Ethnology as a method for broadening sales force research: promise and potential

Article Abstract:

Ethnography has deepened the understanding of consumer behavior, and has rich potential for sales force research. Sales researchers can use ethnography to broaden their understanding of selling in terms of both topics investigated and conceptual frameworks employed. Ethnography, an inductive method, is described and compared to traditional deductive research approaches. Illustrations from the literature show how ethnography can broaden inquiry beyond the dominant psychological and individualistic view of human behavior that currently guides sales research. Finally, criteria for selecting topics for ethnographic inquiry, and other considerations such as limitations, costs, and advantages of using ethnography are given. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Methods, Marketing research, Market research, Consumer behavior, Ethnology, Cultural anthropology

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Trust earning perceptions of sellers and buyers

Article Abstract:

Success in selling demands effective trust earning behavior. This article examines and compares the perceptions of manufacturers' reps and purchasing executives in relation to this process of earning the buyer's trust. The results indicate statistically significant differences over the two groups in their perceptions of how various trust earning components contribute to the development of buyer trust. Manufacturers' reps overestimated the trust earning potential of the "likeable," "competent," and "dependable" constructs. Manufacturers' reps also held an inflated view of the overall extent to which they were trusted by purchasing executives. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Purchasing, Management

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Industrial buyer evaluation of the ethics of salesperson gift giving; value of the gift and customer vs. prospect status

Article Abstract:

This study was a field experiment to investigate whether a gift by a salesperson to a purchaser would be considered ethical depending on the value of the gift and whether the purchaser was a best customer or a prospect. Gift-giving to customers was viewed as more ethical than a gift to a prospect. For both types of purchasers, customer or prospect, as the value increased the gift was viewed as more unethical. (Reproduced by permission of the publisher.)

Surveys, Ethical aspects, Business ethics, Purchasing agents, Business gifts

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