Ethics in Personal Selling and Sales Management: A Review of the Literature Focusing on Empirical Findings and Conceptual Foundations

Research into the ethics of personal selling and sales management has continued to increase in volume and importance. Because there is now a diversity of opinions and findings in this literature, an assessment of the status of existing knowledge is needed to provide focus and clarity. There have been no comprehensive reviews of the studies of ethics and salespeople, sales managers or sales management, despite recent attention from researchers, practitioners and the general public. The purpose of this review is to comment upon the more significant research in the sales ethics field with the objective of providing insight into the extent and direction of this knowledge, to evaluate the basis upon which it is founded, and to suggest areas of exploration that may be useful for increasing our understanding of it.     

When consumers can return digital products: Influence of firm- and consumer-induced communication on the returns and profitability of news articles

The news industry is being massively disrupted by the digital distribution of news. Consequently, publishers have revised their business models and integrated pay-per-article options. To reduce pre-purchase uncertainty, consumers can use information from firm-induced (e.g., newsletters), or consumer-induced communication (e.g., likes). These communication activities avoid purchases with poor fit but also increase customer expectations. Consequently, their effect on sales, returns, and profitability is unclear. For digital products, these effects are even less clear because product quality is difficult to evaluate pre-purchase, and products can be returned at almost no cost, even after consumption. In this study, we investigate the effects of firm- and consumer-induced communication on digital returns in the context of news articles on a major online platform (Blendle). We rely on a multi-equation model to quantify the effect of firm- and consumer-induced communication activities (i.e., newsletter promotions sent out by the platform and consumer likes from readers) on sales and returns and calculate their profitability impact. Our results show that newsletters decrease returns but do not significantly affect sales. In contrast, consumer likes have a twofold effect by increasing sales and decreasing returns. A simulation shows that both newsletters and likes increase profitability and that likes have a higher potential. Our results offer much needed guidance for online aggregators of digital products (e.g., audiobooks, e-books or news articles), as well as for online publishers based on pay-per-unit business models.     

The determinant of customer profitability on the financial institution

This paper aims to examine the influences of personal attributes of salaried customers, product transaction strategies, and sales personnel as three dimensions on the profitability contributed by customers in the wealth management business of the banking industry. The multiple regression analysis is performed for an empirical test. The results show that four variables, i.e. the quantity of the products held, purchasing frequency of investment products, level of financial advisers, and degree of customers' satisfaction have significantly positive influences on the profitability contributed by customers. This paper provides a reference for the financial industry to formulate the management strategies targeting at the optimal customers in wealth management.     

Sales promotion practices of consumer goods companies in an advanced developing country

In recent years, manufacturers of consumer and industrial goods as well as service firms have been increasingly thinking in global terms and paying more attention to sales promotion in their overall promotional programmes and strategies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumer sales promotion practices of consumer goods producing companies in the advanced developing country of Turkey. It was discovered that sales promotion activities are gaining importance in overall promotional practices of Turkish companies, though there are differences in its use by type of industry, size of company, area of business and locus of decision-making within the firm. Furthermore, differences were detected between companies using sales promotions versus other forms of promotional techniques such as mass media advertising, personal selling and publicity. Study findings may be applicable to other developing countries that are at a similar level of socio-economic, market and technological development as Turkey.     

The effect of consumer's psychographic variables upon deal-proneness

Companies are increasingly attaching more importance to sales promotion within their communication programs. The main reason for the increase in the use of promotions is their immediate effect on the consumers. However, there are some consumers that do not respond to promotions. This study analyses the psychographic traits associated with deal-proneness. A personal survey has been conducted with a sample of 425 individuals who regularly buy package food and cleaning products. In the study, three kinds of deal-proneness are differentiated: proneness towards store flyers, proneness towards coupons and proneness towards in-store promotions. The results prove that there are relationships between some psychographic characteristics of consumers and deal-proneness. In general, price-conscious consumers are deal-prone. However, savings are not the only reason to buy a product on promotion. Deal-proneness is influenced by other aspects as impulsiveness, innovativeness or shopping enjoyment.     

The Transition from Product to Solution Selling: The Role and Organization of Employees Engaged in Current Business

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This research investigates how to manage and organize existing employees when launching a solution sales strategy, specifically addressing whether it is possible to migrate existing sales representatives active in product sales to solution sales, and whether it is possible to combine the roles.

