Reference no: EM132241242

Ethical Dilemma--

Earl George is a new salesperson for a small specialty goods manufacturer, Aggie Novelty Company. One of his new products is a plastic toy car for children ages three to six. In the course of a sales call, the buyer for a small toy chain asks about the extent of advertising support the company would provide. In the past, the buyer has stressed the importance of advertising support in the chain's product line addition decisions. Because Aggie is small, it does very little TV advertising and no magazine advertising. If George tells the buyer this, he may lose the account. He knows they will buy if Aggie will advertise the product. George may get away with overstating the amount of TV advertising that Aggie will actually fund (the chain may not take the time to check the ads).

What would be the most ethical action for George to take?

Tell the customer that you currently have a small amount of TV advertising but that you are thinking of looking into expanding into magazines and radio. Technically, you would not be lying — it might never actually happen, but you can "look into" it. Tell the customer what he wants to hear. A little exaggeration won't hurt and you will gain profit for your company. Tell the customer that because you are a small company, you don't really have the resources to do a lot of advertising. Let him know that you do a small amount of TV and none in radio or magazines. Let the customer decide what he would like to do based on this information.

What would you do? Explain how you would handle this situation.