Journal of Business Ethics

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3743-8

ORIGINAL PAPER

Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior

Guda Sridhar1 · Teidorlang Lyngdoh2

Received: 23 March 2017 / Accepted: 16 November 2017

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2017

Abstract
Ethical selling has been found to have significant influence on sales performance and relational selling behaviors. However,
sales ethics was mostly explored through a negative lens (i.e., what is wrong with salesperson) and we depart from this tra-
dition by using a positive lens (i.e., if sales person is in flow, she would be more ethical). Using broaden-and-build theory,
this paper examines the influence of flow on ethical selling. The mediating role of information sharing is also examined.
Results from a study of 192 pharmaceutical salespeople in India suggest that flow influences ethical selling behavior via
information sharing. The findings imply that flow can serve as a driver for information sharing and ethical decision making
among salespeople. The study contributes to the sales ethics literature by extending the application of positive psychology
to the sales domain for the first time.

Keywords  Flow · Information sharing · Ethical selling behaviors · Broaden-and-build theory

Introduction salespeople and how managers facilitate the replication of

Scholars have found that ethical selling helps improve sales
performance (Jaramillo et al. 2006), customer satisfaction
(Román 2003), and relational selling behaviors (Chawla
and Guda 2013). A common thread that weaves around
the studies on salesforce ethical issues is the assumption
that salespeople have inherent weaknesses, wherein solu-
tions are to mitigate or minimize them—a typical negative
lens. Out of the 65 empirical studies on sales ethics identi-
fied by McClaren (2013) for meta-analysis, we were unable
to identify any study that looked through a positive lens.
This is despite growing evidence that positive practices
in the workplace have an influence on the productivity of
the individual and the organization (Cameron et al. 2011).
McClaren (2013) observed that there is a need to investigate
newer ways of understanding ethical decision making by
* Guda Sridhar
drgsridhar@iimk.ac.in
Teidorlang Lyngdoh
teidor@xlri.ac.in
1
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), IIM
Kozhikode Campus P.O., Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode,
Kerala 673 570, India
2
Xavier School of Management XLRI, C.H.Area (East),
Jamshedpur, Jharkhand 831001, India
such knowledge across the company. In addition, Sekerka
et al. (2014) called for focusing on the building blocks of
ethical strengths, as it helps to engage employees and makes
them more productive and meaningful. Similarly, in their
positive organizational ethics framework, Stansbury and
Sonenshein (2012) highlighted that positive behaviors in
individuals influence ethical behaviors in a positive way, and
hence organizations should encourage such excellent behav-
iors. Exploring newer ways of eliciting ethical sales behav-
ior is important because technology has increased business
complexity, newer ways of selling have evolved, consumers
are ever demanding, and laws framed or modified now seek
more transparency in transactions (Jones et al. 2005).
This study is the first to explore the influence of a positive
psychology construct ‘flow’ on ethical selling behavior via
information sharing. By grounding our study in the broaden-
and-build theory, we explore how flow among salespeople
causes their decisions to be more open and to share informa-
tion with their customers, thereby exhibiting ethical selling
behaviors. Flow refers to ‘the state in which an individual
is so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to mat-
ter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will
do it even at a greater cost, for the sheer sake of doing it’
(Csikszentmihalyi 1990, p. 4). Flow has been observed to
influence behavioral changes and individual performance
(Wang and Chen 2010). Extending the work of Rook and