Methodology/approach: A case-based approach was applied to a multinational firm, engaged in business-to-business sales that simultaneously launched a solution sales strategy in 17 countries. In-depth interviews with 29 managers and sales representatives were performed to inductively identify why some countries succeeded in the launch, while others did not.

Findings: Because of fundamental differences in approach between solution and product sales, those countries where the solutions and product businesses were separated performed better. The difference in required capabilities and mindset meant that migrating sales representatives from product to solution sales is problematic.

Research implications: This research offers evidence of differences in mindset and approach between different marketing and sales strategies, extending the conclusions to how these differences affect the possibility of migrating existing sales representatives when launching a new selling strategy. Whether to separate service and product sales has been debated. The present results indicate that separating the current product business from the new solution business facilitates the successful implementation of the new strategy. In the case company, the solutions represent a mixture of product and services, suggesting that the problem is not the difference between products and services, but rather different selling strategies and approaches that require different capabilities.

Practical implications: When launching a solution sales strategy, the solution business should be separated from the current product business at both the organizational and personnel levels. Solution sales necessitates a particular approach and capabilities, making it unadvisable to transfer sales representatives and managers to the new solution business based solely on previous product sales success. Instead, a new skill profile must be developed taking account of the requirements of a demand-driven solution strategy.

Originality/value/contribution: Consensus is lacking as to whether to separate product and service businesses. This article extends the debate to the field of solution

sales, demonstrating that separation is needed to succeed in launching a solution sales strategy. Furthermore, this research extends our knowledge of the difference in approaches between different selling strategies, covering the possibility of successfully migrating existing sales representatives to a different selling strategy.     

The Sales Velocity Effect on Retailing

In an increasingly crowded marketplace, retailers need innovative ways of promoting products to their consumers. E-commerce retailers have utilized to great effect lists of top ranked products to promote product sales; the higher the sales rank, the more likely consumers buy that product. This influence to buy, based on observing what others bought is known as observational learning (OL). Prior OL research assumed that OL arises from observing a static outcome, such as the current sales rank of a product. However, prior research on intertemporal choice showed that people prefer outcomes with increasing trends over stable or decreasing trends. This suggests that observing an increasing sales rank, denoted as sales velocity, would have a positive effect on purchase likelihood. We conducted three studies to test the sales velocity effect. Results show that sales velocity has a significant effect on likelihood of purchases, reversing even participant preferences for a product with a higher sales rank. This effect is consistent across four broad products tested. For researchers, by joining the two previously disparate branches of research in OL and intertemporal choice, we addressed a gap in OL research which previously ignored the velocity dimension of OL. For retailers, the study demonstrated the impact of the sales velocity metric on making choices, and thus they could use sales velocity data as a cost-effective marketing tool for specific products.     

Information effects of warehouse automation on sales in omnichannel retailing

The recent development of an omnichannel business environment provides a seamless shopping experience throughout the customer journey. Although previous studies have identified the importance of rapid product delivery, consumers cannot evaluate delivery quality until it has arrived. This study argued that warehouse automation and retail channel brand characteristics lead to informative signals and to firms' higher sales in the omnichannel context. By analyzing panel data from the Japanese retail market, we tested the effects of warehouse automation and the moderating effects of omnichannel, online, and offline brand offerings on the effectiveness of the warehouse automation signal. Results showed that warehouse automation signaling positively affects firms’ sales and has a positive interaction effect with omnichannel offerings.     

Impact of sales Promotion's benefits on perceived value: Does product category moderate the results?

The purpose behind the development of this research article is to assess the impact of sales promotions benefits on consumer perceived value and examine the moderating effect of product categories on the relation between sales promotions, their benefits, and consumer perceived value. The study used a sample of 400 consumers from India and ‘Structure Equation Modelling’ technique is applied to evaluate the research assumption. Finally, the moderating effect of the product category is evaluated by utilizing ‘Multi-Group Analysis' technique. Research findings reveal that the product category moderates the consumer's perceived value for hedonic and utilitarian benefits of sales promotion tools. It is found that utilitarian benefits of sales promotion have more impact on consumer perceived value in the context of personal care product while hedonic benefits are having more impact on consumer perceived value in the context of food products. A sales promotion plan can be made more effective when it is hedonic benefit oriented in the case of food products and utilitarian benefit oriented in the case of personal care products. The findings of this research can be useful for marketers to develop an effective sales promotion strategy considering the category wise differential impact of sales promotions benefits.     

