DO SALESPERSON PERCEPTIONS OF MANAGEMENT-DIRECTED TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED TRANSPARENCY INFLUENCE THEIR BEHAVIORAL ETHICALITY?

摘要

Salespeople are often more at risk to deviate from desired societal and organizational ethical behaviors than are other firm employees (Osborn and Hunt 1974; Ferrell and Gresham 1985). This lack of direct supervision puts sales agents in a position to engage in behaviors that may not be considered very ethical; which is why it has been suggested that, "deceptive practices are often found in many areas of sales," (Carson 2001, p. 275). Research shows salespeople experience ethical conflicts regularly in the performance of their duties (Dubinsky, Berkowitz, and Rudelius 1980). Such struggles can lead to lower job performance, increases in turnover, customer dissatisfaction, and negative word-of-mouth about the selling organization (Walker, Churchill, and Ford 1977). Schwepker and Ingram (1996,pp. 1151—1152) recognize that increasing pressure on salespeople to perform could be a catalyst for unethical behavior stating, "personal selling is an area of marketing that is particularly susceptible to ethical dilemmas."