Insights into Sexual Harassment of Salespeople by Customers: The Role of Gender and Customer Power

Leslie M. FineLeslie Fine (Ph.D., University of Tennessee at Knoxville) is an Associate Professor of marketing at the Max M. Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. She has experience in selling and sales management in the advertising and telecommunications industries. Her research interests are in the area of buyer-seller relationships and sales management. Her research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.

C. David ShepherdC. David Shepherd (Ph.D., University of Tennessee at Knoxville) is an Associate Professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. His experienes includes over five years in sales and sales management with the Burroughs Corporation. Dr. Shepherd has published in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, the International Journal of Manpower, Marketing Intelligence and Planning and the proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science and the American Psychological Association.

Susan L. JosephsSusan Josephs is an Associate Dean and Associate Professor at the Max M. Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. She has experience in labor relations and retail organizations. Her research interests are in the areas of the diverse workforce and union/mangement issues. Her research has been published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Labor Studies Journal and the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.

Abstract

This manuscript discusses the legal and conceptual foundations of sexual harassment and the special case of third party harassment in which a salesperson is sexually harassed by a customer. The results of a study conducted among a diverse group of salespeople to determine incidence rates of sexual harassment by customers and the relationship between demographic variables, power and harassment are presented. Less severe forms of harassment are experienced more frequently by women than by men, while more severe forms of harassment tend to be associated with the salesperson's perceptions of the customer's power. Managerial implications and suggestions for lessening the incidence of sexual harassment are also presented.

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Insights into Sexual Harassment of Salespeople by Customers: The Role of Gender and Customer Power

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Insights into Sexual Harassment of Salespeople by Customers: The Role of Gender and Customer Power

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