13
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Gardner (1993), we expect salespeople in flow are likely to
incorporate subtle cues and sources of information into their
sales pitches and thus induce information sharing and reduce
the complexity of decision making. As information sharing
explains the relationship between flow and ethical selling
and not influences the strength of flow on ethical selling, we
presume it acts as a mediator.
Broaden‑and‑Build Theory
An individual’s positivity has ‘the ability to broaden peo-
ple’s momentary thought-action repertoires and build their
enduring resources, ranging from physical and intellectual
resources to social and psychological resources’ (Fredrick-
son 2001, p. 219). According to Fredrickson, positive emo-
tions generate a cycle of further positive emotions. This
theory, called ‘broaden and build,’ enunciates that positive
emotions broaden the attention of an individual and enable
them to grow and to build skills, resources, and capabilities.
As the positive emotion spiral grows, individuals are able to
control their emotions and thus build lasting relationships.
As evident in the experiment carried out by Fredrickson
et al. (2008), individuals who learned a form of medita-
tion intended to foster positive emotions over the next few
months. They were found to have broadened their love and
compassion toward themselves and built or learned how to
direct such emotions to others. Over more than nine months
since these individuals began meditation, the participants
felt their social relationships, purpose, hope, and health had
improved. The sequence between positive state and behavior
change is due to positivity’s effect on broadening individual
thought—action associations (Fredrickson 2001). Positivity
is also linked with increased functioning of bodily systems,
such as brain and immune function (Davidson et al. 2003).
On the contrary, negative emotions produce bias that makes
the individual myopic (Mogg et al. 2000) and emotion-
ally vulnerable (MacLeod et al. 2002). Some studies have
found that negative bias enhances individual vulnerability
to stress (Eldar et al. 2008). Thus, negative emotions lead
to a negative repertoire of behaviors, skills, resources, and
capabilities.
Even though the theory initially focused on emotions,
recent studies have extended it to positive states such as
psychological capital (Lussier and Hartmann 2017), opti-
mism, and resilience (Friend et al. 2016). Support for the
rationale underlying the theory is found in past studies that
have linked positive states with broadened attention, leading
to change and development in behaviors (Isen 2008). Bak-
ker (2008) argued that broaden-and-build theory provides a
useful framework for understanding individuals’ generative
behaviors in the workplace context. Specifically, in a sales
context, positive states expand behaviors that will help to
13
G. Sridhar, T. Lyngdoh
improve salesperson performance and customer satisfaction
(Lussier and Hartmann 2017). In this way, experiences of
positive states such as flow can spark behavioral changes like
information sharing and ethical selling, for better outcomes.
Flow: Concept and Applications
Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1990) considered flow a state where
individuals’ enjoyment and experience of an activity are
so overwhelming that they will do it for the sheer sake of
doing it and at any cost. He considered flow to be a holistic
sensation that helps an individual to stretch beyond their
capabilities with a sense of confidence and to address cur-
rent and future challenges. When in flow, individuals do not
aim for any extrinsic rewards, as work becomes an end in
itself. Csikszentmihalyi identified nine elements of flow: (1)
goals are clear at every step; (2) feedback to guide actions
is quick and honest; (3) abilities match up to the challenges;
(4) action and awareness are merged; (5) consciousness does
not permit distractions; (6) failure is no longer a worry; (7)
self-consciousness disappears; (8) sense of time is distorted;
and (9) work becomes an end in itself. According to him,
flow drives an individual to be more energetic and happy,
thereby experiencing self-gratification. This, in turn, helps in
achieving goals, improving skills and creativity, and devel-
oping focus.
Flow is distinct from concepts like engagement and thriv-
ing. Schaufeli et al. (2002) considered engagement to be a
positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is filled
with vigor and dedication. Both flow and engagement are
characterized by absorption. Further, Shernoff et al. (2003)
suggested that engagement occurs in individuals while
experiencing flow. Thus, engagement is a consequence of
flow. Thriving is defined as a psychological state in which
an individual experiences a sense of vitality and learning
in the workplace (Porath et al. 2012). Vitality is a sense
of positive feelings wherein an individual is energized and
works zestfully (Bernstein 2004; Nix et al. 1999). Learning
dimensions is characterized by acquisition and application
of new knowledge and skills (Elliott and Dweck 1988). The
similarity between flow and thriving ends at having vital-
ity in both the constructs. Thriving is different from flow
as it highlights the positive experience of human growth,
reflected by the experience of vitality and learning (Niessen
et al. 2012). Further, it is possible to experience flow without
experiencing learning (Spreitzer et al. 2005) and has been
empirically distinguished by Porath et al. (2008).
While Csikszentmihalyi explored flow predominantly
in sportspersons and artists, Chen et al. (2000) explored
it among online users, where they considered flow as an
optimal, extremely enjoyable experience. When individu-
als engage in a Web-related activity with total involvement,
Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior
concentration, and enjoyment, they experience an intrinsic
interest and lose their sense of time. Similarly, Jiang and
Benbasat (2004) found that the visual and functional con-
trol over products online increased consumer flow. Koufaris
(2002) found that such flow is a strong predictor of inten-
tion to return to shop online. Flow in the use of the Web or
Internet has been found to influence attitudes (Choi et al.
2007) and purchase intention (Bridges and Florsheim 2008).
Flow is considered a key reason for improved performance
in people playing video games and customer continuance
intensions (Chang 2013). In a similar line of argument,
Ding et al. (2010) found a positive relationship between ser-
vice design and flow in a financial services context. They
observed that the physical and relational components in a
service system are first perceived by the consumer and form
the basis to develop the cognitive state of flow experience.
In the academic environment, when matched with the skill
levels of the individuals, flow offers optimal psychological
experience, higher concentration, low self-awareness, and
high enjoyment (Ullén et al. 2012). It also helps students to
control the situation and demonstrate competence (Schüler
2007).
Psychology and organization researchers have made
efforts to explain how flow can lead to positive outcomes
in the workplace. Bakker (2005, 2008) considered flow as a
short-term peak experience that is characterized by absorp-
tion, work enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation. Absorption
implies complete immersion in the work, lack of sense of
time, and the absorbed person forgetting everything around
them. Members of a workforce that enjoy their work as part
of being in flow are also likely to make positive judgements
and thus enhance their quality of work life. Intrinsic motiva-
tion refers to the seeking of inherent pleasure and satisfac-
tion in the activity. Those who seek such motivation are
likely to continue their work and are fascinated by the tasks
they perform. In an academic setup, Salanova et al. (2006)
found that organizational resources such as social support,
innovation, and rules had a positive influence on flow among
teachers. Simultaneously, personal resources such as belief
in one’s competence or self-efficacy also positively impacted
flow. Flow at work was also found to have influenced job
performance (Demerouti 2006) and service quality of the
employee (Kuo and Ho 2010). Also, Ilies et  al. (2017)
recently found that flow is positively related to positive affect
and job satisfaction. While examining the employees of a
university, they also observed that individual differences in
openness to experience had a significant influence as a mod-
erator between flow and the employee’s need for autonomy.
In spite of its importance, flow in the context of salespeo-
ple has been ignored to date. We explore this phenomenon
given the substantial chance that the state of flow causes
behavioral change in salespeople. As flow has not been
explored hitherto in the context of sales, we had to borrow
the construct and its applications from multiple domains,
including sports and the workplace. Although the concep-
tualization has been varied, measurement of flow has been
predominantly viewed as a multidimensional state for the
reason that the instruments would be superior in terms of
psychometric properties. Initially, the measurement of flow
was designed as a nine component model taking inspira-
tion from Csikszentmihalyi (1990). Studies like Jackson
et al. (2008), Stavrou and Zervas (2004) have also found
such measurement of flow to be valid and reliable. However,
most of the definitions of flow at workplace have three major
elements: absorption, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation.
The Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF) propounded by
Bakker (2008) considers these three components of flow
and applies them in the workplace. It was found to have
outperformed in terms of validity when compared to the
alternative two-factor and one-factor models. Hence, for this
study, we considered Bakker’s (2008) conceptualization and
operationalization of flow.
Hypothesis Development
The conceptual model in Fig. 1 shows the influence of flow
on a salesperson’s ethical selling behavior. We hypothesize
that flow will have a direct effect on ethical selling behavior,
mediated by information sharing.
Ethical Selling Behavior
Considering the importance of ethical selling behavior,
researchers have examined both individual- and organi-
zational-level variables (McClaren 2013). Ethical selling
behavior is widely associated with societal norms such as
honesty, fair play, and full disclosure of information (Robert-
son and Anderson 1993). It involves fair and honest actions
of a salesperson, which entail relationships with customers.
It is built on satisfaction and trust gained by being truthful
to the customer and promoting and upholding the welfare of
the customer (Román and Munuera 2005). Several salespeo-
ple believe that ethical transgressions against customers are
more egregious than those against competitors or employees
(Hansen and Riggle 2009). Research has also indicated that
ethical selling behaviors help sales organizations to secure
new customers and improve customer relationships (Ingram
et al. 2007); improve sales performance (Evans et al. 2012);
and increase positive word of mouth and the share of cus-
tomer spending (Hansen and Riggle 2009).
However, Dubinsky et al. (1992) noted that a salesperson
might engage in questionable behaviors partly because they
believe that such behaviors may increase the likelihood of
closing a sale. Another reason that Bellizzi and Hasty (2003)
considers salesperson’s willingness to overlook as ethical
13