Entrepreneurship and Fitness: An Examination of Rigorous Exercise and Goal Attainment among Small Business Owners*

In today's society, the benefits of exercise and fitness are given much publicity. However, the relationship between exercise and the attainment of personal and professional goals for entrepreneurs has not been examined. Our study addresses the issue by examining the exercise regimens of 366 small business owners and the relationship of exercise frequency with the company's sales and the entre‐ preneur's personal goals. Specifically, this study examines the relationship that two types of exercise—running and weightlifting—have with sales volume, extrinsic rewards, and intrinsic rewards. Results indicate that running is related positively to all three outcome variables while weightlifting is related positively to extrinsic and intrinsic rewards but not to sales. Suggestions then are provided for future research.     

Ethical Ideology and the Ethical Judgments of Marketing Professionals

The present study extends the study of individuals' ethical ideology withinthe context of marketing ethics issues. A national sample of marketing professionals participated. Respondents' ethical ideologies were classified as absolutists, situationists, exceptionists, or subjectivists using the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980). Respondents then answered questions about three ethically ambiguous situations common to marketing and sales. The results indicated that marketers' ethical judgments about the situations differed based on their ethical ideology, with absolutists rating the actions as most unethical. The findings are consistent with those of two earlier studies that utilized samples of business students (Barnett et al., 1994, 1995). The results suggest that personal moral philosophy is an important influence on ethical decision making that should be considered in empirical studies of business ethics. The results also support the utility of the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980) as a means for researchers and practitioners to assess individuals' ethical ideology.     

Computer‐based data and organizational learning: The importance of managers’ stories

While many organizations are investing large amounts of money to provide computer‐based data to their managers, little is known about how, or even whether, managers use these data to learn about the business environment. This issue is explored by examining how grocery product managers use supermarket scanner data to learn about changes in the marketing environment. Managers’ stories play a central role in the four‐step process used by one product management organization as it learns from analyzing computer‐based data. First, a manager examines the data and looks for unexpected results—findings that contradict one or more of her stories about the marketing environment. If something is found, the manager carries out a relatively unstructured, multistage process to make sense out of the unexpected result. This process can be viewed as a dialogue between the result and a set of tools at the manager's disposal (including analyses of computer‐based data). Next, the manager tells the story to share her insights with peers and superiors, developing a common understanding. Finally, the manager creates an official story, which is used to “sell”; new marketing approaches to people outside the product manager organization—the sales force and supermarket buyers.     

Cooling off and backing out: Understanding consumer decisions to rescind a product purchase

Consumers sometimes have the right to exit a sales contract during what is known as a cooling-off period. Sales process research generally does not address cases when consumers withdraw from sales contracts during this period. Since securing product sales involves substantial marketing and sales costs, a need exists to better understand not only consumer rescission decisions and their legal context but also the managerial implications of the cooling-off period. This exploratory qualitative study examines purchase rescinding and develops a conceptual model using timeshare as the context. Results suggest that rescission relates to a mismatch between product features and personal circumstances, post-purchase concerns about product value, reassessment of financial capability, reflections on sales presentations, and cautionary influences of reference groups.     

汇率制度改革下商业银行外汇风险管理对策分析

商业银行既是经营外汇业务的中心,又是自负盈亏的经济主体,汇率制度的改革必然会给商业银行的资本充足率、资产负债业务和外汇产品销售带来一定的影响。商业银行要增强对外汇风险的管理意识,调整外汇资产负债的币种结构,优化贷款的行业和客户结构,积极开发和创新外汇避险和外汇理财产品,以不断增强商业银行自身抵御外汇风险的能力。     

Demographics,job satisfaction,and propensity to leave of industrial salesmen

An extremely important and expensive promotional tool used by industrial marketers is personal selling. One of the major costs of personal selling is the cost associated with sales personnel turnover. Past studies in the sales management area have focused on the effect of organizational and psychological factors on the satisfaction of salespeople and their propensity to leave their organizations. However, no study has examined the interrelationships among salespeople's demographic variables, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave, even though such relationships have been studied for nonselling occupations. An empirical study done to at least partly fill this research void is described. The results provide new insights for researchers and practitioners with an interest in the sales management area.     

