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Exploring the unintended negative impact of an ethical climate in competitive environments

Author

Listed:
  • Bryan W. Hochstein

    (University of Alabama)

  • William J. Zahn

    (University of Houston)

  • Willy Bolander

    (Florida State University)

Abstract

To attain short-term performance, sales managers must motivate their salesforce to close deals (often through use of intra-firm competition). At the same time, to maintain long-term relationships, they must promote a highly ethical selling environment (which may be incongruent with use of intra-firm competition). The present study examines the interactive relationship between competitive psychological climate and ethical psychological climate in predicting salespeople’s ethical intentions and behaviors toward customers. A unique dyadic data set is used to predict salesperson ethical intentions and actual salesperson ethical behaviors reported by customers. For ethical intentions, an “executive control” perspective predicts improved ethical intentions toward customers. However, a “depletion” perspective predicts reduced ethical behavior during actual customer interactions. This result is provocative as fostering an ethical climate in conjunction with a competitive climate is found to reduce ethical behaviors in the eyes of customers, a finding clearly counter to what managers intend.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryan W. Hochstein & William J. Zahn & Willy Bolander, 2017. "Exploring the unintended negative impact of an ethical climate in competitive environments," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 621-635, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:28:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11002-017-9435-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-017-9435-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hauser, John R & Wernerfelt, Birger, 1990. "An Evaluation Cost Model of Consideration Sets," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(4), pages 393-408, March.
    2. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Locander, David A. & Locander, Jennifer A. & Weinberg, Frankie J., 2020. "How salesperson traits and intuitive judgments influence adaptive selling: A sensemaking perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 452-462.
    2. Liu, Yongmei & Hochstein, Bryan & Bolander, Willy & Bradford, Kevin & Weitz, Barton A., 2020. "Internal selling: Antecedents and the importance of networking ability in converting internal selling behavior into salesperson performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 176-188.
    3. Simon Piest & Philipp Schreck, 2021. "Contests and unethical behavior in organizations: a review and synthesis of the empirical literature," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(4), pages 679-721, October.
    4. Sok, Keo Mony & Danaher, Tracey S. & Sok, Phyra, 2023. "Multiple psychological climates and employee self-regulatory focus: Implications for frontline employee work behavior and service performance," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 228-246.
    5. Hochstein, Bryan & Bolander, Willy & Christenson, Brett & Pratt, Alexander B. & Reynolds, Kristy, 2021. "An Investigation of Consumer Subjective Knowledge in Frontline Interactions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 336-346.
    6. Bruno Lussier & Nathaniel N. Hartmann & Willy Bolander, 2021. "Curbing the Undesirable Effects of Emotional Exhaustion on Ethical Behaviors and Performance: A Salesperson–Manager Dyadic Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(4), pages 747-766, April.

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