Fig. 1  Hypothesized model—
mediation model
transgressions. A salesperson may also indulge in unethical
practices due to pressure to achieve quotas and little super-
vision (Schwepker and Good 1999; Hampton et al. 1986).
Salespeople sometimes exhibit high degrees of self-interest
(Singhapakdi and Vitell 1992), operate in ways that are self-
serving, and rationalize their behaviors that stem from acting
unethically (Serviere-Munoz and Mallin 2013).
Kohlberg (1958) propounded that an individual’s ethical
decision depends on the cognitive development about mor-
als. Considering Payne et al. (2011) who found that when an
individual is in flow, their cognitive abilities are higher, we
consider flow among salesforce induces cognitive abilities
and thus helps build ethical behavior in them. Further, Man-
tel (2005) explored the influence of a salesperson’s internal
state on their processing of ethical information. The study
found that ethical judgement can be strongly influenced
by the state of the salesperson. When salespeople are in a
positive state (like flow as discussed in this paper), they are
about twice as likely to make ethical choices as compared
to their neutral state. They broaden their perspectives and
build moral judgements that are more sophisticated and are
focused on serving the interests of customers and exhibit
behaviors of honesty and fair play. Further, as per Pagano
and DeBono (2011), the mood of the individual has a sig-
nificant impact on the moral decision making of low, but not
high self-monitors. When low self-monitors are exposed to
positive moods, they demonstrate more sophisticated and
principled reasoning compared to when exposed to nega-
tive emotions. Such individuals also recognize remote, sub-
tle, and intangible consequences of their behaviors and are
keen to keep up to the ethical standards required. When in
flow, salespeople experience high concentration and low
self-awareness (Ullén et al. 2012). As they are low on self-
monitoring, we expect them to be high on ethical standards.
Hence:
13
G. Sridhar, T. Lyngdoh
H1  Flow has a positive effect on ethical selling behavior.
As such, salespeople with higher levels of flow tend to have
higher levels of ethical selling behaviors.
Flow and Information Sharing
Information sharing involves conscious and deliberate
attempt of a party to share relevant work-related information
to the other party (Johnson et al. 2006). Not sharing appro-
priate information regarding a transaction indicates lack
of trust (Keifer 2010) or cost implications and competitive
intensity (Shang et al. 2016). Information sharing in general
has been found to result in positive decision making (Neilson
et al. 2008), improved team performance (Mesmer-Magnus
and DeChurch 2009), enhanced relationship quality between
the parties involved (Miranda and Saunders 2003), reducing
opportunistic behavior (Lee et al. 1997; Senge 1990 p. 31),
improved citizenship behavior (Tremblay and Landreville
2015), improved overall organizational productivity (Chow
et al. 1999), and procedural justice (Tremblay et al. 2010).
As selling is becoming relationship centric, salespeople can
actively engage in information sharing (Chawla and Guda
2013) as they have access to information about product and
market (Alavi and Leidner 2001). Engaging in such an act
would be useful in building and maintaining relationships
(Ashnai et al. 2016) by improving the trust and confidence
of the buyer (Mintu-Wimsatt et al. 2005).
Flow enables the individual to reason the process and thus
disclose the appropriate information (Schwarz and Bless
1991) and reduce the complexity of decision making (Rook
and Gardner 1993). This is because when individuals experi-
ence positive emotions, a key source of interpersonal trust
(Ashnai et al. 2016), their decisions are likely to incorporate
subtle cues and sources of information (Estrada et al. 1997),
and they show less confusion while making decisions (Isen
Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior
et al. 1991). In addition, when in flow, an individual is intrin-
sically motivated and thus gets engaged in an intellectual
pursuit that involves information sharing (Wasko and Faraj
2005). A conscious and deliberate attempt to share relevant
information by the salesperson will have a positive influence
on productivity (Bunderson and Sutcliffe 2002) and positive
reciprocity from customers (Lee et al. 2006). Therefore, we
hypothesized that:
H2  Flow has a positive impact on a salesperson’s informa-
tion sharing. As such, salespeople with higher levels of flow
tend to share relevant information.
Information Sharing and Ethical Selling Behavior
Salespeople play an important interfacing role between
the company and customers and facilitate customer trust
(Swan and Nolan 1985) and in turn build long-term rela-
tionships (Doney and Cannon 1997). As buyers depend on
the information, both before and after purchase, appropriate
information shared by a salesperson enables to demonstrate
the norms of equity and fair dealing (Dyer and Chu 2003).
A buyer making a decision in the absence of appropriate
information may adversely affect trust either due to moral
hazard problem (Akerlof 1970) or adverse selection problem
(Hölmstrom 1979). Information sharing is a salesperson’s
signal of positive intent and will not violate the social con-
tract by being unethical that benefits both parties (Schurr
and Ozanne 1985). When a trusted party provides informa-
tion, it adds greater value and is useful to the other party
(Moorman et al. 1992). In marketing exchanges, information
sharing has a significant impact on the commitment (Joshi
2009). For example, Prahinski and Benton (2004) found that
as automotive buyer and sellers demonstrated increased will-
ingness to share information openly, the commitment of the
buyer to the relationship also increased. Hence, an individual
should not hide information and instead promote agreeable
and reliable information sharing (Lin and Lee 2004).
Ethical selling behavior can be understood as behavior
that does not withhold or omit information relevant to cus-
tomers (Maignan and Ferrell 2004). Salespeople who are
committed to sharing appropriate information are seen to
be more caring and ethical by the customers (Román and
Munuera 2005). In addition, it was found among students
that frequent disclosure of appropriate information reduces
the fear of unknown anxieties (Harrison and Doerfel 2006).
Similarly, we presume when salesforce disclose appropriate
information to their customers leads to fewer misconcep-
tions between salesperson and customer and thus enables the
salesperson to be considered as ethical. Hence:
H3  Information sharing has a positive impact on ethi-
cal selling behavior. As such, salespeople with higher
information-sharing tendencies will have higher levels of
ethical selling behaviors.
Flow, Information Sharing and Ethical Selling
Behavior
Ethical selling behavior is centered on the ‘dissemination
of information’ and ‘involves refraining from exaggerat-
ing about products’ (Lagace et al. 1991). As discussed
earlier, ethical salespeople tend to be factual in their com-
munications; treat customer information confidentially;
and do not withhold information or provide misleading
information and believe in benefiting consumers (Hansen
and Riggle 2009). When in flow, individuals are more
focused, highly motivated, and more likely to share cru-
cial information (Lin and Joe 2012). Flow may result in
higher ethical behavior by reinforcing the need and belief
to share information with customers. Increased motivation
to attain enjoyment in the activity and intense knowledge-
sharing situations offer this pleasure and enjoyment (Rie-
ber et al. 1998). Frequently sharing information improves
perceptions of honesty and ethical behavior in the eyes of
customers (Román and Ruiz 2005). Thus, a salesperson
experiencing high flow develops greater intrinsic moti-
vation to share information with customers and thereby
exhibit ethical behavior. Hence, as information sharing
explains the relationship between flow and ethical selling
and not influences the strength of flow on ethical selling,
we presume it acts as a mediator.
Individuals in flow tend to be in a state of enjoyment
and full engagement with their activity (Csikszentmi-
halyi 1990). This broadens their skills and abilities and
increases their intrinsic motivation in the activity, which in
turn leads to greater information sharing (Lee et al. 2006).
It has been observed that individuals who seek intrinsic
motivation tend to share information and knowledge (Rie-
ber et al. 1998). Thus, when a salesperson persistently
seeks to share information with customers, they are look-
ing for more pathways to be fair and honest. Following the
above arguments, flow among salespeople may relate posi-
tively to their information sharing (H2), and salesperson
information sharing may have a positive impact on their
ethical selling behavior (H3). Therefore:
H4  Salesperson information-sharing behavior positively
mediates the relationship between flow and ethical sell-
ing behaviors. As such, salespeople with higher levels of
information-sharing behaviors tend to have higher levels of
ethical selling behaviors.
13
 G. Sridhar, T. Lyngdoh

