Territory Assignment Decisions and Supervising Unethical Selling Behavior: The Effects of Obesity and Gender as Moderated by Job-Related Factors

The results of this study which used sales managers in the United States as subjects indicate that obese salespeople are considered less fit for challenging sales territories and may be discriminated against in assignment decisions. Interestingly, a job which included little face-to-face contact with customers (inside telephone sales) did offset the effects of obesity. Obese salespeople are also disciplined more harshly for breaches of ethical conduct.