Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/226387 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 367
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Firms often discourage certain categories of individuals from buying their products, in contrast with typical assumptions about profit maximization. This paper provides a potential rationale for such firm behavior: consumers seek to signal that they have "good" moral values to themselves and others by avoiding products popular among people with "bad" values. In laboratory experiments, I provide causal evidence that demand for a product is lower if its customer base consists of individuals with undesirable moral values. This effect occurs for both observable and unobservable consumption and for products that do not possess any inherent moral or undesirable qualities.
Subjects: 
moral values
social image
self-image
signaling
consumption
experiments
JEL: 
D12
C91
M3
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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