Methods Table 1  Sample characteristics

Variable Percentage
Sample and Procedure
N = 192
Data were collected through a survey of sales representa- Respondent characteristics
tives from different pharmaceutical companies in India.  Gender
Pharmaceutical sales representatives can be considered an   Male 80.2
appropriate target, since they have been subjected to criti-   Female 19.8
cism for their aggressive and unethical selling practices  Education
in the industry. The pharmaceutical sector in India is the   Postgraduate 7.8
third largest in the world in terms of volume. As per the   Graduate 43.2
India Brand Equity Foundation (2015), pharmaceutical   Others: diploma/higher sec. 49
industry in India is growing at an annual rate of 10–12% as  Total sales experience
compared to 7 percent globally. The industry is expected   Less than 2 years 16.7
to touch US $55 billion by the end of 2020. The ever-   2–5 years 68.8
  6–10 years 13.5
changing market demands and growing competition in
  More than 10 years 1.0
this industry make selling even more challenging. Hence,
 Age
studying how a pharmaceutical salesperson’s experiences
  Less than 25 years 8.9
flow in situations potentially having an ethical content is
  25–35 years 82.5
relevant to the research objects of the present study.
  36–45 years 7.8
For this study, we targeted eight largest pharmaceutical
  More than 45 years 0.5
companies in India, where sales representatives undertake
the selling activities described by Marshall et al. (1999).
An email was sent to the HR departments of these eight
pharmaceutical companies, seeking permission to contact Measures
their sales executives. One of the benefits of contacting the
HR managers was that it ensured a higher response rate Existing scales were adapted to the sales context. The multi-
without any multiple reminders. The email to each HR tude of ways in which to operationalize the construct of flow
department included a cover letter that explained the pur- have made its definition ‘murky’ (Hoffman and Novak 2009)
pose of our survey. Past research has underscored the risk and ‘too broad’ (Choi et al. 2007). Though there is agree-
of social desirability, especially when investigating ethics ment that the conceptual definition given by Csikszentmi-
(Brunk 2012). Hence, the questionnaire was designed to halyi (1990) is good, the lack of appropriate and consistent
ensure anonymity and to help reduce social desirability operational definitions has been an issue. Some argued that
by making the provision of personal details as optional, flow is a uni-dimensional. For example, Novak et al. (2000)
as well as reassuring the same to the respondents while employed a uni-dimensional three-item instrument prefaced
administering the survey. Of the 260 recipients, 198 com- by a narrative description of flow. Others have also argued
pleted the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 76%. that flow is a multidimensional concept. For example, in the
Further, due to missing data, we had to remove six (6) Internet browsing and gaming domain, Koufaris (2002) con-
cases and thus arrived at a final sample of 192 for our data ceptualized flow as three-dimensional: perceived enjoyment,
analysis. perceived control, and attention focus. Similarly, in a work-
The participants in the survey were 18 years or above place context, Bakker (2008) considered flow a short-term
and were engaged in pharmaceutical selling. Among the peak experience that is characterized by absorption, work
participants, 80.2% were male and 82.5% were aged within enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation. In addition to these two
the range of 25–35 years. Besides, 68.8% had an average types of measurements, scholars have derived uni-dimen-
of 2–5 years of sales experience, and 51% of them had a sional measures of flow by aggregating the related constructs
bachelor’s degree or above. Most of the sales representa- of flow into overall measures. For example, Senecal et al.
tives had experience selling a wide range and specializa- (2002) operationalized flow as concentration, control, chal-
tion of drugs. Overall, the respondents in the study were lenge, and enjoyment. They not only explored independently
well distributed across socio-demographic categories (i.e., all the dimensions’ influence on the hedonic and utilitarian
gender, education, age, and selling experience). Sample values of customers but also explored the aggregated flow
characteristics are presented in the Table 1. dimensions as a summated score. Such administration of
scales has advantages that include ease of administration, as
respondents interpret the instructions in the same way. We

