs About Others' Altruism

By: Rafael Di Tella, Ricardo Perez-Truglia, Andres Babino and Mariano Sigman

We present results from a “corruption game” (a dictator game modified so that recipients can take a side payment in exchange for accepting a reduction in the overall size of the pie). Dictators (silently) treated to be able to take more of the recipient’s tokens, took... View Details

Keywords: Convenient Beliefs; Cognitive Dissonance; Values and Beliefs; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking

20 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Bargain Hunters Beware: A Store's 'Original Price' Might Not Be After All

PeopleImages Sale! Even the word is enough to send a flutter through the hearts of certain shoppers, who salivate in anticipation of scoring a discount off a product’s original price. Few consumers stop to think, however, that the only way they know they are getting a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising; Retail

April 2018
Article

Consumers Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios

By: Bhavya Mohan, Tobias Schlager, Rohit Deshpandé and Michael I. Norton

We document a novel driver of consumer behavior: pay ratio disclosure. Swiss corporation performance data gathered during a legally mandated pay ratio referendum reveals that salient high pay ratios are associated with decreased firm sales (Pilot Study). An... View Details

Keywords: Pay Ratio; Wage Fairness; Purchase Intention; Customers; Wages; Fairness; Consumer Behavior

24 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 24, 2006

savings, or fertility behavior in African nations. However we do find weak evidence that AIDS has lead to a slow-down in education gains, as measured by youth literacy, and a rise in poverty, as measured by malnutrition. Download working... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

Resource Allocations across Social Categories Authors:Stephen M. Garcia, Max Bazerman, Shirli Kopelman, Avishalom Tor, and Dale T. Miller Publication:Special Issue on Behavioral Ethics: A New Empirical Perspective on Business View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Sep 2015
First Look

September 15, 2015

Individuals Notice and Avoid Unethical Behavior By: Zhang, T., P. O. Fletcher, F. Gino, and M. Bazerman Abstract—Research on ethics has focused on the factors that help individuals act View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2009
Article

How to Combat Online Ad Fraud

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertisers frequently fall victim to dishonest, tech-savvy publishers. Here's a sampling of common scams with some advice on how to outwit their perpetrators. View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Ethics; Marketing; Behavior

April 2011
Case

Daniel Kim's Dilemma (A)

By: Bill George and Natalie Kindred

Daniel Kim was considering "blowing the whistle" on his friend, the CEO of a fast-growing startup where Kim had spent most of his professional career. When Kim joined the company, called Cardio-Metric, in 2002, it consisted of seven young engineers (including its two... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Fairness; Corporate Accountability; Emotions; Behavior; Leadership Style; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Disclosure