Supermarket thefts are on the rise, and new research has revealed just how many people seem to be completely ok with them being targets of five-finger discounts.

Over a quarter surveyed believing that blatant forms of retail theft were ‘a little’ to ‘completely’ justifiable given the current economic climate.

Monash Business School’s Australian Consumer and Retails Studies lead researcher Stephanie Atto told Julie-anne Sprague on 6PR Afternoons most theft reporting has been from the retail perspective; no-one had really surveyed from the consumer perspective until now.

“We were expecting it to be a bit lower, so we were quite shocked with these results,” Ms Atto said.

Press PLAY to hear more about the rising theft levels