The impacts of ethical sales behaviour on customer loyalty in the life insurance industry

Service Industries Journal

Volumn 29, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 59-74

  Chen, Mei Fang ^a   Mau, Liang Hung ^a  

^a TATUNG UNIVERSITY   (Taiwan)

Author keywords

Customer loyalty; Customer trust in the company; Customer trust in the salesperson; Ethical sales behaviour

Indexed keywords

ETHICS; INSURANCE INDUSTRY; MARKETING;

EID: 58949086667     PISSN: 02642069     EISSN: 17439507     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02642060802116339     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. Andaleeb, S. S. and Anwar, S. F. (1996) Factors influencing customer trust in salespersons in a developing country. Journal of International Marketing, 4:4, pp. 35-52.
2. Anderson, J. C. and Gerbing, D. W. (1988) Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103:3, pp. 411-423.
3. Bartels, R. (1967) A model for ethics in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 31:1, pp. 20-26.
4. Beatty, S. E., Mayer, M., Coleman, J. E., Reynolds, K. E. and Lee, J. (1996) Customer-sales associate retail relationships. Journal of Retailing, 72:3, pp. 223-247.
5. Bellizzi, J. A. and Hite, R. E. (1989) Supervising unethical salesforce behaviour. Journal of Marketing, 53:2, pp. 36-47.
6. Berry, L. L. (1983) Relationship marketing. Emerging perspectives on services marketing, pp. 25-28. American Marketing Association, Chicago
7. Blau, P. M. (1964) Exchange and power in social life, Wiley, New York
8. Bloemer, J. and de Ruyter, K. (1999) Customer loyalty in high and low involvement settings: The moderating impact of positive emotions. Journal of Marketing Management, 15:4, pp. 315-330.
9. Bloemer, J. M. M. and Kasper, H. D. P. (1995) The complex relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Journal of Economic Psychology, 16:2, pp. 311-329.
10. Boedecker, K. A., Morgan, F. W. and Stoltman, J. J. (1991) Legal dimensions of salesperson's statements: A review and managerial suggestions. Journal of Marketing, 55:1, pp. 70-80.
11. Chen, M. F. and Wang, L. H. The moderating role of switching barriers on customer loyalty in the life insurance industry. The Service Industries Journal
12. Cooper, R. W. and Frank, G. L. (2002) Ethical challenges in the two main segments of the insurance industry: Key considerations in the evolving financial services marketplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 36:12, pp. 5-20.
13. Coulter, K. S. and Coulter, R. A. (2003) The effects of industry knowledge on the development of trust in service relationships. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 20:1, pp. 31-43.
14. Crosby, L. A., Evans, K. R. and Cowles, D. (1990) Relationship quality in services selling: An interpersonal influence perspective. Journal of Marketing, 54:3, pp. 68-81.
15. Czepiel, J. A. (1990) Service encounters and service relationships: Implication for research. Journal of Business Research, 20:1, pp. 13-21.
16. Devlin, J. F., Ennew, C. T. and Mirza, M. (1995) Organisational positioning in retail financial services. Journal of Marketing Management, 11:1, pp. 119-132.
17. Doney, P. M. and Cannon, J. P. (1997) An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 61:2, pp. 35-51.
18. Dubinsky, A. J., Howell, R. D., Ingram, T. N. and Bellenger, D. N. (1986) Salesforce socialization. Journal of Marketing, 50:4, pp. 192-207.
19. Dubinsky, A. J., Jolson, M. A., Kotabe, M. and Lim, C. U. (1991) A cross-national investigation of industrial salespeople's ethical perceptions. Journal of International Business Studies, 22:4, pp. 651-670.
20. Dunfee, T. W. and Gunther, R. (1999) Ethical issues in financial services. Business and Society Review, 104:1, pp. 5-12.
21. Dwyer, F. R., Schurr, P. H. and Oh, S. (1987) Developing buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 51:2, pp. 11-27.
22. Emerson, R. M. (1976) Social exchange theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 2, pp. 335-362.
23. Enis, B. M. (1980) Invited essay JPSSM: New forum for research in marketing's most pervasive field. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 1:1, pp. 6-10.
24. Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. F. (1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18:1, pp. 39-50.
25. Foster, B. D. and Cadogan, J. W. (2000) Relationship selling and customer loyalty: An empirical investigation. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 18:4, pp. 185-199.
26. Futrell, C. M. (2002) Fundamentals of selling: Customers for life, McGraw-Hill, New York
27. Ganesh, J., Arnold, M. J. and Reynolds, K. E. (2000) Understanding the customer base of service providers: An examination of the differences between switchers and stayers. Journal of Marketing, 64:3, pp. 65-87.
28. Garbarino, E. and Johnson, M. (1999) The different roles of satisfaction, trust and commitment in customer relationships. Journal of Marketing, 63:2, pp. 70-87.
29. Gronroos, C. (1984) A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18:4, pp. 36-44.
30. Gronroos, C. (1990) Relationship approach to marketing in service contexts: The marketing and organisational behaviour interface. Journal of Business Research, 20:1, pp. 3-11.
31. Gundlach, G. T. and Murphy, P. E. (1993) Ethical and legal foundations of relational marketing exchanges. Journal of Marketing, 57:4, pp. 35-46.
32. Hatcher, L. (1994) A step-by-step approach to using the SAS system for factor analysis and structural equation modeling, SAS Institute, Inc, Cary, NC
33. Hauser, J. R. and Wernerfelt, B. (1990) An evaluation cost model of consideration sets. Journal of Consumer Research, 16:4, pp. 393-408.
34. Heskett, J. L., Sasser, W. E. and Schlesinger, L. A. (1997) The service profit chain, The Free Press, New York
35. Hoffman, K. D., Howe, V. and Hardigree, D. W. (1991) Ethical dilemmas faced in the selling of complex services: Significant others and competitive pressures. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 11:4, pp. 13-25.
36. Holden, R. K. (1990) An exploratory study of trust in buyer-seller relationships, University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI
37. Homans, G. C. (1958) Social behaviour as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63:6, pp. 597-606.
38. Howe, V., Hoffman, K. D. and Hardigree, D. W. (1994) The relationship between ethical and customer-oriented service provider behaviours. Journal of Business Ethics, 13:7, pp. 497-506.
39. Hunt, S. D. and Vitell, S. J. (1986) A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of Macromarketing, 6:1, pp. 5-16.
40. Josep, M. R. and Velilla, M. (2003) Loyalty and trust as the ethical bases of organisations. Journal of Business Ethics, 44:1, pp. 49-59.
41. Kennedy, M. S., Ferrell, L. K. and Leclair, D. T. (2001) Consumers' trust of salesperson and manufacturer: An empirical study. Journal of Business Research, 51:1, pp. 73-86.
42. Lagace, R. R., Dahlstrom, R. and Gassenheimer, J. B. (1991) The relevance of ethical salesperson behaviour on relationship quality: The pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 11:4, pp. 39-47.
43. Lamb, R. B. (1999) Ethics in financial services. Business and Society Review, 104:1, pp. 13-17.
44. Levitt, T. (1983) After the sale is over. Harvard Business Review, 61:5, pp. 87-93.
45. Lovelock, C. H. (1983) Classifying services to gain strategic marketing insights. Journal of Marketing, 47:3, pp. 9-20.
46. MacNeil, I. R. (1980) The new social contract: An inquiry into modern contractual relations, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
47. Marcoulides, G. A. and Schumacker, R. E. (1996) Advanced structural equation modeling, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
48. Millar, F. E. and Rogers, L. E. (1987) Relational dimensions of interpersonal dynamics. Interpersonal processes: New directions in communication research, 14, pp. 117-139. Sage, London
49. Morgan, R. M. and Hunt, S. D. (1994) The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58:3, pp. 20-38.
50. Nunnally, J. C. (1978) Psychometric theory, McGraw Hill, New York
51. Ratchford, B. T. (1982) Cost-benefit models for explaining consumer choice and information-searching behaviour. Management Science, 28:2, pp. 197-212.
