Toward Higher Levels of Ethics: Preliminary Evidence of Positive Outcomes

Based on previous research, this study proposes conceptualization and measurement of five distinct ethical levels. The ideas are tested with secondary data obtained from responses of 246 salespeople to a nationwide survey conducted by a leading research firm. Results support a hierarchically indexed measure of ethical level and offer evidence that ethical level relates to a number of important organizational outcomes relevant to long-term viability and success. Specifically, ethical level is positively associated with salesperson well-being, customer and societally related measures, and also with a set of proxies for market and financial performance. This paper brings an important contribution to the sales and ethics literature by demonstrating that a true commitment to ethics is beneficial to salespersons and the firm, and that higher ethical commitment above and beyond codes and enforcement is even more beneficial. A discussion of implications and directions for further research is provided.