Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Blacks, Car Dealers, and Prejudice

Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, started a firestorm of discussion with his posts on the study regarding blacks and car dealers. An excerpt:

In Blink, I tell the story of a study done by the law professor Ian Ayres. Ayres put togother of group of young men and women--half white and half black--and sent them to 242 car dealerships all around Chicago. All were attractive, well dressed, and well-educated. All had the same cover story: that they were professionals from a wealthy part of Chicago. All pointed to the lowest-priced car on the floor and said--"I'm interested in buying this car." Ayres's question was--all other things being equal, how does skin color and gender affect the initial price quoted by a car salesman? His results: white men, on average, got quoted a price $725 above invoice, white women got quoted a price $935 above invoice, black women $1195 above invoice, and black men $1687 above invoice.

Read his first post here.

Read his second post here.

Read his third post here.

Read his latest post here.

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