Selfish or altruistic? A social experiment to promote cooperative behavior in the marketplace

Abstract

Markets are systems composed of complex relationships, and many transactions are usually conducted in anonymity. The dominant economic theory holds that people are completely selfish and individualistic beings. Therefore, in such interactions, anonymous or not, they always try to maximize their earnings, profit, or wellbeing, although, for that purpose, they may act in an uncooperative manner. As a consequence, a question arises: Can altruistic behaviors become common practice in the decisions of the marketplace? A hypothetical case was proposed to the participants in this study: A company must decide its domestic price policy when it can export, at double the price, the same products it is selling in the local market. Subsequently, a survey with a two-stage cluster probability sampling design stratified by income level was conducted. By means of a simple social experiment, this article shows that not all individuals in the market are selfish and people with more altruistic attitudes commonly coexist with them. Finally, subtle experimental interventions promoting more cooperation resulted in an increase in altruistic attitudes.

Keywords

• Economic policy
• market research
• social behavior
• economic cooperation