2003/06/01 by Michael Shohat, Jochen Musch · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · Psychology · Mathematics · #Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies #Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research #Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing #Common value auction #Turkish #German #Ethnic group #Field (mathematics) #Psychology #Social psychology #Advertising #Marketing #Economics #Business #Linguistics #Political science #Microeconomics #Law #Mathematics
paper · doi:10.1024//1421-0185.62.2.139
openalex publication_date 2003/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
It is argued that online auctions offer a promising new platform for conducting field experiments in various areas of psychology. Both advantages and problems associated with the new method are discussed. To demonstrate its feasibility, a field experiment on ethnic discrimination was conducted. In an online auction, user names identified two sellers as being either of German or Turkish origin. Parallel sets of DVD movie discs were offered by both sellers. Contrary to previous research showing considerable discrimination against members of the Turkish minority in everyday situations, seller ethnicity had no effect on sale prices and number of bidders. However, auctions conducted under the German user name received their winning bids earlier than those run under the Turkish user name.