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

• We investigate overcharging in a real-world retail market.
• Across two studies we find low levels of dishonesty.
• We find behavioral consistency across several purchases.
• We discuss avenues for future research on market characteristics on dishonesty.

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.