AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY ETHICAL SALES BEHAVIOUR IN THE D ISCOVERING THE INFLUENCE AND CAUSES OF

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ETHICAL SALES BEHAVIOUR IN THE

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

GRACIËLA NOOITGEDAGT

STUDENTNUMBER:1537105

ADRESS:ALBERT CUYPSTRAAT 95-1

1072CPAMSTERDAM

TELEPHONE:+31(0)628528547

EMAIL: G.NOOITGEDAGT@GMAIL.COM

UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN

MASTER THESIS

MSC BA–SPECIALIZATION MARKETING

DATE:28AUGUST 2012

SUPERVISOR:DR.LIANE VOERMAN

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Management Summary

The purpose of this research is to understand what factors influence ethical sales behaviour and how this will help build long-term relationships with customers in the future. This leads to the following research question:

What are the key determinants and consequences of ethical interaction of salespeople within the automotive industry?

The exact definitions of ethical sales behaviour in this particular study are based upon the degree to which a proposed act is perceived as right versus wrong (Hunt and Vitell, 1986). Ethical sales behaviour’s intention will be, in line with Vargo and Lusch’ (2004) and Karpen et al.’s (2011) studies, to interact with a customer in an equal, transparent and sincere manner, with the establishment of a long term relationship as objective. Several ethical dilemmas arise due to the fact that salespeople perform a boundary spanning role where they are forced to make a choice between satisfying the needs of the customer, their own or the company’s (Ferrel and Gresham, 1985).

Literature was researched to determine what factors could be of influence on and consequence of ethical sales behaviour. Vitell and Davis (1990) found that employees found themselves less satisfied with their jobs, when unethical behaviour was common within their organization. There can be seen in the studies of Wotruba (1990) and Trevino (1986) that the organizational environment can exert a

potentially strong influence on ethical behaviour (Valentine and Barnett, 2002). Many studies have

done research on this topic, the results however have found to be rather diverse (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984; Wotruba 1990; Honeycutt et al. 2001).

In order to collect the necessary data to test the hypotheses, a questionnaire was developed and supplied online to approximately 5000 auto companies. 215 fully filled out surveys were received. In the findings presented, ethical sales behaviour is found to be positively correlated to job satisfaction, and therefore relevant for management. An increase in job satisfaction can reduce job stress, which makes salespeople better able to handle ethical dilemmas.

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Several recommendations are given for management based on our conclusions. First, the creation, communication and reinforcement of codes of conduct are needed (Weeks and Nantel, 1992). Second, managers need to makes sure that they communicate on a day-to-day basis with their employees. Another need for ethical sales behaviour lies in the danger when salespeople not behave in an ethical manner. Unethical sales behaviour can cause clashes with customers and perhaps even result in legal disputes.

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Preface

With this master thesis I finalize my Master Business Administration; Marketing Management. Together with this happening, I finish my life as a student to step into my professional marketing career for the company Coolblue. Looking back at the girl who arrived many years ago in Groningen, I am proud of how I decided to spend my time and the choices I have made during my study. All activities have made me become a richer person and taught me how to deal with certain difficult situations. All experiences have already turned out to be very useful for me in my personal and professional life.

I have enjoyed the Master Marketing greatly and feel that I can use many theoretical subjects in my new job as a marketeer on a daily basis. After finishing this study I can truly say that my heart lies in marketing and believe in its importance.

When coming in contact with the theory ‘service-dominated logic’ I felt instant sympathy towards the topics conveyed by this new paradigm. Even though I felt anxiety and reluctance before writing my thesis, I never felt tired of reading new articles about this subject. The topic truly excites me and kept me going, it was this topic that made me happy to work on my thesis. I have constantly enjoyed reading and writing about this new theory.

Besides thanking my family and friends for all their support, I would like to give special thanks to my supervisor dr. Liane Voerman. During this whole period, I always felt understood and supported. I truly appreciate the motivational talks and feedback she has given me. She was always able to provide me with direct and structural feedback. Because of this support I was able to keep my focus on finalizing this thesis and feel ready to take on new challenges in life. To finish, I also would like to thank Prof. Dr. Janny Hoekstra, my second supervisor, for taking the time to read and give feedback on my thesis.

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1. INTRODUCTION

In today’s competitive market, with the emergence of new technologies, higher customer expectations, increasing economies of scale, companies are looking for new ways to compete, since competing on price has become increasingly difficult (Román, 2003). Companies are shifting their focus. Where they first focused on finding customers willing to buy the products companies have produced, are they now focussing on responding to customers by making products the customer requested. Establishing a long-term relationship with the customer is the ultimate goal of this new paradigm. Ethical sales behaviour can play a critical role in the establishment of long-term relationships (Wray et al. 1994), and here lies the focus of this study. What is needed to make sure salespeople behave in an ethical manner, and what factors have an influence on this ethical behaviour. Unfortunately, salespeople are frequently criticized for their unethical behaviour in the automotive industry (Singhapakdi and Vitell, 1991). Therefore, research to understand what factors influence ethical sales behaviour in this particular industry, will help to build long-term relationships with customers in the future.

The first chapter starts with giving a brief overview of the previous marketing paradigms, an explanation is given how the journey from past marketing has evolved to what marketing is today. Overall background information has been given on a new service orientation. Our marketing theory deepens in the explanation of ethical interaction. The following section gives background information on the chosen industry. Hereafter, problem statements and research questions are presented. To conclude our first chapter, the study’s relevance and structure is clarified.

1.1. Change in Marketing

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A big step has been taken from trying to sell products by placing focus on the actual good, and on activities directed at transactions, towards the thought of establishing relationships with the customer, which result in co-creating value for the customer (Vargo and Lusch, 2004).

At this moment, companies have taken already a large step to the right direction by recognizing the importance of the relationship with the customer. Many paradigms in marketing have already started to carefully identify the problem of a goods centered view: Relationship marketing, services marketing, quality management, resource management and value and supply chain management are all marketing paradigms that emerged in the last thirty years (Gronroos, 1994; Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry, 1985; Gummesson, 1995; Hauser and Clausing, 1988; Constantin and Lusch, 1994). Vargo and Lusch (2004) take all these new paradigms a step further and introduce a new dominant logic: Service Dominated Logic. This perspective focuses on intangible resources, the cocreation of value and relationships.

