The Attitudes of Certified Public Accountants Toward Solicitation

ABSTRACT

A recent Supreme Court ruling disallows prohibitions of certified public accountant solicitation. This paper provides a historical development of certified public accountant solicitation and a study is conducted to investigate the attitudes of certified public accountants toward solicitation. The results suggest that while certified public accountants generally are ambivalent toward solicitation, they perceive that they might need to solicit as a defensive competitive tactic. Moreover, the results indicate that selected demographic characteristics significantly influence the certified public accountants' attitudes toward solicitation. The younger certified public accountants, those certified public accountants who have been in practice fewer years, and those certified public accountants employed by less established firms appear to hold much more positive views toward solicitation.