Perhaps conservatives are better in managing their money. I am an independent who leans conservative and I look for bargains. Social injustices are not top of the agenda when I spend money.

‘ Conservatives Are More Open to Seemingly Inferior Products Political Leaders Than Liberals Are’

Harvard Business School or not, social science experiments like this have often been found 'non-reproducible'. A different group repeating the same experiment may get much different results or interpret similar results differently.

That said, I'm pretty sure political orientation, religious background, education, wealth, height and weight, sex, market experience, and so forth all interact with each other, under various circumstances. That seems like a truism. I'm not sure I could devise an experiment that would yield consistent, valid results proving that.

Question: did the alleged conservative vegetable shoppers agree that they had picked out inferior produce? If so, did they have an explanation for their behavior? (Maybe what looked OK to the shopper looked inferior to the experimenters?)

Was some unaccounted variable at work? Perhaps wealthy people (rather than conservative) people choose food in a market differently than less-wealthy people?

So, I'm very liberal and I've very fussy about stuff I buy in person. Slightly dented can? No. Slightly discolored spot on banana peel? No. Slightly crushed box of cereal? No. Speck of something on the milk bottle? No. This might be some sort of superstitious thinking, On some things, like shoes, I expect better service from higher cost items more than very cheap ones. On the other hand, if I have to replace an appliance (washing machine) I'm likely to look on line, check out Consumer Reports, and buy it sight-unseen if it's rated highly. Does it make sense to dither over a can of beans but buying a washing machine without seeing it for real? No. (I've looked at a lot of appliances in stores. Touching it, looking at it, etc. doesn't tell you the really essential information: how well does it work, and how long will it last.

Some shopping behaviors (well, behaviors in general) are just irrational -- a little bit crazy.

If it doesn't enhance my status, who gives a toss? It'a all about me or else it's no concern of mine.

Having said that, there are big, beautiful bright red glistening strawberries that sell well, and then there are the pale, smallish sometimes mis-shaped ones I grow that actually taste like strawberries. This is the result of commercial breeding to produce stuff that sells on appearance and shelf life, so perhaps conservatives are on to something, and market researchers are uncovering paradoxes of their own creation.

They kept price equal though.

I don't find this to be a very good experiment. Broadly defining people as "conservative" and then zeroing in on that as the only possible cause seems like a very biased study looking for a very particular outcome. Including the idea that they believe in karma as a reasoning is also absurd. I'm not a conservative either, so this isn't me trying to defend myself.

I'm not saying the produce that lacks good symmetry is bad or that those that does isn't breeded for appearance primarily. But assuming people aren't growing it themselves this is the choice.

Maybe it was an incomplete study. But I imagine it is easier to ask a person their political stances than asking how much money they have.