As described above, in the early days marketing focused on the exchange of ‘goods’. In this goods-dominant view, tangible output and transactions are central (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). However, as Gummesson (1995) stated: “Customers do not buy goods or services; they buy offerings which render services which create value.” Therefore, the focus in which goods are central is moved, to a service dominated focus where knowledge and resources are essential. Resources in particular are not, they become (Zimmermann, 1951). This change in perspective on the term resources helps to understand the new service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004).

When conceptualizing service-dominant logic, the role of consumers is voiced to have evolved from a passive to an active role as co-creator of value. Individual customers co-construct their own experiences by interacting with companies to create value which is customized to their own needs (Prahalad and Ramaswarmy, 2004). Therefore, much importance for companies now lies in facilitating interaction by enabling co-creative management processes supported by interaction-centric capabilities (Ramaswamy, 2009).

Constantin and Lusch (1994) define operand resources (goods) as resources on which an operation or act is performed to produce an effect. In contrary, operant resources (knowledge and skills) are resources which are employed to act on operand resources and other operant resources. Operant resources are resources that product effects. In a goods-centered view operand resources are the most important type of resources. This importance shifted to operant resources, when marketeers

realized skills and knowledge were the most important type of resources.

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infinite, and are often the core competences of the company. Hereby, companies are not able to offer ‘products’ they are only able to offer value propositions (Vargo and Lusch, 2004).

An important aspect of service-dominated logic is that the definition ‘service’ should not be interpreted the wrong way. When discussing this logic, service is not meant as being an intangible good or something offered to enhance a good (value-added services). However, when defining service in this context, is intended; “the application of specialized knowledge and skills through acts, processes and performances for the benefit of another entity or the entity itself” (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Service reflects the process of doing something beneficial for and in conjunction with some entity, rather than units of output. Service represents the experience that is given, in the exchange process, service is what is always exchanged (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). This experience is concerned with the vertical relationship between service and goods, rather than the horizontal difference between services and goods (Vargo and Lusch, 2008).

According to Vargo and Lusch (2004), the service-dominated logic, value is defined and co-created by the customer rather than embedded in output, therefore as a result it is needed to move away from a ‘make-and-sell’ towards a ‘sense-and-respond’ strategy. By sensing and analyzing the needs of the customer the company will be able to respond with a proper value proposition.

In the end, service dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2006) suggests firms to keep these foundational premises in mind. Following these premises will result in complete customer interaction:

1. Strive for transparency and symmetry in information and exchange processes 2. Develop relationships with customers to enhance their long-term wellbeing

3. Recognize both employees and customers as valuable operant resources and invest in the development of both.

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1.2. Service Dominated Orientation

Karpen and Bove (2008) answered to this widespread call for empirical research, by making an excellent start in trying to conceptualize service dominant logic resulting in a strategic service orientation. This orientation takes service dominated logic from abstract thinking to a concrete (inter-)acting model. In short, this strategic service orientation model consists of six interaction components, which are in line with Vargo and Lusch’ (2004) foundational premises. Service-Dominant Orientation, as Karpen and Bove (2008) have formulated, facilitates by this means the missing link, by bridging service-dominant logic and service-dominant practice.

Proceeding on the orientation of Karpen et al. (2011), six interaction capabilities are identified in which consumers are able to interact with the company. An overview of this model has been given in figure 1.

1) Individuated Interaction

An organization’s ability to understand the interaction processes, contexts and desired outcomes of individual customers.

2) Relational Interaction

An organization’s ability to enhance the connection of social and emotional links with customers.

3) Ethical Interaction

An organization’s ability to act in a fair and nonopportunistic way towards the customers. 4) Empowered Interaction

An organization’s ability to enable its customers to shape the nature and content of exchange. 5) Developmental Interaction

An organization’s ability to assist customers knowledge and competence development. 6) Concerted Interaction

An organization’s ability to support coordinated and integrated service processes toward customers.

All identified forms of interaction with the customer enable firms to engage in mutually rewarding relationships with this customer. All interactions play a central role in directing the company towards practices that facilitate and enhance value co-creation.

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Hereafter, focus is placed on one specific interaction regarding service-dominant orientation. Since, including all interaction capabilities in the study would result in a too large or too general report. The desire to examine a more in depth aspect regarding service-dominated logic resulted in the examination of ethical interaction. Ethical interaction was chosen for its ability to be researched through quantitative research and due to its current importance in today’s business environment. The exact definitions of ethical sales behaviour in this particular study are based upon the degree to which a proposed act is perceived as right versus wrong, good versus evil, fair versus unfair, or just versus unjust (Hunt and Vitell, 1986). Ethics requires an individual to behave to certain rules of a moral belief (Grundlach and Murphy, 1993). And ethical sales behaviour will be, in line with Vargo and Lusch’ (2004) and Karpen et al.’s (2011) studies, defined as the intention to interact with a customer in an equal, transparent and sincere manner, with the establishment of a long term relationship as objective. Unethical sales behaviour will be defined as short-term salesperson’s behaviour that enables him/her to gain at the expense of the customer (Román, 2003).

When salespersons find themselves in ethical dilemmas, these can occur due to mental conflicts where a just and fair act are able to contravene with personal interests. Salespeople frequently encounter ethical dilemmas during their employment. Mostly these dilemmas occur due to conflicts of interest between the customer, salesperson and the company. A salesperson will find difficulty in satisfying the needs of all parties simultaneously, which results in a dilemma for the employee (Ferrel and Gresham, 1985).

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1.5. Automotive Industry

To perform this research, an industry was needed to apply the conceptual framework. The automotive industry proved to be an adequate illustration for our model. Several reasons are presented why the automotive industry has been chosen.

Firstly, the automotive industry is a manufacturing industry. It manufactures goods and to accomplish this a large supply chain is present. Already many divisions in the automotive industry are being outsourced, and organizations are further specializing to obtain economies of scale. The threat that lies in these specializations, is that their workers have lost sense of both the customer and the purpose of their own service provision (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Huge service dominated logic potential lies in connecting the producer to the customer throughout the whole supply chain.

Secondly, auto purchases are the second most involved purchase most consumer will make, after that of their housing (Honeycutt et al., 2001). Therefore, consumers are expected to be eager in obtaining information, conveying their preferences, and presumed to be open to increased interaction with the companies.

