BETHESDA, Md. (August 19, 2014) – Honest Tea recently conducted a national social experiment called The National Honesty Index, and the results are in. When faced with a choice to be honest or not, the experiment found that a resounding 95% of Americans were honest, up from 92% in 2013.
From July 16- August 12, 2014, Honest Tea set up unmanned racks of cold Honest beverages offered for $1 on the honor system in 60 locations across all 50 states & Washington, D.C. At every site, information was collected including the number of people who paid or stole, as well as observable characteristics such as gender and hair color. In a new twist this year, an online component was added to test the honesty of people on the Internet via an honor pact. Through a Facebook application, people were asked to share an inspirational quote on their wall, or not, in return for a coupon. In total, more than 28,000 people participated in person and online.
“We seek to infuse honesty into everything we do from the way we run the company to the organic ingredients we use, so we developed this experiment to see if people around the country share that same value,” said Seth Goldman, co-founder and TeaEO of Honest Tea. “The 95% honesty rate that we saw this year suggests that Americans are a lot more honest than we give ourselves credit for.”
The complete National Honesty Index results are available at www.NationalHonestyIndex.com. Visitors can play a game to challenge their assumptions on honesty, analyze the statistics, and obtain a personalized honesty profile that examines astrological signs, Facebook relationship status, and other details.
Honest Tea will donate all of the funds collected from the on-site social experiments to FoodCorps, a nationwide team of emerging leaders that connects kids to real food, helping them grow up healthy.
Highlights of the results (Combines both digital and physical experiment data):
- Participants in Honolulu, Hawaii were 100% honest two years in a row.
- Honesty returns to the nation’s capital as Washington, D.C. becomes the most improved city, rising to 96% honesty, 16 percentage points higher than 2013.
- Minneapolis, Minn. and Providence, R.I. tie for biggest dip in honesty year over year, dropping 12 percentage points to 81% and 80% respectively.
- Participants in the online experiment (as determined by authenticating via a Facebook application) were 95% honest. People identifying their relationship status on Facebook as “separated” (100% honest) proved to be more honest than “engaged” (94% honest).
- Again, women proved to be more honest than men slightly edging them out 95% to 93% honest.
- For the second year in a row, blondes came out as the most honest hair color with 95%. People with black hair were the least honest at 91%.
Most Honest States:
| Hawaii | 98% Honest |
| Alabama | 98% Honest |
| Alaska | 98% Honest |
| Tennessee | 98% Honest |
Least Honest States:
| Montana | 89% Honest |
| Idaho | 88% Honest |
| Minnesota | 85% Honest |
| Rhode Island | 83% Honest |
Full City Rankings:
Rank | City | State | Honesty |
| 1 | Honolulu | Hawaii | 100% |
| 2 | Lake George | New York | 99% |
| 2 | Manchester | Connecticut | 99% |
| 2 | Birmingham | Alabama | 99% |
| 2 | Nashville | Tennessee | 99% |
| 3 | Little Rock | Arkansas | 98% |
| 3 | Anchorage | Alaska | 98% |
| 3 | Wilmington | Delaware | 98% |
| 3 | New York City | New York | 98% |
| 4 | Detroit | Michigan | 97% |
| 4 | Clearwater | Florida | 97% |
| 4 | Portland | Maine | 97% |
| 4 | Omaha | Nebraska | 97% |
| 4 | Louisville | Kentucky | 97% |
| 4 | Indianapolis | Indiana | 97% |
| 4 | Santa Monica | California | 97% |
| 5 | Greenville | South Carolina | 96% |
| 5 | Arlington | Virginia | 96% |
| 5 | Salt Lake City | Utah | 96% |
| 5 | Las Vegas | Nevada | 96% |
| 5 | Los Angeles | California | 96% |
| 5 | San Francisco | California | 96% |
| 5 | San Antonio | Texas | 96% |
| 5 | Washington | District of Columbia | 96% |
| 5 | Baltimore | Maryland | 96% |
| 5 | St. Louis | Missouri | 96% |
| 6 | Phoenix | Arizona | 95% |
| 6 | Miami | Florida | 95% |
| 6 | Cincinnati | Ohio | 95% |
| 6 | Hoboken | New Jersey | 95% |
| 6 | Des Moines | Iowa | 95% |
| 7 | Bismarck | North Dakota | 94% |
| 7 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 94% |
| 7 | Atlanta | Georgia | 94% |
| 7 | Denver | Colorado | 94% |
| 7 | Bethesda | Maryland | 94% |
| 8 | Dallas | Texas | 93% |
| 8 | New Orleans | Louisiana | 93% |
| 8 | Portland | Oregon | 93% |
| 8 | Cheyenne | Wyoming | 93% |
| 9 | Seattle | Washington | 92% |
| 9 | Chicago | Illinois | 92% |
| 9 | Rapid City | South Dakota | 92% |
| 9 | Orlando | Florida | 92% |
| 10 | Albuquerque | New Mexico | 91% |
| 10 | Burlington | Vermont | 91% |
| 10 | Houston | Texas | 91% |
| 10 | Charlotte | North Carolina | 91% |
| 10 | Gulf Port | Mississippi | 91% |
| 11 | San Diego | California | 90% |
| 12 | Boston | Massachusetts | 89% |
| 12 | Kansas City | Kansas | 89% |
| 12 | Laconia | New Hampshire | 89% |
| 12 | Charleston | West Virginia | 89% |
| 12 | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 89% |
| 12 | Missoula | Montana | 89% |
| 13 | Richmond | Virginia | 88% |
| 13 | Boise | Idaho | 88% |
| 14 | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | 84% |
| 15 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | 81% |
| 16 | Providence | Rhode Island | 80% |
ABOUT Honest® TEA
Honest Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages and extend economic opportunities to communities in need. Founded in 1998 in Bethesda, MD, Honest Tea is the nation’s top-selling organic bottled tea company, specializing in beverages that are Just a Tad Sweet®. Honest Tea’s product lines include: ready-to-drink bottled teas, Honest® Ade and Honest® Kids organic thirst quenchers, Honest® Freshly Brewed iced tea, and Honest® Fizz naturally sweetened zero calorie sodas. All teas and juice drinks are USDA Organic and all tea leaf varieties are Fair Trade Certified™. In addition to being recognized by the United States Healthful Food Council for helping change the food landscape, Honest Tea is a multi-year winner of awards from the Alliance for Workplace Excellence and a Montgomery County, MD Certified Green Business. Honest Tea has won Men’s Health “Best Bottled Tea” for six years and has been included in Women’s Health magazine’s “125 Best Packaged Foods for Women” for the last three years in a row. Honest Tea is an independent operating unit of The Coca-Cola Company. For more information: www.honesttea.com.