Final answer:
Car owners opting for cheaper petrol is an example of how economic agents respond to incentives like pricing. Additionally, businesses may act less discriminatorily due to incentives like market pressures to maintain a customer base or workforce. Lower gasoline prices provide incentives for a messenger company to increase supply and operations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement 'Car owners purchase more petrol from a petrol station that sells petrol at a lower price than the rival petrol stations in the area' demonstrates that economic agents respond to incentives. This behavior is an example of cost-saving as an incentive. The lower price acts as a monetary incentive that encourages car owners to purchase petrol from the station with the best deal, illustrating how price incentives influence consumer behavior. It reflects the principle that economic agents will seek ways to reduce costs and maximize their utility.
In relation to market forces and non-discriminatory practices, if a local flower delivery business notices that many of its customers are black, the incentive of maintaining and growing its customer base would motivate the owner to act in a less discriminatory fashion. For an assembly line struggling to hire qualified workers, the incentive to maintain productivity may lead it to hire women, thus acting less discriminatorily. Similarly, a home health care services firm with a biased owner may face market pressures to offer equal wages regardless of ethnicity, to attract and retain reliable staff.
Economic incentives can also influence a messenger company where a decrease in gasoline prices allows the company to operate more efficiently and expand its services, leading to increased profits. This is another instance where changes in cost lead to adjusted behavior to maximize financial gain.