Thirdly, the public’s perception of salespeople is largely affected by their perception of salespeople in the automotive industry. Unfortunately, car salesmen are often described as people with questionable ethical standards. As a result, studying the ethical behavior of car salesmen can benefit both consumers and the selling profession (Honeycutt et al., 2001).

At fourth, the automotive industry has great potential of improving customer interaction. Research has shown in the Young Mobility Survey 2011 (Kalmbach, 2011), that young adults have become more rationale in their buying behaviour concerning automobiles. Young customers see automobiles less as a status symbol and have become less loyal to specific brands. The automobile as a good is decreasing in importance and the adolescents are more and more leaving their choices to other factors. Thus, regarding this movement large importance on interacting with the customer by understanding the individual needs and desires of all customers is being observed.

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products due to increased competition and commoditization. Because of this trend, it becomes more important for automobile brands to compete on service.

To conclude, all of the above motives make the automotive industry an interesting choice for this study.

1.6 Problem Statement & Research Questions

Previously, is suggested that ethical interaction with the customer can play a critical role in establishing long-term relationships with the customer. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to enlighten the key determinants that improve ethical interaction, and the possible positive outcomes this behaviour has on salespeople themselves in the automotive industry. Following Heskett et al. (1994), positive outcomes can be expected when looking at the service-profit chain. Since an increase in job satisfaction results in more value for the customer. As a result, customer satisfaction is largely influenced by the value of services provided to customers.

The following problem statement has been formulated, which will serve as the central question throughout this study:

What are the key determinants and consequences of ethical interaction of salespeople within the automotive industry?

Following research questions have been formulated, in order to provide an answer to above problem statement:

- How can ethical sales behaviour positively influence salespeople?

- How can ethical sales behaviour be determined?

 Can individual characteristics influence ethical behaviour?

 Can organizational policies influence ethical behaviour?

1.7 Relevance

1.7.1. Academic relevance

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behaviour. Especially the results of individual characteristics have proven to vary among several studies. Due to these different findings in the past, the study will be of relevance by researching which individual and organizational characteristics results can be applied to the automotive industry in the Netherlands.

Researching ethical interaction, as one type of interaction within the service dominated orientation, gives companies insight into how to foster ethical sales behaviour towards their customers. Key antecedents and positive consequences of ethical behaviour of salespeople in the automotive industry will be identified.

The outcomes of this research will answer many requests of service-dominated logic articles for empirical research concerning this subject. Therefore, this research will aid scholars in further developing a framework for managers, to make service dominated logic more executable.

1.7.2. Managerial relevance

Research has shown that ethical sales behaviour positively correlates to customer satisfaction with the core service, and to satisfaction and trust with the company (Román, 2003), which shows that managers can increase customer satisfaction and trust by working on their ethical sales behaviour. Next to this, this study will give insight in how ethical sales behaviour has a positive impact on their salespeople, by an increase in job satisfaction. Therefore, managers may need to change their organizational environment by actively implementing a code of ethics throughout the company. Lastly, if individual characteristics are proven not to have an influence on ethical behaviour, demographics when recruiting new salespeople become of less importance.

1.8 Structure of the thesis

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2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In this chapter the relevant literature regarding ethical sales behaviour will be discussed. Therefore, firstly theory on ethics will be outlined giving information on what ethics entails, en how ethical behaviour is expressed. Subsequently, ethical sales behaviour is discussed and several causes and consequences will be outlined. Hereafter, factors influenced by ethical sales behaviour are argued, taking job satisfaction into account. Next, organizational and individual factors are highlighted that have an influence on ethical sales behaviour, being codes of conduct, the control and reward system of a company and age and education. Lastly, hypotheses are formulated and the chapter ends with the presentation of a conceptual framework.

2.1. Ethics

Ethics requires an individual to behave to certain rules of a moral belief (Grundlach and Murphy, 1993). To understand why salespeople behave in an ethical or unethical manner, ethics as a whole needs to be enlightened. Earlier ethical behaviour has been defined as the degree to which a proposed act is perceived as right versus wrong, good versus evil, fair versus unfair, or just versus unjust (Hunt and Vitell, 1986). However, when an act is specifically considered right or wrong can vary among people, organizations, cultures and countries. Next to this, ethical standards constantly change over time and organizations (Ferrel and Gresham, 1985). So the question arises if morals are relative, or are there certain morals that stretch beyond geographical and cultural boundaries. One theory that well explains the way people in a business organizations approach ethical decision making is utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism judges the ethical quality of a decision by its consequences. An action is morally right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the action (Schlegelmilch, 1998). From an utilitarian view, a salesperson identifies all stakeholders and then estimates the costs and benefits for the affected groups. Managers of salespeople should decide on the course of action which will result in the most good for the largest number of stakeholders (Schlegelmilch, 1998). Under utilitarianism it is unethical to engage in an act which leads to personal gain at the expense of society in general.

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Ethical dilemmas can occur due to mental conflicts where a just and fair act are able to contravene with personal interests. The conflicts arise when people feel moral duties to do something together with the moral duties not to. Salespeople frequently encounter ethical dilemmas during their employment. Mostly these dilemmas occur due to conflicts of interest between the customer, salesperson and the company. A salesperson will find difficulty satisfying the needs of all parties simultaneously, which results in a dilemma for the employee (Ferrel and Gresham, 1985). Since the salespeople perform a boundary spanning role for the company ethical dilemmas frequently occur due to many parties involved in their tasks and responsibilities. An example of salespeople encountering ethical dilemmas in the auto industry can be found during many daily tasks.

2.2. Ethical Sales Behaviour

Until now, many scholars have devoted many research articles studying ethical dilemmas regarding salespeople. Salespeople are frequently criticized by their ethical behaviour (Román and Munuera, 2005). Sales professionals are regularly perceived by the public to be, compared to other professions, at the bottom of the ethical ladder (Singhapakdi and Vitell, 1991). Unfortunately, many consumers are able to recall an incidence where they have been pressured or persuaded into a purchase, where later on they felt unhappy with.

Moreover, due to the fact that people are living in an internet society where information becomes more and more readily available, top management needs to take sales ethics very serious. Consumers are grouping together online, here websites have been set up to evaluate sale performances of auto sales companies. This way, the unethical behaviour of a salesperson can be reported online, warning other consumers to be careful or to take their business elsewhere.