13
Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior

employed a derived uni-dimensional measure from Bakker
(2008), that comprised 13 items (four items for absorption,
four items for work enjoyment, and five items for intrinsic
work motivation). All the items used a seven-point Likert-
like scale. The same scale was employed in a similar fash-
ion as in this paper by Demerouti (2006), Mäkikangas et al.
(2010), Fagerlind et al. (2013), and Peters et al. (2014).
Information-sharing behavior was measured by a four-
item scale adapted from the construct knowledge sharing as
proposed by Lin (2007). Items were related to experience,
expertize, ideas, and tips related to information on the prod-
ucts and services. All the items used a seven-point Likert-
like scale. Ethical selling behavior was measured using a
five-item scale adapted from Román (2003). All the items
used a seven-point Likert-like scale.
The control variables included in the study were in line
with past research like, age, gender, educational qualifica-
tions, and sales experience, as they may have an influence
on behavioral change (Singh and Das 2013). The survey
instrument was then subjected to reliability and validity
tests. Table 2 lists the measurement items, factor loadings,
and reliability results of the constructs.
Data Analysis and Findings
Partial Least Square–Structural Equations Method
(PLS–SEM) was used to test the measurement model
(as suggested by Ringle et al. 2005), and thereafter the
hypothesized relations were tested using PROCESS in
SPSS 20. We applied a conditional process as suggested
by Preacher and Hayes (2013). PLS–SEM is an appro-
priate method if the primary objective involves predict-
ing a dependent variable (Reinartz et al. 2009) and for
exploratory studies (Hair et al. 2014) that seek to extend
theory. It may be noted that unlike in Covariance Based
Structural Equations Modeling (CB-SEM), Partial Least
Square Structural Equations Modeling (PLS–SEM) would

Table 2  Measurement of study constructs

Construct and items Loadings α CR AVE Sq. AVE

Flow .91 .93 .58 .76

Absorption .77 .86 .68 .82
 When I am selling, I think about nothing else .80
 I do not get carried away when I am selling Deleted
 When I am selling, I forget everything else around me .80
 I am totally involved in selling .87
Work enjoyment 0.89 .93 .83 .91
 Selling gives me a good feeling .91
 I sell with a lot of enjoyment .91
 I do not feel happy while selling Deleted
 I feel cheerful when I am selling .90
Intrinsic work motivation 0.78 .86 .61 .78
 I would still be in the selling profession, even if I received less pay .59
 I do not feel that I want to sell in my free time Deleted
 I sell because I enjoy it .80
 When I am selling, I am doing it for my satisfaction .89
 I get my motivation from the selling itself, not from the reward for it .80
Information sharing .88 .92 .74 .86
 I share my product experience with my customers .89
 I share my product expertise at the request of my customers .84
 I share my ideas about products with my customers .89
 I don’t like to talk about my tips on products with my customers .82
Ethical selling .87 .90 .66 .81
 I usually lie about availability in order to make a sale .78
 I usually lie about competition in order to make a sale .85
 I give answers when I don’t really know the answers .80
 I apply sales pressure, even though I know that the product is not right for the customer .88
 I paint rosy pictures of the products to make them sound as good as possible .71

Deleted due to low loading

13
 G. Sridhar, T. Lyngdoh

not use a single global scalar function to optimize. Hence,
there is not any global goodness-of-fit measures. In the
context of PLS–SEM, fit is the discrepancy between the
observed and the approximated values of the dependent
variables and the predicted values of the model proposed
(Hair et al. 2012). A way out is to rely on the measures
indicating the model’s predictive capability and judge the
quality of the model (Henseler et al. 2015). In addition,
our final sample size for analysis (N = 192) was smaller,
even though it satisfied the ‘seven times rule of thumb’
(Hair et al. 2014).
We employed conditional process analysis to test the
hypothesized model. This was used to test for the mediat-
ing effect of salesperson information-sharing behavior on
the relationship between flow and ethical selling behavior.
While examining the mediating effect, we focused on the
indirect effect of flow on ethical selling behavior. Condi-
tional process was selected as the appropriate tool for the
following reasons. First, recent literature has suggested
the benefits of the rigorous and powerful bootstrap test of
conditional process analysis. It tests the predictive valid-
ity with strong accuracy in confidence intervals while
making no assumption of normality (Woodside 2013).
Second, this rigorous bootstrap test generates a sampling
distribution from the researcher’s sample and allows the
testing of mediation paths, which make no assumptions
about variable distribution (Hair et al. 2014). The con-
ditional process method has more power than the Sobel
test, which is commonly used to test the significance of
indirect effects (Hair et al. 2014).
Measurement Assessment
The measurement model was analyzed with confirma-
tory factor analysis using Smart PLS 2.0 before testing the
hypothesized model. The construct measurement scales were
assessed for the validity and reliability of the measures, and
they achieved good fit (see Tables 2, 3). To assess the con-
vergent validity and internal consistency of the constructs,
the item loadings, Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability,
and average variance extracted (AVE) were calculated. All
the loadings of the constructs were greater than 0.5, indicat-
ing they were salient. The Cronbach’s alpha and composite
reliability values exceeded the recommended threshold value
of 0.7. The AVEs were above the recommended threshold
value of 0.5, supporting the convergent validity (Fornell
and Larcker 1981). There were no issues of discriminant
validity, as the Hetero-trait-Mono-trait (HTMT) values were
below 0.90, which is the threshold value for establishing the
discriminant validity of constructs (Henseler et al. 2015).
Furthermore, the AVE for each construct was greater than
the square of the inter construct correlations, hence fulfilling
the criterion for discriminant validity (Fornell and Larcker
1981). The mean, standard deviation, and descriptive sta-
tistics for the constructs are presented in Table 3. The For-
nell–Larcker criteria are shown in Table 4.
Common Method Variance
To reduce the potential for common method bias (Podsakoff
et al. 2003), a few steps were taken. Firstly, the survey par-
ticipants were guaranteed anonymity. The outcome variables
were disassociated within the questionnaire survey so that

