Symposium 'The Business of Mistakes: Moral Acceptability of Consumer Exploitation'

The rise of behavioral economics has revealed that consumers often make systematic mistakes that businesses can exploit. This raises a fundamental moral question: Is it morally acceptable for firms to sell products that consumers would be better off not buying?

In a global study across 40 countries, we show that a large majority of respondents view such consumer exploitation as morally wrong, yet at the same time believe that businesses routinely engage in these practices. Moral preferences and beliefs about firm behavior strongly predict attitudes toward consumer regulation, both across individuals and across countries.

We identify three distinct moral types—Libertarians, Substantialists, and Proceduralists—and show that their prevalence at the country level is closely linked to support for consumer regulation.