To proceed Several causes regarding unethical sales behaviour are explained below;

One reason for this unethical behaviour may be the extremely competitive environment in which salespeople mostly find themselves (Singhapakdi and Vitell, 1991). The squeeze between revenue and profit targets, and next to this the costs to serve customers, places enormous pressure on salespeople to perform under intense competition. Salespeople are forced to continually update their market knowledge. In order to win sales, salespeople need to become very careful in what arguments to use and what inducements they offer, since these attempts can easily be considered unethical (Jones et al., 2005).

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gatekeepers for most industries. In being the company’s most exposed part to the environment, it is asserted by Ferrell and Gresham (1985) that these parts are under more pressure to deviate, compared to more internal departments.

Another reason that salespeople may be more prone to unethical behaviour lies in the fact that salespeople mostly perform their tasks individually. Consumers must rely on the agent for correct information and proper guidance (Howe et al., 1994). In contrast, group decisions are more likely to perform ethical behaviour, due to a higher level of moral reasoning (Wotruba, 1990). Next to this, salespeople interact individually with customers, next to members of their own company. The contradictory needs and demands make it difficult for the salesperson to independently make a decision on where to draw the line (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984).

Furthermore, salespeople are often evaluated on their sales figures, consisting of the numbers of sales or the amount of sales presentations given. These performance results are easily measured and compared to their colleagues (Wotruba, 1990). In a company that focuses on statistics, focus is being laid on short-term objectives. This may increase unethical behaviour, due to the fact that salespeople may feel anxiety when proposed targets are not likely to be met. Salespeople work in mostly unsupervised settings, and are primarily responsible for generating the firm’s revenues, which can all result to be extremely stressful (Wotruba, 1990).

As discussed, ethical sales behaviour finds itself to be a rather situation specific construct and can be defined differently in other locations, positions or circumstances.

2.3. Factors influenced by Ethical Sales Behaviour

After discussing how ethical sales behaviour is defined and how it is constructed, it is now time to discover how an improvement in ethical sales behaviour influences salespeople in their profession. Next to job satisfaction an increase in job performance was expected by Román (2005) since buyers tend to purchase from salespeople they trust. Consequently, building relationships based on satisfaction and trust are part of a salesperson’s job. However, since no data on the performance of auto salespeople can be collected in this study, no empirical research can be done concerning this factor.

2.3.1. Job satisfaction

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Ingram, 1984). When salespeople appear to find themselves in an ethical conflict, when not resolved by management, this can result in job stress, poor sales performance, dissatisfied customers and decreased job satisfaction (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984). Next to this, Valentine and Barnett (2003) found that sales managers’ commitment to an organization was higher in companies that had a code of ethics than in companies which had not. This is for one reason due to the fact that without codes of ethics, salespeople are unable to resolve ethical dilemmas and conduct themselves in an unethical manner. Often they will encounter increased job-related tension, frustration, and anxiety (Weeks and Nantel, 1992). Moreover, this unethical behaviour can also create conflict between the salesperson and his/her sales manager, which will likely lead to a decrease in job satisfaction (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984). Lastly, Román and Munuera (2005) provide further empirical evidence in their study that an increase in ethical behaviour of salespeople enhances job satisfaction. Based on these studies, the presence and communication of ethics codes, as well as the availability and amount of ethics training provided to the employees, can therefore expect to positively relate to job satisfaction. Accordingly, is proposed that:

Hypothesis 1: A salesperson’s ethical behaviour positively influences job satisfaction.

2.4. Organizational Factors Influencing Ethical Sales Behaviour

Although many researchers have done studies about the influence of individual-level factors on the ethical behaviour of employees, however in the studies of Wotruba (1990) and Trevino (1986) can be seen that the organizational environment can also exert a potentially strong influence on ethical behaviour (Valentine and Barnett, 2002). It is important for companies to facilitate an organizational ethical environment, since managers to a great extent have influence on the work environment of individuals (Trevino et al., 1998). As described earlier, sales professionals perform a boundary spanning role and find themselves frequently in ethical dilemmas, it should therefore be imperative for the organization to encourage an ethical environment (Wotruba, 1990).

Managers are in three ways able to influence the ethical environment in their company. Firstly, by setting up formal documentation known as codes of conduct, second by the chosen method of rewards, lastly by how employees are judged on their performance.

2.4.1. Codes of Conduct

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firms wish to express their ethical standards is to gain community recognition or to conform to the law, but most of all firms hope to institutionalize the morals and values of the founders such that they become part of the corporate culture (Adam et al., 2001). Next to this, codes show that an organization is concerned about moral obligations and wants to introduce an ethical orientation (Wotruba et al., 2001). However, how successful the implementation of codes of conducts are, depends on the content and specificity of de ethics codes, the degree to which the codes are successfully communicated to the employees, and the development of effective rewards/punishments for compliance or non-compliance (Schwartz, 2001). Those in sales need to perceive that ethical behaviour is expected of them by their organizations, that unethical behaviour will not be rewarded, and that it is possible for them to succeed while behaving ethically. When employees believe that the organization for which they work, stands for strong ethical values, they appear to be more likely to engage in ethical behaviour (Valentine and Barnett, 2002).

Absence of a corporate ethical policy has been determined as one of the main causes of unethical behaviour, and therefore needs to be top priority for management regarding sales ethics (Brenner and Molander, 1977). This assumed correlation between codes of conduct and ethical behaviour has been supported by empirical research (Singhapakdi and Vitell, 1991). Thus, the importance lies for management to develop an organizational environment which minimizes ethical conflicts for salespeople.

Therefore is believed that when reviewing above studies, the extent of written ethical codes that formalize organizations’ ethical values should positively influence ethical interaction. Accordingly, is proposed that:

Hypothesis 2: The more extensively codes of conduct are present, the more ethical the behaviour of the salesperson.

2.4.2. Reward system

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pulled in different directions when wanting to perform their job in a successful way. The conflict arises when he/she needs to chose in what area he/she wishes to be successful. The extra compensation that is rewarded for the salesperson to close the deal, encourages the salesperson to act in an unethical manner that will result in maximum sales, for example by withholding information to the customer (Román and Munuera, 2005). Particularly in the automobile industry, emphasis is placed on short-term sales performance that is reinforced through above mentioned compensation structure (Bellizzi and Hite, 1989). Accordingly, is proposed that:

Hypothesis 3: The higher fixed salary of the salesperson’s total salary, the more ethical the behaviour of the salesperson.