Table 3  Means, standard deviations, and correlations among variables

Mean SD 1 1a 1b 1c 2 3

1. Flow 3.91 1.03 .91 – – – – –

1a. Absorption 3.70 1.14 – .77 – – .640** .241**
1b. Work enjoyment 4.00 1.30 – – .89 – .738** .301**
1c. Intrinsic work motivation 4.00 1.00 – – – .78 .765** .332**
2. Information sharing 4.37 0.96 .788** .88 –
3. Ethical selling 5.42 1.10 .323** .387** .87
1 1a 1b 1c 2 3

HTMT ratio
1. Flow –
1a. Absorption – –
1b. Work enjoyment – 0.825 –
1c. Intrinsic work motivation – 0.887 0.991 –
2. Information sharing 0.880 0.759 0.853 0.916 –
3. Ethical selling 0.378 0.311 0.348 0.423 0.321 –

Cronbach’s alpha values appear on the diagonal; significant at **p < .01

13
Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior
Table 4  Fornell–Larcker
criteria
Absorption
Work enjoyment
Intrinsic motivation
Information sharing
Ethical selling
Square roots of AVE appear on the diagonal
they appeared unrelated. After the data collection, common
method bias was evaluated by using Harman’s single-factor
test, implementing a single latent factor using all of the
study’s scale items as indicators. The results indicate that
45% of the variance was explained by a single factor for our
data, and hence common method bias was not a concern
because the variance explained by a single factor was less
than the recommended threshold of 50% (Podsakoff et al.
2003).
Testing of Hypothesized Direct and Indirect Effects
The direct effects of H1–H4 were tested using the simple
mediation model (Model 4) in PROCESS. We estimated
the constructs as the average of the indicator items. Our
results show that higher flow had a positive direct influence
on information sharing (b = .688, p = .000). However, flow
did not have a direct influence on ethical selling behavior
(b = .038, p = .743). Information sharing had a positive
influence on ethical selling behavior (b = .469, p = .000).
The findings show support for H2 and H3, but not for H1.
The results show a significant direct effect of flow on infor-
mation sharing and a significant direct effect of information
sharing on ethical selling. The dimensions of flow (absorp-
tion, work enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation) also had
similar results to the overall construct. Table 5 reports the
results for the direct effects.
The significance of the mediating effect of information
sharing on flow and ethical selling was tested using Preacher
and Hayes’ (2008) bootstrapping approach. Specifically, the
indirect effect of flow on ethical selling behavior (through
information-sharing behavior) was assessed by estimat-
ing the bias-corrected confidence intervals (CIs) (95%) on
the basis of bootstrapping with 10,000 resamples. When a
CI does not contain zero, the indirect effect is significant,
indicating the presence of a mediating effect (Preacher and
Hayes 2008). The results of the bootstrapping mediation
tests of information sharing on the relationship between
flow and ethical selling behavior are reported in Table 6.
The results indicate that flow had a significant indirect effect
on ethical selling via information sharing (95% significance
CI .1446–.5374, b = .3223, SE = .0998, R2 = .178; F = 6.7).
Absorption Work enjoy- Intrinsic moti- Information Ethical selling
ment vation sharing
.82
.71 .91
.70 .83 .78
.64 .76 .78 .86
.27 .34 .38 .32 .81
These results indicate that the indirect coefficient was sig-
nificant, confirming H4.
Though not part of the hypotheses, we also checked
whether the dimensions behaved similar to the overall con-
struct of flow. The results are presented in Table 6. The
results indicate that a flow dimension; absorption had a
significant indirect effect on ethical selling via informa-
tion sharing (95% CI .1450–.3898, b = .2571, SE = .0626,
R2 = .178; F = 6.7). Work enjoyment also had a significant
indirect effect on ethical selling via information sharing
(95% CI .1106–.3968, b = .2398, SE = .0730, R2 = .179;
F = 6.7). Similarly, intrinsic motivation had a significant
indirect effect on ethical selling via information sharing
(95% CI .1334–.4934, b = .3020, SE = .0917, R2 = .180;
F = 6.7). The results strongly support H4.
Discussion, Implications, and Limitations
Ethical selling behavior continues to be significant, as it can
have serious consequences for salespeople and organiza-
tions. Scholars and practitioners in sales ethics are continu-
ally putting efforts to better understanding how salespeople
can refrain from making unethical decisions (McClaren
2013; Ferrell et al. 2007). This paper is an attempt to sup-
port the call of sales ethics researchers for examining dif-
ferent ways to improve the understanding of ethical sell-
ing behavior. Past research has highlighted the importance
of the positive state of flow in the workplace context, as it
influences attitudes and behavioral outcomes, in turn lead-
ing to better performance (Demerouti 2006). However, prior
research in sales management has not explored the influence
of the state of flow among salespeople. Adopting a positive
theoretical perspective, this study empirically examined the
influence of salesperson flow on ethical selling behavior by
considering the mediating role of salesperson information
sharing. The study suggested the importance of salesperson
flow in shaping behavioral change that improves information
sharing. In turn, information sharing enables a salesperson
to be more ethical in their decision making, reflecting true
ethical selling behavior.
13
 G. Sridhar, T. Lyngdoh

