Matthew T. Seevers

A Social Network Perspective on Sales Force Ethics

The social network perspective provides researchers in the field of personal selling with a research approach capable of extending our knowledge of ethics and ethical decision making in the sales context. We briefly review ethics models and ethics research in the sales field before providing an overview of the social network perspective. A hypothetical pharmaceutical sales network is presented as a context for the development of sales force ethics research issues. We present a variety of social network issues for the consideration of future sales ethics researchers, as well as managerial implications, in an effort to advance our knowledge in the field.

Are State Expenditures to Promote Tourism Effective

Our focus is the effect of public spending to promote tourism on tourism growth and broader economic growth among U.S. states. We estimate a series of regression models using a panel of state-level data for the years 1985 through 2003 to identify the effect of public tourism promotion spending (TPS) on state tourism growth, gross state product growth, and state employment growth, when such spending is financed through own-source revenues. Results indicate that the effect of higher TPS on tourism or employment growth depends on the existing level of tourism expenditures in the state. More specifically, results indicate that additional TPS increases tourism and employment growth for states that have low levels of initial tourism expenditures. However, that effect diminishes as initial levels of tourism expenditures increase. For states with very high initial levels of tourism expenditures, employment can decline following increased TPS funded through own-source revenues.

The Ties that Buy: The Role of Interfirm Social Contagion Across Customer Accounts

This study investigates how purchase decisions may be influenced by ties linking customer account personnel and sales personnel. Two distinct forms of social contagion—cohesion and structural equivalence—are posited as mechanisms for triggering purchase similarity among customer accounts. We empirically test our hypotheses using field-collected sociometric data that captures social ties among customer accounts and sales personnel within a retail sales territory. The results support structural equivalence rather than cohesion as a key driver of brand choice similarity among retail firms. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for sales management practice and research.

Salesperson Slotting Allowance Authority in Manufacturer-Retailer Negotiations

Over the past 30 years, slotting allowances have played an important, albeit contentious, role in manufacturer-retailer relationships. As the debate over this practice continues, little attention is being paid to the role of salespeople in slotting allowance negotiations. The current study addresses this shortcoming in the literature by investigating the delegation of slotting allowance authority to salespeople in the context of manufacturer-retailer negotiations. A structural model is tested using data collected from retail managers. The analysis indicates that delegating slotting allowance authority to salespeople positively impacts the salespersons influence over customer decisions and enhances selling performance. The results also suggest that a salespersons trustworthiness increases his or her influence and performance with the customer. Overall, the findings suggest that manufacturers are likely to benefit from delegating slotting allowance authority to the sales force and training salespeople to convey this authority during retail negotiations. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for theory and practice.