2.4.3. Control system

The control system of a company encompasses ‘a set of procedures a organization uses to monitor, direct, evaluate and compensate its salespeople’ as is defined by Anderson and Oliver (1987). However, in this study is the compensation component not included in our definition of control system, and hereby follow the recent study of Verbeke et al. (1996). Robertson and Anderson (1993) distinguish two sets of control systems: the outcome-based and behaviour-based control system. In the outcome-based control system management evaluates their personnel only on the outcomes (sales volume), whereas in the behaviour-based control system management takes how salespeople achieve their goals and results (methods and techniques) also into consideration. In a behaviour-based system managers are better able to prohibit undesirable and unethical behaviour, what otherwise would not be discovered using the outcome-based control system. Also, management is better able to bring ethical procedures to the attention of their employees, and can hereby influence salespeople in choosing behaviour which are both ethical and profitable in terms of sales goals (Verbeke et al., 1996). Accordingly, is proposed that:

Hypothesis 4: The more behaviour-based the control system of the company, the more ethical the behaviour of the salesperson.

2.5. Individual Factors Influencing Ethical Sales Behaviour

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custom to salesmen. Many studies have done research about correlations between ethical sales behaviour and individual characteristics, the results however have found to be rather diverse (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984; Wotruba 1990; Honeycutt et al. 2001). Taking these findings into account, will be investigated per individual characteristic if influence on ethical sales behaviour can be expected and therefore hypothesized.

2.5.1. Gender

Variables related to individual decision makers have been well researched empirically. In studies regarding ethical behaviour results have been mixed. When researching ethical behaviour it was revealed by Chonko and Hunt (1985) that female marketers are more likely to perceive ethical problems in their activities than male marketers. Where Hegarty and Sims (1978), in their study found gender to be unrelated to ethical behaviour. Subsequently, many outcomes have found females to be more likely to act ethical than males, and other studies found that gender had no impact at all (Ford and Richardson, 1994). No studies found males to act more ethical than females. Lastly, in the study of Singhapakdi and Vitell (1991), where specifically salespeople were examined no relation between gender and ethical behaviour was found. Due to these mixed results regarding gender it would have been interesting to research if gender would influence ethical sales behaviour for this type of industry. However, due to the expected low presence of female salespeople in the automotive industry no statistical assumptions will be able to be drawn.

2.5.2. Age

Next to the variable sex, age has resulted in many different findings regarding previous empirical research on ethical sales behaviour. However, when following Wotruba (1990), intended ethical behaviour, in general, increases as individuals shift from lower to higher levels of moral reasoning. Kolhberg’s typology, who identifies three levels of moral development, states that when people move to a higher age they consequently move to a higher level in moral development. In addition, also Rest (1986) found age to be directly correlated to moral reasoning, what gives a strong anticipation for an increase in age that will result in increased intended ethical behaviour (Rest, 1986). Support for these arguments can be found in that older salespeople have experienced more ethical dilemmas, due to a higher accumulation of work experience, which gives them more experience in recognizing and reconciling ethical conflicts (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984). Accordingly, is proposed that:

Hypothesis 5: The older the salesperson, the more ethical the behaviour of the salesperson.

2.5.3. Education

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judgement is the degree of education of the salesperson. Educated individuals seem to be more sensitive to alternative points of view, and are therefore more aware that people hold a variety of values and opinions (Singhapakdi et al., 1999). Next to this, salespeople with higher levels of education are more likely to have encountered ethical issues during their education process than salespeople with lower levels of education (Dubinsky and Ingram, 1984). In this education process the salespeople learned how to recognize moral and ethical issues and what is considered to be acceptable and unacceptable business behaviour. Their less educated counterparts, however, may not experience similar situations as being inappropriate or unethical, and therefore, can be expected to find themselves more often in unethical behaviour compared to higher educated colleagues. Accordingly, is proposed that:

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2.6. Conceptual Model

By combining all hypotheses described in earlier paragraphs, a conceptual model had been constructed (figure 2). The model represents the relation of all hypotheses and variables used in this study. The antecedents that have been divided in two groups; individual characteristics, and corporate ethical policy.

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3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Data collection and sample

Based on the research of Dubinsky et al. (1992), salespeople from only one industry were surveyed to hold constant the type of product sold. Therefore, in this study the automotive industry has been chosen. In the automotive industry it is possible for salespeople to take advantage of the consumer’s naivety and improve their own position, since the consumer must rely on the salesperson for correct information and proper guidance. Moreover, in the automotive industry it is uncomplicated to target employees that only perform sale activities. The auto salespeople all perform activities that include interpersonal contact with their customers.

In order to gather quantitative data, a questionnaire has been formulated. Through the questionnaire can be discovered how the respondents score the variables used in the conceptual model. The questionnaires was supplied online, and by means of approximately addressing 5000 auto companies 215 fully filled out surveys were obtained. These companies were found by calling and contacting them through their contact information online, by contacting auto salespeople on LinkedIn, but also largely through an HR auto-recruitment company who sent the questionnaire to all their business contacts. All kinds of auto companies were addressed, no distinction was made between autogarages and autodealers. Lastly, approached auto companies were arbitrary situated throughout the country to minimize geographical skewness. The sample size is almost twice as large as necessary to perform required tests, which gives us the ability to obtain statistical acceptable results.

Respondents were assured that all responses would be kept strictly confidential, since the survey could be taken in private behind their own computer. Moreover, the respondents were assured of their privacy by asking no personal information in which their identity could be discovered. Furthermore, the survey was translated into the Dutch language since our target market focused on the Dutch auto salesman.

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Next to this, a surprising aspect in the results was that 50% of all salespeople in the sample receive no compensation on top of their fixed salary. This was not expected on forehand when reading different results in other studies. However after research (Rouziès and Macquin, 2003), can be stated that this result is representative for the Dutch Automotive market, which is compared to the United States not a supporter of commission based salaries.

In table 3.1 The profile of the respondents is shown by percentage and absolute frequencies.

