Paternalism in the marketplace: Should a salesman be his buyer's keeper?

Abstract

The marketplace has become increasingly sophisticated. Products and services are more complex resulting in greater customer reliance on salespersons for guidance. The salesperson's role presumes superior knowledge with respect to the buyer because he is consulted as an expert on the quality and uses of his product. Thus, it is important that a tacit professional ethic for sales be established to protect customers from possible exploitation. The purpose of this article is to propose a realistic professional ethic for sales — “limited paternalism.” Limited paternalism implies that a salesman should “be his buyer's keeper” in the sense that he should serve the interests of his customers by identifying their needs, while disclosing all relevant information about products or services in order to facilitate mutual exchange to mutual advantage.