The impact of trust in manager on unethical intention and customer‐oriented selling

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how customer‐oriented selling is linked to two important antecedents – unethical intention and the trust of salespeople in their manager.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses are developed suggesting that “unethical intention” is inversely related to “trust in manager” and “customer‐oriented selling.” Data were collected from 345 business‐to‐business sales professionals. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of the hypothesized relationships.FindingsSupport was shown for a negative relationship between unethical intention and both trust in manager and customer‐oriented selling. Interestingly, the proposed negative relationship between trust in manager and customer‐oriented selling was not supported in this sample.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings will advance the academic sales research as the literature suggests the importance of building salespeople's trust in their manager, reducing unethical behavior and using customer‐oriented selling. In addition, contributions are offered for advancing the understanding of ethical decision making theory.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the importance of manager trust building and reducing unethical behaviors can be incorporated into training.Originality/valueThe study confirms a negative relationship between unethical intention and both trust in managers and customer‐oriented selling. Implications are provided as to how practitioners can operationalize these findings to develop trust in managers and reduce the unethical intention of their salespeople.