Gender and beauty price discrimination in produce markets

Bradley Ruffle, Arie Sherman and Zeev Shtudiner

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2022, vol. 97, issue C

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.

Keywords: Audit study; Gender price discrimination; Beauty; Negotiation; Price discounts; Search costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:97:y:2022:i:c:s2214804322000015

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2022.101825

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