Karl A. Boedecker

Legal Dimensions of Salespersons' Statements: A Review and Managerial Suggestions

Salespeople can generate liability problems for their organizations through both intentional and inadvertent statements, yet the sales management and personal selling literature has not provided adequate discussion of these problems. The authors describe the various ways salespeople initiate such liability and include specific advice for sales managers interested in guiding salesperson behavior.

The evolution of first amendment protection for commercial speech

During the past 15 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has used Central Hudson Gas v. Public Service Commission (1980) to expand significantly the power of the government at all levels to regulate advert...

A historical view of strict liability for product-related injuries

Since the Greenman v. Yuba Power Products case in 1963, strict liability has been a part of the U.S. product liability framework. Over the years, strict liability has been increasingly applied to marketing practices and institutions. This article reviews such developments and highlights the reasons for them.

A Legal View of Excessive Product Consumption

Marketing efforts designed to promote increased product consumption by encouraging consumers to use more of the product per occasion may cause consumers to use products beyond a safe limit. When courts find that such overuse is foreseeable by the marketer, a person who incurs injuries resulting from this overuse can often recover damages from the marketer. This paper identifies different categories of product overuse and reviews the relevant case law regarding their product liability implications. Actions of both marketers and consumers are considered. The final section presents some recommendations that marketers can follow in order to reduce their product liability exposure.