Table 5  Model coefficients for the hypothesized direct effects

Information sharing Ethical selling
Coefficient SE p Coefficient SE p

Consequent
Antecedents
 1. Flow .688 .042 .000 .038 .128 .743
 2. Information sharing – – .469 .128 .000
R2 = 0.648; F = 68.5, p < 0.00 R2 = 0.178; F = 6.71, p < 0.00
Control variables
 Gender −.0236 .1060 .824 .1865 .1859 .317
 Education .1240 .0714 .083 −.0956 .1261 .449
 Age .2233 .1112 .046 −.0489 .1971 .804
 Sales experience .0803 .0799 .316 −.2330 .1405 .099
Antecedents
 1a. Absorption .496 .046 .000 −.020 .085 .809
 2. Information sharing .517 .106 .000
R2 = 0.483; F = 34.85, p < 0.00 R2 = 0.178; F = 6.7, p < 0.00
Control variables
 Gender −.0541 .1284 .674 .1871 .1860 .315
 Education .2978 .0852 .000 −.0993 .1273 .436
 Age .2981 .1345 .027 −.0453 .1973 .818
 Sales experience .0421 .0969 .664 −.2352 .1403 .095
Antecedents
 1b. Work enjoyment .506 .037 .000 .028 .084 .732
 2. Information sharing .473 .117 .000
R2 = 0.580; F = 51.5, p < 0.00 R2 = 0.179; F = 6.7, p < 0.00
Control variables
 Gender .0380 .1160 .743 .1903 .1863 .308
 Education .1134 .0782 .148 −.0977 .1264 .440
 Age .2926 .1208 .016 −.0476 .1970 .809
 Sales experience .0898 .0873 .304 −.2328 .1405 .099
Antecedents
 1c. Intrinsic motivation .689 .046 .000 .080 .115 .485
 2. Information sharing .438 .123 .000
R2 = 0.616; F = 59.82, p < 0.00 R2 = 0.180; F = 6.8, p < 0.00
Control variables
 Gender −.0756 .1106 .495 .1808 .1859 .332
 Education .0626 .0754 .407 −.1047 .1268 .409
 Age .2741 .1155 .018 −.0468 .1968 .812
 Sales experience .1110 .0834 .185 −.2269 .1407 .108

The results of our study prove for the first time in sales
literature that flow in salesperson plays an important role in
improving the ethical decision. Higher flow among sales-
people was associated with better ethical selling behavior
through the mediating effect of information-sharing behav-
ior. More importantly, absorption, work enjoyment, and
intrinsic motivation were and positively related to informa-
tion sharing. Salespeople who are high in absorption are
totally immersed in their selling activities and think about
nothing else. This means that they are totally focused on the
activities and the customers, thereby not withholding any
information that is relevant to customers’ decision making.
Such conditions contribute positively to information shar-
ing and indeed enhance ethical selling behavior. Further-
more, the results show a positive relationship between work
enjoyment and information sharing. When a salesperson is
enjoying their work, there is a higher possibility that there
will be comparable experiences among their customers, as
explained by emotional contagion theory (Hatfield et al.
1994). This will lead to a harmonious relationship between

13
Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior

Table 6  Model coefficients for the mediating effects of information Theoretical Implications

sharing
Effect Boot SE LLCI–ULCI This study contributes to the sales literature by integrat-
ing ethical selling, flow, and broaden-and-build theory, for
Indirect effect of X (flow) on Y (ethical selling) via information
sharing the first time. This study makes several important theoreti-
.3223 .0998 .1466–.5374 cal contributions. First, our study responds to the call for
2
R  = .178; F = 6.7, p < 0.00 research on the antecedents behind salesperson ethical sell-
Normal theory test Effect SE Z ing behavior. Despite past research examining this issue
.3233 .0910 3.554 (McClaren 2013), our study adds to the growing literature
Indirect effect of ­X1 (absorption) on Y (ethical selling) via informa- by providing a hitherto unexplored positive psychology
tion sharing perspective of the influence of salesperson flow on ethical
.2571 .0626 .1450–.3898 selling behavior through information sharing. This is one of
R2 = .178; F = 6.7, p < 0.00 the first few studies in the sales context to have employed
Normal theory test Effect SE Z the concept of flow. The state of flow is known to help indi-
.2571 .0581 4.425 viduals to change their attitudes and behaviors (Hoffman and
Indirect effect of ­X2 (work enjoyment) on Y via information sharing Novak 2009) and to stimulate positive outcomes, such as
.2398 .0730 .1106–.3968 improved job performance (Kuo and Ho 2010). Salespeople
R2 = .179; F = 6.7, p < 0.00 who are high in flow are associated with an increased abil-
Normal theory test Effect SE Z ity to make ethical selling decisions. As stated in previous
.2398 .0624 3.844 research (Honeycutt et al. 1995), salespeople with ethical
Indirect effect of ­X3 (intrinsic motivation) on Y via information selling behaviors perform much better and represent a com-
sharing petitive advantage for organizations.
.3020 .0917 .1334–.4934 Our study found that a salesperson in flow is likely to
R2 = .180; F = 6.7, p < 0.00 share information to reduce the complexity of decision mak-
Normal theory test Effect SE Z ing for the customer. Flow enables the individual to reason
.3020 .0874 3.455 the process and thus disclose the appropriate information.
Past research has also indicated that individuals in a state of
flow are intrinsically motivated and thus become engaged
the salesperson and the customer, where the salesperson in an intellectual pursuit that involves information sharing
will find joy in sharing information with the customer. This (Wasko and Faraj 2005). Importantly, the results show that
enjoyment, leading to more information sharing, will have the relationship between flow and information sharing is
a great influence on their ethical selling behavior. Finally, robust, even after controlling for variables such as selling
when salespeople are intrinsically motivated, they prefer to experience, age, gender, and qualifications. In addition, the
be engaged in certain activities that enhance their perfor- study revealed the mediating effect of information sharing on
mance (Jaramillo et al. 2007) and their relationship with the the relationship between salesperson flow and ethical selling
customer. Sharing information with customers is one such behavior. As salesperson flow increases, both information-
activity that they get into, thereby improving their ethical sharing and ethical selling behavior are enhanced. The study
behaviors. also found that the dimensions of flow viz. absorption, work
Ethical selling behavior is also triggered when sales- enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation had a similar kind of
people are in a positive state, whereby they are more likely influence as the overall construct on information-sharing and
to make ethical choices as compared to their neutral state ethical selling behavior.
(Mantel 2005). The influence of flow on ethical selling The results emphasize the importance of the dimensions
behavior was also supported through the mediation of infor- of flow (i.e., absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic moti-
mation sharing. A salesperson with greater information shar- vation). Our study results indicate the importance of a sales-
ing may appear to consumers as having greater integrity and person being totally immersed, as well as forgetting about
honesty. According to Mintu-Wimsatt et al. (2005), informa- everything else around them, in order to be more open about
tion sharing is crucial to the buyer–seller relationship, as it sharing information and being ethical. Absorption matters
can improve the trust and confidence of the buyer. While for a salesperson, as it is not only a state of total concen-
information sharing has been theoretically linked to ethical tration for the salesperson but also influences their behav-
selling behavior (Holley 1998), there has been little evidence ior, such as information-sharing and ethical behavior. The
linking flow to ethical selling behavior through the mediat- experience of work enjoyment among salespeople is associ-
ing role of information sharing. This paper fills the void and ated with better information sharing and ethical behavior.
hence has several theoretical and practical implications. When salespeople enjoy their activities, selling gives them

