Does transparency influence the ethical behavior of salespeople? John E. Cicala a, ⁎ ,1 , Alan J. Bush b , Daniel L. Sherrell b , George D. Deitz b a Department of Management and Marketing, College of Business Administration, Texas A&M University — Kingsville, 700 University Blvd. BUSA 215, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA b Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management, Fogelman College of Business & Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 29 June 2012 Received in revised form 19 December 2013 Accepted 21 December 2013 Available online xxxx Keywords: Personal selling Ethics Sales management Technology Transparency This study introduces the concept of perceived salesperson transparency to the sales literature. It addresses how recent technological developments impact traditional agency theory concerns, while simultaneously creating a conceptual definition of perceived transparency for application on an individual level. Salesperson perceptions regarding managerial use of behavioral information obtained through technological means are empirically found to have a mediating effect on the relationship between managerial access to such information and the likelihood of unethical salesperson behavior. It concludes that salesperson ethical behavior is not influenced by management's ability to obtain behaviorally relevant information, but rather by the use of this information. Further, it is found that the mediating influence of use of information accessed via technology is itself moderated by the salesperson's job performance. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Managing today's selling environment is perhaps one of the most difficult and challenging tasks facing management. A prominent issue at the center of today's selling environment is the ethical behavior of the sales force. Salespeople today are under extreme pressure to maintain credibility and build long-term relationships with customers in a market of growing buyer skepticism and resistance Evans, McFarland, Dietz, and Jaramillo (2012). Salespeople must be able to develop creative solutions while building credibility and trust with their customers through ethical behaviors. Ethical sales behaviors are a critical aspect of the buyer–seller dyad, as they have been associated with customer attitudes and behaviors as well as the strength of the customer–firm relationship (cf. Palmatier, Dant, Grewal, & Evans, 2006). While ethical salesperson behavior is an important contributor to long-term buyer–seller relationships, salespeople are more often at risk to deviate from desired ethical behaviors than are other organiza- tional employees (Ferrell & Gresham, 1985; Osborn & Hunt, 1974). Lack of direct supervision puts salespeople in a position to engage in perceivably unethical behaviors. Moreover, sales force researchers see ethical sales behavior as an important, yet relatively under-researched topic, given the recent call for research in sales ethics to help marketers better understand the sales performance construct (Evans et al., 2012). A vantage point from which to study ethics in sales is an issue at the heart of the selling environment today — sales force automation or sales technology (ST). Given the vast amounts of resources devoted to sales technologies for increasing efficiency, productivity, and long-term cus- tomer relationships, research has begun to investigate the possible im- pact of sales technology on salesperson ethical behavior. Bush, Bush, Orr, and Rocco (2007) study on the ethical use of technology by sales- people concluded that salespeople would become more “visible” with technology. They advise that it might be in the best interests of organizations to monitor exactly how their sales force uses technology during the sales process. This study contributes to the sales literature on the influence of ST on salesperson behavior by applying a transparency perspective to salespeople's view of sales management actions in a business-to- business setting. Salespersons' beliefs about the visibility of their be- haviors during the selling process, as enabled by ST, relate to ethical sales behavior. The potential moderating impact of individual sales performance on this relationship is also considered. Finally, this paper conceptualizes and tests relationships among perceived salesperson transparency as enabled by technology and ethical sales behaviors and discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the results. 2. Background and review 2.1. Ethical behavior and sales The importance of ethics in sales cannot be overestimated. Schwepker and Ingram (1996) accept as true that an ethical salesperson performs better for themselves and for their organization, writing, “… salespeople making more ethical decisions indicate higher perfor- mance,” (p. 1155). Hawes, Mast, and Swan (1989) suggest that sales- people wishing to develop trust-based relationships with their customers must exhibit honesty as a form of ethical sales behavior. Journal of Business Research xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ⁎ Correspoding author at: College of Business Administration Texas & M University- Kingsville Kingsville, TX 78363. E-mail addresses: john.cicala@tamuk.edu (J.E. Cicala), alanbush@memphis.edu (A.J. Bush), dansherrll@memphis.edu (D.L. Sherrell), gdeitz@memphis.edu (G.D. Deitz). 1 Tel.: +1 361 593 3939; fax: +1 361 593 3202. JBR-07997; No of Pages 9 0148-2963/$ – see front matter © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.12.011 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research Please cite this article as: Cicala, J.E., et al., Does transparency influence the ethical behavior of salespeople?, Journal of Business Research (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.12.011