Percent Frequency Gender Male Female 96.3 % 3.7 % 207 8 Age  30 31-40 41-50 51  25.6 % 19.5 % 28.4 % 26.5 % 55 42 61 57 Experience  5 6-10 11-15 16  15.8 % 16.3 % 14.4 % 53.5 % 34 35 31 115 Education High school graduation

MBO education

HBO education or higher

7.4 % 41.4 % 51.2 % 16 89 110 Reward System 0% commission

10-30% commission 40-70% commission 70-100% commission 52.6 % 39.5 % 5.6 % 2.3 % 113 85 12 5 Table 1: Profile of respondents (n=215)

3.2 Questionnaire build-up

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to be answered using a 7-point Likert scale. The 7 point scale is chosen because the questionnaire discusses many personal situations of the respondent. What proposes that respondents may be more hesitant in giving answers to the question. In a 5-point Likert scale you would risk that many respondents answer the question more neutral due to the ethical loading. Next to this the results are likely to become more reliable using a this scale, especially when using multiple Likert questions, as is the case, a minimum of 7 items are recommended. The questionnaire ends with 3 demographic questions (Sex, Age and Education) to receive information about the respondent’s background and are used as individual characteristics in the conceptual model. It was chosen not to ask many demographic questions to secure the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents.

3.3 Measures

When setting up the measures for assessing the dependent and independent variables of the conceptual model, as much as possible is made use of existing scales and theories.

3.3.1 Reward System

To assess if a salesperson is being paid in a commission based or salary based method, the respondents are asked how much commission they receive as a percentage of their total salary (Honeycutt et al. 2001). The higher this percentage is the more dependent the salesperson is on their sales numbers when receiving their salary at the end of the month. This question was reverse scored, meaning that the variable was transformed to match our hypothesis. Resulting in a higher score on the variable Reward System, being lower commission, can be translated into a more salary based paying system.

3.3.2 Control System

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3.3.3 Codes of Conduct

To measure to what extent codes of conduct are present in the auto companies, 5 statements regarding Codes of Conduct were used. A high score on all statements would result in the company being active in communicating, educating and reinforcing ethical behaviour. The statements are put together from several studies, being Valentine and Barnett (2002) Trevino et al. (1998) and Wortuba et al. (2001).

3.3.4 Ethical Behaviour

Measuring the dependent variable Ethical Behaviour 5 statements were used to discover to what extent the respondents interact with the customer. The 5 statements are taken from the studies of Roman and Munueara (2004) and Honeycutt et al. (2001). Keeping in mind what ‘service dominated logic’ perceives as ethical interaction, the statements were selected that in total related to all topics of ethical interaction. Two topics were strongly kept in mind, being transparency towards the customer, and determination to develop a long-term equal relationship with the customer

3.3.5 Job Satisfaction

To measure how satisfied the respondents are in their current job, 3 statements of the scale from Rich (1997) were applied. The first statement is reverse scored and therefore straightened. In total, the higher the score on these 3 statements result in higher job satisfaction from the respondent.

3.4 Measurement scales

VARIABLES QUES TIONS Item SOURCE Ethical Behaviour Hypothesis 1 - 6 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Transparency Sales pressure

Relationship building (deleted)

Honesty

Knowledge advantage abuse

Román and Munuera, 2005; Honeycutt et al. 2001 Individual Characteristics Age Hypothesis 1 Q20 Age Wotruba, 1990 Education Hypothesis 2

Q21 Education level Román and Munuera, 2005;

Rest 1986 Corporate Ethical Policy

Reward System Hypothesis 3

Q2 Compensation percentage Honeycutt et al. 2001

Control System Hypothesis 4 Q3 Q4 Q5 Management involvement Behaviour-oriented extent

Result-oriented extent (deleted)

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Codes of Conduct Hypothesis 5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10

Formal Codes of Conduct Communication frequency Tolerance of unethical behaviour Communication of tolerance Existence punitive actions

Valentine and Barnett, 2002; Trevino et al. 1998 ; Wortuba et al. 2001; Job Satisfaction Hypothesis 6 Q16 Q17 Q18 Thought of resignation Task satisfaction Overall job satisfaction

Rich 1997

3.5 Plan of analysis

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4. RESULTS

4.1 Cronbach’s alphas

Several variables are measured using multiple questions. In order to indicate if the questions together give a consistent indication of the whole aspect, the reliability of the items needs to be analyzed (Malhotra, 2009). To measure this reliability per construct the Cronbach’s alpha will be calculated. The questions are taken together and checked to determine if all items load on the same factor. The variable made through this factor analysis can be used when the alpha is higher than 0.6, this indicates that the variable is sufficiently reliable. Next to this when loading the items in a new factor the test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity needs to be carried out. The sample with a KMO value higher than 0.60 and a significant (p<0.05) Bartlett result suffices this test.

In table 4.1 the alphas and KMO are given for each construct.

Constructs Cronbach´s alpha KMO

Ethical Behaviour (4 items) 0.695 0.680

Control System (2 items) 0.581 0.500

Codes of Conduct (5 items) 0.839 0.789

Job Satisfaction (3 items)

Table 4.1: Cronbach’s alphas and KMO’s

0.800 0.660

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System is dropped en is proceeded with the 2-item factor, keeping in mind the somewhat low score of the Cronbach’s alpha. Also when loading the 5 items of Ethical Behaviour, the items were during the factor analysis loaded on 2 different components. When looking at the data closely it was chosen to drop the third item and proceed the factor analysis without the third question of Ethical Behaviour. When dropping the third item of Ethical Behaviour, all items loaded on the same factor and resulted in the Cronbach’s alpha only dropping slightly from 0.696 to 0.0695 and kept the KMO above the needed level with 0.680.

4.2 Multivariate regression analysis

Before researching our hypotheses by means of a multivariate regression analysis, a correlation matrix has been computed to give a preview of the shared correlations between all variables and to give insight in the presence of multicollinearity. Only the presence of a correlation can be determined, not to be mistaken with any possible causation. Before conducting the correlation analysis the presumed correlating variables are put together in a scatter plot, to observe the general tendency of the correlation. For all variables a Pearson correlation has been executed, however since the Reward System variable has an ordinal scale the Spearman correlation was used for this particular variable. In the correlation matrix all significant p-values explain a correlation between the two variables. How strong this correlation is can be determined by looking at the correlation coefficient. The higher the coefficient the higher the correlation. In table 4.2 an overview of the correlation outcomes have been given, and here can be observed that the organizational variables are significantly correlated to Ethical Behaviour, and the two individual variables are not significantly correlated. To further determine the relation between the variables a mulitvariate regression analysis is performed. Correlation coefficient Significant p<0.01 CC  EB 0.345 0.000 RS  EB 0.353 0.000 CS EB 0.366 0.000 Age  EB 0.123 0.036 Edu  EB 0.051 0.227

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4.2.1 Corporate Ethical policy

When looking again at the correlation matrix can be seen that all organizational characteristics find themselves in a significant correlation to ethical behaviour. All p-values are significant, since the model is one-tailed a significance level of p<0.01 is used. The correlation coefficients of the variables Reward System, Codes of Conduct and Control system are all positive, which means that a positive correlation is present between the variables and ethical behaviour. The variable Reward System shows the highest correlation with ethical behaviour with a correlation coefficient of 0.394.