The integrated use of social media,digital, and traditional communication tools in the B2B sales process of international SMEs

Social media and digital tools are gradually changing the way firms market themselves. Understanding how these communication tools are used by sales functions within business-to-business (B2B) markets could clarify the dynamics underpinning the sales process in an increasingly technology-mediated world. This paper explores how social media, digital, and traditional sales communication tools are leveraged during the three main phases of the B2B sales process within international SMEs.The article’s grounded-theory approach illustrates that social media can be particularly helpful in engaging international prospects. Digital communication tools seem to be most prevalent in the persuasion phase, whereas more traditional communication tools still prevail in customer relationship management. However, there seem to be some important potential boundary conditions, including relationship culture, location proximity, technology innovation/resources, and strategic importance of the customer that affect the way international SMEs use different communication tools during a sales process. We develop a framework for understanding the B2B sales process flow with sales communication tools included for international SMEs.     

Short brand stories on packaging: An examination of consumer responses

The persuasiveness of stories and their influence on consumers have been acknowledged in marketing, particularly within the advertising field. In marketing practice, brand stories are increasingly also appearing on product packages. However, packages differ from ads in significant ways as communication channels; for example, the space for messages on a package is limited by the size of the package. This study reports findings from two experiments comparing consumer responses to fast‐moving consumer good (FMCG) packages with and without short brand stories. The findings show that even a short brand story included on FMCG packaging has a positive impact on consumers’ affective, attitudinal, product value, and behavioral intention responses to the brand.     

It's about our values: How founder's stories influence brand authenticity

Companies increasingly share the stories behind their brand's founding to engage consumers. The current studies explore how the motives that underlie business formation in founder's stories influence consumer brand perceptions. Specifically, stories that highlight self‐transcendence (vs. self‐enhancement) founder values enhance the perceived authenticity of the focal brand. We examine narrative co fidelity as a mechanism of narrative persuasion through which the audience judges whether the motives underlying character actions represent “good reasons” for action. Across three studies, we show that the values underlying a founder's motivation to start a business influence the perceived authenticity of the associated brand, and this relationship is mediated by narrative fidelity. Further, reader's personal values moderate the influence of founder's values on narrative fidelity judgments, and the relationship between narrative fidelity and brand authenticity is attenuated by a merger between the original company and another company, demonstrating a boundary condition of the observed relationships.     

The fairyland of Second Life: Virtual social worlds and how to use them

Virtual social worlds, such as the Internet site Second Life, have acquired a high degree of popularity in the popular and business press. In this article we address the increasing importance of virtual social worlds, and discuss how companies can make use of their potential. We first present how virtual social worlds evolved historically, how they fit into the postmodern paradigm of our time, and how they differ from other social media, such as content communities (e.g., YouTube), social networking sites and blogs (e.g., Facebook), collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia), and virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft). We subsequently present how firms can make use of virtual social worlds in the areas of advertising/communication, virtual product sales (v-Commerce), marketing research, human resources, and internal process management. We also highlight the points companies should pay particular attention to in their activities, the 5Cs of success in virtual social worlds, and the future evolutions that we expect to shape this sector over the next 5-10 years: a trend toward standardization and interoperability, improvements in software usability, increasing interconnection between reality and virtual worlds, establishment of law and order, and the transformation of virtual social worlds to business hubs of the future.     

User Reviews Variance,Critic Reviews Variance,and Product Sales: An Exploration of Customer Breadth and Depth Effects

Online user reviews constitute a new element of the marketing communication mix that can significantly affect product sales. A general consensus holds that positive user reviews valence benefits product sales, yet the effect of variance is less intuitive and current findings are mixed. We propose that user reviews variance actually constitutes a double-edged sword that can either hurt or help product sales, depending on the variance of critic reviews and other quality signals. Three complementary studies in multiple industries (movies, digital cameras, and books) with multiple methods (secondary data analysis and behavioral experiment) reveal three key insights in this setting. First, after recognizing a high variance in user reviews, many potential buyers may simply exclude the focal product from their consideration sets for fear that it does not match their needs and preferences, which is termed the customer breadth effect. Second, high user reviews variance, in combination with high critic reviews variance, can elicit a sense of uniqueness and thus enhance purchase intentions of some consumers, which is termed the customer depth effect. Third, quality signals (e.g., product cost and product extension) can strengthen the positive customer depth effect. The overall effects of user reviews variance, therefore, can be negative, insignificant, or even positive. These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications.