IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v112y2013i1p101-125.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Personal Selling and Sales Management Ethics Research: Managerial Implications and Research Directions from a Comprehensive Review of the Empirical Literature

Author

Listed:
  • Nicholas McClaren

Abstract

Research into ethics in personal selling and sales management has increased substantially over the preceding decade by investigating complex dimensions of ethical decision-making in greater depth and with more analytical sophistication. This review of the recent conceptual and empirical literature provides insight into the extent and the direction of this knowledge, recommends managerial action, and discusses areas for future exploration. Future direction is also provided through research propositions. The type of sales practitioner investigated, the main variables examined, and the key findings are summarized in an Appendix. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas McClaren, 2013. "The Personal Selling and Sales Management Ethics Research: Managerial Implications and Research Directions from a Comprehensive Review of the Empirical Literature," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 101-125, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:112:y:2013:i:1:p:101-125
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1235-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1235-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1235-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bush, Alan J. & Bush, Victoria D. & Orr, Linda M. & Rocco, Richard A., 2007. "Sales technology: Help or hindrance to ethical behaviors and productivity?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 1198-1205, November.
    2. Charles Pettijohn & Linda Pettijohn & A. Taylor, 2008. "Salesperson Perceptions of Ethical Behaviors: Their Influence on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(4), pages 547-557, April.
    3. Ya-Hui Hsu & Wenchang Fang & Yuanchung Lee, 2009. "Ethically Questionable Behavior in Sales Representatives – An Example from the Taiwanese Pharmaceutical Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 155-166, April.
    4. Rosemary Ramsey & Greg Marshall & Mark Johnston & Dawn Deeter-Schmelz, 2007. "Ethical Ideologies and Older Consumer Perceptions of Unethical Sales Tactics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(2), pages 191-207, January.
    5. Victoria Bush & Alan Bush & Linda Orr, 2010. "Monitoring the Ethical Use of Sales Technology: An Exploratory Field Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(2), pages 239-257, August.
    6. Nick Lee & Amanda Beatson & Tony Garrett & Ian Lings & Xi Zhang, 2009. "A Study of the Attitudes Towards Unethical Selling Amongst Chinese Salespeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 497-515, October.
    7. Johannes Brinkmann, 2002. "Business and Marketing Ethics as Professional Ethics. Concepts, Approaches and Typologies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 159-177, November.
    8. Sean Valentine & Gary Fleischman, 2008. "Ethics Programs, Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Job Satisfaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 159-172, January.
    9. Roman, Sergio & Ruiz, Salvador, 2005. "Relationship outcomes of perceived ethical sales behavior: the customer's perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 439-445, April.
    10. Singhapakdi, Anusorn & Vitell, Scott J. & Kraft, Kenneth L., 1996. "Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision-Making of Marketing Professionals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 245-255, July.
    11. Murphy, William H., 2004. "In pursuit of short-term goals: anticipating the unintended consequences of using special incentives to motivate the sales force," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(11), pages 1265-1275, November.
    12. Nicholas McClaren & Stewart Adam & Andrea Vocino, 2010. "Investigating Socialization, Work-Related Norms, and the Ethical Perceptions of Marketing Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 95-115, September.
    13. Mooradian, Norman, 2004. "Information Requirements and the Characteristics of Sales Situations," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 123-139, January.
    14. Johannes Brinkmann, 2009. "Putting Ethics on the Agenda for Real Estate Agents," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 65-82, August.
    15. Schwepker, Charles Jr., 2001. "Ethical climate's relationship to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention in the salesforce," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 39-52, October.
    16. Jay Mulki & Jorge Jaramillo & William Locander, 2009. "Critical Role of Leadership on Ethical Climate and Salesperson Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 125-141, May.
    17. Cherry, John & Fraedrich, John, 2002. "Perceived risk, moral philosophy and marketing ethics: mediating influences on sales managers' ethical decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(12), pages 951-962, December.
    18. Kennedy, Mary Susan & Ferrell, Linda K. & LeClair, Debbie Thorne, 2001. "Consumers' trust of salesperson and manufacturer: an empirical study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 73-86, January.
    19. Barnett, Tim & Valentine, Sean, 2004. "Issue contingencies and marketers' recognition of ethical issues, ethical judgments and behavioral intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 338-346, April.
    20. Nigel Piercy & Nikala Lane, 2007. "Ethical and Moral Dilemmas Associated with Strategic Relationships between Business-to-Business Buyers and Sellers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 87-102, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas McClaren, 2015. "The Methodology in Empirical Sales Ethics Research: 1980–2010," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 121-147, March.
    2. Selma Kadic-Maglajlic & Milena Micevski & Nick Lee & Nathaniel Boso & Irena Vida, 2019. "Three Levels of Ethical Influences on Selling Behavior and Performance: Synergies and Tensions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 377-397, May.
    3. Charles H. Schwepker, 2019. "Strengthening Customer Value Development and Ethical Intent in the Salesforce: The Influence of Ethical Values Person–Organization Fit and Trust in Manager," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 913-925, October.
    4. Millissa F. Y. Cheung & W. M. To, 2021. "The Effect of Consumer Perceptions of the Ethics of Retailers on Purchase Behavior and Word-of-Mouth: The Moderating Role of Ethical Beliefs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(4), pages 771-788, July.