However, to determine if ethical behaviour can be caused by organizational characteristics a multivariate regression analysis will be performed. The regression results are displayed and explained below in table 4.3. The highest adjusted r square has been found using all 3 organisational variables, by using the forward and backward method to measure if any other variables should be included or excluded.

As can be seen in table 4.3, the regression analysis has proven to be overall significant with an f-value of 29.141 and a p-vale of 0.000. All variables in the model are found significant and with their positive Beta support the hypothesis that the variables have a positive linear influence on ethical behaviour. Lastly, to find out if the independent variables do not have a strong intercorrelation with each other, the variables are tested for multicollinearity. Looking at the numbers shown in the table all variables show a high Tolerance (t>0.10) and low VIF (VIF<10). What means that no multicollinearity is found to be an issue regarding this model.

Due to the executed regression analysis Ethical Behaviour can be predicted by means of the variables Codes of Conduct, Control System and Reward System, using below equation:

R2 :0.293 Anova: F-value:

29.141

Sig.: 0.000

Beta Std. Error Sig. Multicollinearity

Tolerance VIF (Constant) CS CC RS -1.940 0.208 0.167 0.197 0.330 0.066 0.066 0.033 0.000 0.002 0.012 0.000 0.773 0.772 0.930 1.293 1.295 1.075 Dependent variable: Ethical Behaviour

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Regression Equation: Y = B0 + B1X + e

Ethical Behaviour = -1.940 + 0.208 x Control System + 0.167 x Codes of Conduct + 0.197 x Reward System

In conclusion, when looking at the model, the model will significantly explain 29% of all future values to be in a positive linear relation from the organizational variables in correlation to Ethical Behaviour. Therefore, after analyzing mentioned results, hypotheses 2, 3, and 4 are accepted.

4.2.2 Individual characteristics

When viewing the outcomes of the correlation matrix Age and Education do not seem to have a significant correlation with Ethical Behaviour. However, to determine if Ethical Behaviour can be caused by individual characteristics bivariate regression analyses will be performed.

When looking at table 4.4, the ANOVA test shows that this model is not significant with an F-value of 3.292, and therefore this analysis will not contribute to this study. The independent variable Age is not significant with a p-value 0.071. Furthermore, the Rsquare of this analysis is very low (0.015) what would not result in many future values to be predicted. Therefore, when viewing these results can be concluded that the variable Age is not able to predict future values of Ethical Behaviour. For that reason, hypothesis 5 cannot be accepted.

R2 :0.015 ANOVA: F-value: 3.292

Sig.: 0.071

Beta Std. Error Sig.

(Constant) AGE -.423 0.010 0.064 0.064 0.083 0.071 Dependent variable: Ethical Behaviour

Table 4.4: Bivariate regression Age

R2 :0.003 ANOVA: F-value: 0.565

Sig.: 0.453

Beta Std. Error Sig.

(Constant) Education -.199 0.082 0.064 0.064 0.468 0.453 Dependent variable: Ethical Behaviour

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When looking at table 4.5, the ANOVA test shows that this model is not significant with an F-value of 0.565, and therefore this analysis will not contribute to this study. The independent variable Education is not significant with a p-value 0.453. Furthermore, the Rsquare of this analysis is very low (0.003) what would not result in many future values to be predicted. Therefore, when viewing these results can be concluded that the variable Education is not able to predict future values of Ethical Behaviour. For that reason, hypothesis 6 cannot be accepted.

Having both Age and Education respond insignificantly together with ethical behaviour, no multiple regression analysis will be performed taking both individual characteristics into account. In an overall multiple regression analysis together with the organizational characteristics Education was taken into account as a dummy variable, however again has proven to be insignificant.

4.7 Job Satisfaction

By the estimation of Job satisfaction due to an improved Ethical Behaviour, again a correlation matrix was executed to determine if any correlation between these 2 variables was present. In table 4.6, a significant correlation between Ethical Behaviour and Job Satisfaction is determined.

However to determine if Job Satisfaction can be caused by an increase in ethical behaviour we will perform a multiple regression analysis, taking into account the interactions of the organizational characteristics influencing ethical behaviour.

Correlation coefficient Significant p<0.05 EB  JS 0.202 0.001 CC  JS 0.325 0.000 RS  JS 0.220 0.001 CS  JS 0.410 0.000 EB*CC  JS -.001 0.495 EB*RS  JS 0.133 0.026 EB*CS  JS 0.137 0.023

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When performing the regression analysis, the organizational characteristics need to be taken into account. To minimize multicollinearity the variable Reward System has been mean-centered. Furthermore, by looking at the correlation matrix an interaction from the variable Codes of Conduct is not expected. Below, the multivariate regression analyses are presented.

In table 4.7, the ANOVA-test is significant which shows that the model can be of value to our study. However, the variable Ethical Behaviour together with the interaction of Codes of Conduct and Control System is insignificant. Therefore, when viewing these results can be concluded that the variable Ethical Behaviour with all organizational antecedents and interactions is not able to predict future values of Job Satisfaction.

Since the antecedents Control System and Codes of Conduct proved to be insignificant, the regression analysis therefore was repeated with only the antecedent and interaction of Reward System. The results are shown in table 4.8.

R2 :0.273 ANOVA: F-value: 11.123

Sig.: 0.000

Tolerance VIF (Constant) EB CC CS RS EB*CC EB*CS EB*RS -1.218 0.054 0.239 0.253 0.115 0.045 -0.068 0.125 0.473 0.073 0.071 0.074 0.047 0.077 0.071 0.032 0.011 0.458 0.001 0.001 0.015 0.558 0.336 0.000 0.663 0.701 0.644 0.488 0.311 0.401 0.392 1.508 1.427 1.553 2.048 3.215 2.491 2.548 Dependent variable: Ethical Behaviour

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In table 4.8, the ANOVA-test is significant which shows that the model can be of value to our study. Next to this, the variables Ethical Behaviour, Reward System and the interaction of Reward System are all significant. With all values being significant and no multicollinearity detected, the model predicts 11.1% of all future values of job satisfaction. To visualize the interaction of the variable Reward System a scatter plot has been constructed (figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1: Scatter plot Job Satisfaction and Ethical Behaviour with Reward System interaction

R2 :0.111 ANOVA: F-value: 8.773

Sig.: 0.000

Tolerance VIF (Constant) EB RS EB*RS -1.306 0.215 0.123 0.017 0.504 0.073 0.049 0.029 0.010 0.003 0.013 0.000 0.801 0.522 0.582 1.249 1.914 1.718 Dependent variable: Ethical Behaviour

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This scatter plot gives several insights on the interaction of Reward System on Ethical Behaviour. However, keep in mind that the frequency of respondents receiving 40% commission or higher is only 8 percent of all respondents. Therefore, these results may be skewed by this distribution.

Firstly, the scatter plot shows that when the Reward System is salary based (0-30%) a positive linear relationship is present between ethical behaviour and job satisfaction. Which means that when the respondents behave more ethical, they are more satisfied in their jobs.

However, in contrast when the Reward System is more commission based (40-100%) behaving more ethically results in lower job satisfaction. This can be attributed to the fact that behaving more ethically may result in lower sales, what would lead to a lowered total salary.

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5. CONCLUSION

This final chapter will focus on the discussing the results outlined in previous chapters and present answers to the research questions proposed in chapter 1. Next, recommendations are given for managerial and academic relevance. In conclusion, limitations and implications for further research are given.

5.1 Discussion

This research identifies key antecedents and consequences of ethical sales behaviour of salespeople in the automotive industry. The results show that job satisfaction is correlated to ethical behaviour. What translates in employees being more satisfied in their jobs when behaving in a more ethical manner towards their customers. This outcome is in line with Roman and Munuera (2005) who suggest that ethical sales behaviour is related to an individual’s positive response to work. Next to the variable ethical behaviour, the organizational characteristics were found to be by themselves also correlated to job satisfaction. Which is in line with the study of Valentine and Fleischman (2008) who indicate that organizational ethics are positively associated with employee job satisfaction. These findings contribute to the idea that management should focus on implementing these ethical instruments to increase job satisfaction in their company. By the creation of a corporate ethical policy a company is able to reduce role conflict, what is researched to have a positive impact on job satisfaction due to the reduction of job stress (Roman and Munuera, 2005)

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Secondly, our results indicate that when the Reward System is less based on commission, ethical sales behaviour is increased among salespeople. This finding is in line with Roman and Munuera’s (2005) study, which also provides evidence that a commission based Reward System is a clear determinant of ethical sales behaviour. Commission gives one of the most direct incentives for salespeople to behave unethically, since a sale gives the salesperson direct short-term rewards. To keep salespeople behave in an ethical manner, commission needs to be avoided, to erase the role conflict which it creates by making a distinction between organisation, consumer and personal gain. Thirdly, the research supports the correlation between a behaviour-based Control System and ethical sales behaviour. This finding is as well supported by Roman and Munuera (2005) and Anderson and Oliver (1987). This means that when salespeople are judged by more than their sales targets alone, their ethical behaviour increases. Again role conflict plays a large part regarding the type of Control System. Large conflict is created between the employee and the customer, due to the fact that unethical behaviour towards a customer may result in an excellent review from their management, if they only criticize on the outcomes of their employees. Changing the Control System is difficult for companies since top producing salespeople, that behave in an unethical manner, are more likely to be overlooked (Bellizzi and Hite, 1989). Hereby, giving a bad example to other employees, and giving these unethical salespeople no incentive to change their behaviour. Management needs to keep in mind that this unethical sales behaviour generates short-term successes and are not likely to render increases in sales over the long run (Roman and Munuera, 2005).

Next to the individual correlations between ethical sales behaviour and the organizational characteristics, also the total Corporate Ethical Policy as a whole has influence on ethical sales behaviour. The results indicate that future values of ethical sales behaviour can be predicted by the extent of Corporate Ethical Policy incorporated by a company. Therefore, there can be presumed that an organization can improve ethical sales behaviour by effectively communicating ethical values, enforcing these values by reviewing their employees´ behaviour and by not rewarding employees only on their sales figures. By these means a company that actively shows care about ethical issues, conveys to employees that they support ethical behaviour. With the reduction in role conflict due to these measures an employee more easily chooses for customer or organisational gain since the obtainable personal gain has been reduced.

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standard. The decision to keep this relation insignificant, and not handle a higher significance level, is due to its low correlation coefficient with ethical behaviour. Choosing to recognize this relation as a significant variable would not add any relevant information to our findings, since the relation is close to zero and therefore quite low. This is supported by Dubinsky et al. (1992) where Age’s influence was found to be minimal. Education has never found itself to have any correlation to ethical sales behaviour in other studies (Roman and Munuera, 2005; Dubinsky et al., 1992), and the findings from this study can only support this result. The conclusion, based on these findings, can be made that individual characteristics do not influence salespeople’s ethical behaviour. What means that the connection between Age and Education together with moral judgement does not influence ethical behaviour. Therefore, a salesperson might be well able to identify an recognize ethical dilemmas better due to their Age and Education, still the way they act upon these dilemmas are not correlated. Based on these results, it is clear that organizational characteristics can be used to predict the increase in ethical behaviour of the salespeople and the individual cannot. This means that it is important for managers to provide an ethical organization for salespeople, since the characteristics of an individual salesperson will not likely effect how ethical he/she will interact.

5.2 Conclusion

To conclude this study, a reflection of our findings will be given by answering the research questions proposed in chapter 1.

Sales ethics has proven to be a much discussed and research subject in marketing since many years. However, with the upcoming of a new dominant logic from Vargo and Lusch, ethical interaction with the customer is yet again receiving much attention. This attention can be appointed to the positive outcomes of ethical sales behaviour. In the findings presented, ethical sales behaviour is found to be positively correlated to job satisfaction, and therefore relevant for management. An increase in job satisfaction can reduce job stress, which makes salespeople better able to handle ethical dilemmas.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY ETHICAL SALES BEHAVIOUR IN THE D ISCOVERING THE INFLUENCE AND CAUSES OF

ETHICAL SALES BEHAVIOUR IN THE