52. Reddy, S. K. and Czepiel, J. A. (1999) Measuring and modeling the effects of long-term buyer-seller relationships in corporate financial services markets. Journal of Business Research, 46:3, pp. 235-244.
53. Reichheld, F. F. and Schefter, P. (2000) E-loyalty: Your secret weapon on the web. Harvard Business Review, 78:4, pp. 105-113.
54. Robertson, D. C. and Anderson, E. (1993) Control system and task environment effects on ethical judgment: An exploratory study of industrial salespeople. Organisation Science, 4:4, pp. 617-644.
55. Roman, S. (2003) The impact of ethical sales behaviour on customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty to the company: An empirical study in the financial services industry. Journal of Marketing Management, 19:910, pp. 915-939.
56. Roman, S. and Ruiz, S. (2005) Relationship outcomes of perceived ethical sales behaviour: The customer's perspective. Journal of Business Research, 58:4, pp. 439-445.
57. Rust, R. T., Zeithaml, V. and Lemon, K. (2000) Driving customer equity, The Free Press, Boston
58. Sheperd, C. D. (1999) Service quality and the sales force: A tool for competitive advantage. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 19:3, pp. 73-82.
59. Singh, J. and Sirdeshmukh, D. (2000) Agency and trust mechanisms in consumer satisfaction and loyalty judgments. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28:1, pp. 150-167.
60. Sirdeshmukh, D., Singh, J. and Sabol, B. (2002) Consumer trust, value, and loyalty in relational exchanges. Journal of Marketing, 66:1, pp. 15-37.
61. Solomon, M. R., Surprenant, C., Czepiel, J. A. and Gutman, E. G. (1985) A role theory perspective on dyadic interactions: The service encounter. Journal of Marketing, 49:1, pp. 99-111.
62. Spekman, R. E. (1988) Strategic supplier selection: Understanding long-term relationships. Business Horizon, 31:4, pp. 75-81.
63. Stigler, G. J. (1961) The economics of information. Journal of Political Economy, 69:3, pp. 213-225.
64. Strutton, D., Pelton, L. E. and Tanner Jr., J. F. (1996) Shall we gather in the garden: The effect of ingratiatory behaviours on buyer trust in salespeople. Industrial Marketing Management, 25:2, pp. 151-162.
65. Swan, J. E., Bowers, M. R. and Richardson, L. D. (1999) Customer trust in the salesperson: An integrative review and meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Journal of Business Research, 44:2, pp. 93-107.
66. Swan, J. E. and Nolan, J. J. (1985) Gaining customer trust: A conceptual guide for the salesperson. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 5:2, pp. 39-48.
67. Swan, J. E., Trawick Jr., I. F., Rink, D. R. and Roberts, J. J. (1988) Measuring dimensions of purchaser trust of industrial salespeople. Journal Personal Selling and Sales Management, 8:1, pp. 1-9.
68. Swan, J. E., Trawick, I. F. and Silva, D. W. (1985) How industrial salespeople gain customer trust. Industrial Marketing Management, 14:3, pp. 203-211.
69. Tansey, R., Brown, G., Hyman, M. R. and Dawson Jr., L. E. (1994) Personal moral philosophies and the moral judgments of salespeople. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 14:1, pp. 59-75.
70. Turnipseed, D. L. (2002) Are good soldiers good? Exploring the link between organisation citizenship behaviour and personal ethics. Journal of Business Research, 55:1, pp. 1-15.
71. Urban, G. L., Sultan, F. and Qualls, W. J. (2000) Placing trust at the center of your internet strategy. Sloan Management Review, 42:1, pp. 39-49.
72. Woodruff, R. B. (1997) Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25:2, pp. 139-153.
73. Wotruba, T. R. (1990) A comprehensive framework for the analysis of ethical behaviour with a focus on sales organisations. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 10:2, pp. 29-42.
74. Wray, B., Palmer, A. and Bejou, D. (1994) Using neural network analysis to evaluate buyer-seller relationships. European Journal of Marketing, 28:10, pp. 32-48.
75. Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1996) The behavioural consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60:2, pp. 31-46.
76. Zeithaml, V. A. and Bitner, M. J. (2000) Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm, McGraw-Hill, New York