Buyer-Seller Interactions: The Role of Ethical Perceptions on Customer Attitudes and Intentions

Abstract

The importance of salespeople in the exchange process has been long recognized in the marketing literature (Strong 1925). Recently, however, considerably greater emphasis has been placed on the salesperson role for several reasons. First, the importance of the sales function has become more obvious due to the direct link to a firm 's revenue stream. Second, there is considerable evidence that salespeople actually come to represent the firm in the mind of the buyer(Crosby, Evans, and Cowles 1990). Finally, the interactions between a salesperson and the buying organization play an important role in establishing and maintaining the marketing relationship between buying and selling organizations (Boles, Barksdale, and Johnson 1996).