A German economist has worked out how a cheap deal can make people ignore their personal convictions - and says his study debunks the idea that market forces can iron out unethical practices.
Armin Falk, an economist at the University of Bamberg, set up a series of experiments to figure out how and why our personal convictions so often fly out the window when we are confronted with a possible bargain.
The Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper said Falk and his team figured out it was not just the prospect of getting a good deal that undermined good intentions - being in a competitive market made it even worse.
They ran a series of experiments with mice and students which suggested this was the case.
Read about this disturbing but important experiment
here.