Studies have shown a significant number of consumers were content to pay higher prices for fair trade products, in the belief that this helps the poor. One main ethical criticism of Fairtrade is that this premium over non-Fairtrade products does not reach the producers and is instead collected by businesses, employees of co-operatives or used for unnecessary expenses. Furthermore, research has cited the implementation of certain fair trade standards as a cause for greater inequalities in markets where these rigid rules are inappropriate for the specific market.