Toward the Development of Guidelines Regarding When Full-Disclosure is (is Not) Required in Selling

Abstract

"Ignorance" and "conflict" often block the path to morally correct sales behaviors. Academics and practitioners agree that the introduction of ethical guidelines is the best measure for encouraging ethical sales behaviors. Yet guidelines have been offered which can be conveniently used to overcome the unique circumstances that contribute to the moral dilemmas often encountered in personal selling. Two guidelines are developed that precisely chart ethical paths across a variety of sales settings (addressing "ignorance") while illustrating why the cost associated with acting morally is generally reasonable (addressing "conflict"). The code applies the universal transactional notions of customer expectations and salesperson reputation to illustrate why and when full disclosure is morally required. In doing so, the code tackles head-on the vexing question of how best to juggle mixed motives – involving self-interests, corporate-concerns, customer-needs and other influences such as the nature of the transaction. The issue of how mixed motives can be morally accommodated is one that ethicists have previously sidestepped.