    5. Xiaoyan Wang & Guocai Wang & Yanhui Zhao & Wyatt A. Schrock, 2024. "The Intellectual Structure of Sales Ethics Research: A Multi-method Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(1), pages 133-157, August.
    6. Connie R. Bateman & Sean R. Valentine, 2021. "Consumers’ Personality Characteristics, Judgment of Salesperson Ethical Treatment, and Nature of Purchase Involvement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 309-331, March.
    7. Victoria Bush & Alan J. Bush & Jared Oakley & John E. Cicala, 2017. "The Sales Profession as a Subculture: Implications for Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 549-565, May.
    8. Tuan, Luu Trong & Ngan, Vu Thanh, 2021. "Leading ethically to shape service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior among tourism salespersons: Dual mediation paths and moderating role of service role identity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    9. Evelyne Rousselet & Bérangère Brial & Romain Cadario & Amina Béji-Bécheur, 2020. "Moral Intensity, Issue Characteristics, and Ethical Issue Recognition in Sales Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 347-363, May.
    10. Guda Sridhar & Teidorlang Lyngdoh, 2019. "Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 807-823, September.
    11. Vishag Badrinarayanan & Indu Ramachandran & Sreedhar Madhavaram, 2019. "Mirroring the Boss: Ethical Leadership, Emulation Intentions, and Salesperson Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 897-912, October.
    12. DeConinck, James B., 2015. "Outcomes of ethical leadership among salespeople," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1086-1093.
    13. Omar S. Itani & Nawar N. Chaker, 2022. "Harnessing the Power Within: The Consequences of Salesperson Moral Identity and the Moderating Role of Internal Competitive Climate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 847-871, December.
    14. Shobha Mishra & Vibhuti Tripathi, 2022. "Theoretical framework on state-of-the-art sales ethics in marketing," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 13(1), pages 57-78, February.
    15. Ian MacQuillin & Adrian Sargeant, 2019. "Fundraising Ethics: A Rights-Balancing Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 239-250, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiaoyan Wang & Guocai Wang & Yanhui Zhao & Wyatt A. Schrock, 2024. "The Intellectual Structure of Sales Ethics Research: A Multi-method Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(1), pages 133-157, August.
    2. Victoria Bush & Alan J. Bush & Jared Oakley & John E. Cicala, 2017. "The Sales Profession as a Subculture: Implications for Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 549-565, May.
    3. DeConinck, James B., 2011. "The effects of ethical climate on organizational identification, supervisory trust, and turnover among salespeople," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 617-624, June.
    4. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martínez-Cañas & Joan Fontrodona, 2013. "Ethical Culture and Employee Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Person-Organization Fit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 173-188, August.
    5. Evelyne Rousselet & Bérangère Brial & Romain Cadario & Amina Béji-Bécheur, 2020. "Moral Intensity, Issue Characteristics, and Ethical Issue Recognition in Sales Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 347-363, May.
    6. Shobha Mishra & Vibhuti Tripathi, 2022. "Theoretical framework on state-of-the-art sales ethics in marketing," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 13(1), pages 57-78, February.
    7. Ning Li & William Murphy, 2012. "A Three-Country Study of Unethical Sales Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 219-235, December.
    8. Selma Kadic-Maglajlic & Milena Micevski & Nick Lee & Nathaniel Boso & Irena Vida, 2019. "Three Levels of Ethical Influences on Selling Behavior and Performance: Synergies and Tensions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 377-397, May.
    9. Sean Valentine & Seong-Hyun Nam & David Hollingworth & Callie Hall, 2014. "Ethical Context and Ethical Decision Making: Examination of an Alternative Statistical Approach for Identifying Variable Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 509-526, October.
    10. Nicholas McClaren, 2015. "The Methodology in Empirical Sales Ethics Research: 1980–2010," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 121-147, March.
    11. Cicala, John E. & Bush, Alan J. & Sherrell, Daniel L. & Deitz, George D., 2014. "Does transparency influence the ethical behavior of salespeople?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1787-1795.
    12. Barbara Culiberg & Domen Bajde, 2014. "Do You Need a Receipt? Exploring Consumer Participation in Consumption Tax Evasion as an Ethical Dilemma," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 271-282, October.
    13. Peter Mudrack & E. Mason, 2013. "Ethical Judgments: What Do We Know, Where Do We Go?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 575-597, July.
    14. Leonidas Leonidou & Olga Kvasova & Constantinos Leonidou & Simos Chari, 2013. "Business Unethicality as an Impediment to Consumer Trust: The Moderating Role of Demographic and Cultural Characteristics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 397-415, February.
    15. Omar S. Itani & Fernando Jaramillo & Larry Chonko, 2019. "Achieving Top Performance While Building Collegiality in Sales: It All Starts with Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 417-438, May.
    16. Willy Bolander & William J. Zahn & Terry W. Loe & Melissa Clark, 2017. "Managing New Salespeople’s Ethical Behaviors during Repetitive Failures: When Trying to Help Actually Hurts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 519-532, September.
    17. Sean Valentine & David Hollingworth, 2012. "Moral Intensity, Issue Importance, and Ethical Reasoning in Operations Situations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(4), pages 509-523, July.
    18. Zou, Lili Wenli & Chan, Ricky Y.K., 2019. "Why and when do consumers perform green behaviors? An examination of regulatory focus and ethical ideology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 113-127.
    19. Connie Bateman & Sean Valentine & Terri Rittenburg, 2013. "Ethical Decision Making in a Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Situation: The Role of Moral Absolutes and Social Consensus," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 229-240, June.
    20. Lu-Ming Tseng, 2019. "How Implicit Ethics Institutionalization Affects Ethical Selling Intention: The Case of Taiwan’s Life Insurance Salespeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 727-742, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:112:y:2013:i:1:p:101-125. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.