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Gender and beauty price discrimination in produce markets

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  • Ruffle, Bradley J.
  • Sherman, Arie
  • Shtudiner, Zeev

Abstract

We design a field experiment to test for price discrimination at seemingly highly competitive Israeli produce markets. We trained 90 buyers and sent them to produce markets across Israel. After verifying a product's posted price, they asked for a discount on a one-kilogram or one-unit purchase. Predominantly male vendors employ third-degree price discrimination: women are offered larger and more frequent discounts than men, and the more attractive the female buyer, the larger and more frequent the discount offered. Male buyers do not benefit from this beauty discount. No other buyer characteristic is a significant predictor of the likelihood or size of a discount. To understand our findings, we provide a more nuanced view of these markets that includes search costs and considerable vendor price-setting discretion.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruffle, Bradley J. & Sherman, Arie & Shtudiner, Zeev, 2022. "Gender and beauty price discrimination in produce markets," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:97:y:2022:i:c:s2214804322000015
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2022.101825
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    Cited by:

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    2. Zylbersztejn, Adam & Babutsidze, Zakaria & Hanaki, Nobuyuki & Hopfensitz, Astrid, 2024. "How beautiful people see the world: Cooperativeness judgments of and by beautiful people," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 296-308.
    3. Chan, Ho Fai & Ulrich, Fabian & Altman, Hannah & Schmidt, Sascha L. & Schreyer, Dominik & Torgler, Benno, 2022. "Beyond performance? The importance of subjective and objective physical appearance in award nominations and receptions in football," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 271-289.
    4. Ling, Leng & Luo, Danglun & Li, Xiaoxia & Pan, Xintong, 2022. "Looking good by doing good: CEO attractiveness and corporate philanthropy11We thank the co-editor (Suqin Ge) and the referees for many valuable comments and suggestions. We thank Huimin Li and Jing Sh," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Shtudiner, Zeev & Siniver, Erez & Tobol, Yossef & Yaniv, Gideon, 2024. "Female attractiveness engenders honesty among men but dishonesty among women," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 592-598.
    6. Sherman, Arie & Barokas, Guy, 2023. "The effect of name letter on market prices: Field experiments on seller behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Bhattacharya, Haimanti & Dugar, Subhasish, 2023. "Undervaluation versus unaffordability as negotiation tactics: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).

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