13

a good feeling and they feel happy when selling. This shape
and facilitates their interactions with customers and creates
openness to ways of sharing information, which supports
their likelihood of being more ethical in their decision mak-
ing. Importantly, the drive for a salesperson to sell in their
free time and be motivated from the selling activity enables
them to be challenged. This increases the benefits for cus-
tomers due to improved information sharing. While a lack
of information sharing hinders customers’ decision making,
an increase in such behaviors improves ethical behaviors
(Maignan and Ferrell 2004) and benefits customers.
Managerial Implications
Improving ethical selling behavior and finding ways to pro-
mote ethical behavior remains a priority for sales organiza-
tions. This study highlights how salesperson flow, a hitherto
unexplored variable, influences information sharing, which
in turn drives ethical behavior.
An important implication of this study has to do with how
sales managers can improve salesperson absorption, work
enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation. Enabling the salesper-
son realize the importance of the sales goals by bringing
clarity of goals, managers can help salesforce absorb the
nitty-gritties of the role. This also can help salesforce in
enjoying the work and develop intrinsic motivation. In turn,
creating or improving such states among salesforce may
result in an additional rise in information sharing, promot-
ing ethical selling behavior as found in this paper.
Sales literature has recognized that selecting salespeople
with certain personalities and characteristics would benefit
their outcome performance (Vinchur et al. 1998). Selecting
and hiring salespeople with the possibility of experiencing
higher flow may benefit the organization as they bring in the
required positivity to the teams they work with. As Csiksze-
ntmihalyi (1991) establishes, individuals with autotelic char-
acteristics are more susceptible to experience flow. A per-
son with autotelic characteristics is one who generally does
things for they enjoy the process of work and not extrinsic
rewards (Csikszentmihalyi 1991). Such people would posi-
tion themselves in situations, which enables them to fre-
quently experience flow (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi,
2009). Autotelic characteristics among salespeople can be
assessed through behavior-based interviews and personal-
ity tests. Behavioral interviews are designed to elicit past
actions that may indicate future behaviors. Personality test
could evaluate the applicant’s personality regarding auto-
telic nature. Furthermore, the recruitment team could use
the WOLF (workflow scale) to access for Flow experiences
among applicants.
Further, from a recruitment and selection perspective,
hiring salespeople who are likely to experience flow often
should be preferred, as they share information and exhibit
13
G. Sridhar, T. Lyngdoh
ethical selling behavior. Prior sales research has also shown
that higher ethical selling influences sales performance (Kuo
and Ho 2010). Salespeople who are more open to sharing
information are in a better position to help and build trust
with customers over time.
Much of the sales training efforts were found to have con-
sumed in introducing and reminding about the ethical code
and the consequences thereof in their day-to-day activities
(Schwepker 2017). Training also consisted of participative
exercises to reinforce comprehension of ethical principles
(Trevino and Nelson 2007) as well as a forum for exchanges
of ethical issues and problems (Valentine and Fleischman
2004). Overall, the training for ethical behavior tradition-
ally has been a sort of perspective guidance or build aware-
ness of ethical code of conduct. However, the results of this
study entice sales organizations to relook at training pro-
grams improving ethical behavior through a different lens.
In order to improve the ethical behavior of salesforce, sales
organizations need to invest in improving the salesperson
flow and information-sharing behaviors. The importance of
flow and information sharing could be built into the training
programs and manuals for both new hires and experienced
sales representatives, including an understanding that an
increased experience of flow and information sharing could
lead to other positive outcomes, apart from ethical behav-
ior. Sales managers must also be trained to encourage and
coach salespeople to attain higher flow in order to improve
performance.
Training to improve the flow state may be explored using
the experiential training methods. Such training programs
must be designed to help salespeople with their goal setting
or bringing clarity of goals. Furthermore, salespeople must
be taught to extract immediate feedback on their progress.
Intermittently monitoring the flow among salesforce by their
managers can also bring appropriate interventions. Sales-
people can thus be cultured in new ways to reach a complete
concentration or focus in their activities.
Sales organizations need to create an environment that
encourages and fosters flow among the salesforce. Given that
information-sharing and ethical behaviors are so crucial to
the success of sales organizations, it is important for them to
enforce policies and organizational environments that sup-
port flow. For example, sales managers can assign clients
and territories in ways that salesperson skills and capacities
match and that both the challenge and the skills are at high
levels, stretching them to the limit.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
Although the study brings new contributions to the domain,
it does have several limitations. First, the study is limited
by its research design, as we collected cross-sectional data
using self-report measures and only from the pharmaceutical
Flow and Information Sharing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior
sector in India. Although common method bias concerns
have been mitigated, future research could collect longitu-
dinal data and data from multiple industries for better infer-
ences. Generalizing the results from an industry, in this case
the pharmaceutical industry, to the entire salesforce may not
be appropriate. Our study analyzed a relatively small sample
size, which might not be representative nationally. However,
future research could replicate the study using a bigger and
more representative sample.
There are many avenues to pursue the influence of flow
on ethical selling in the times ahead. In this study, a positiv-
ist paradigm was employed to understand the relationship
among the variables and hence we may have not been able
to incorporate insights that the post-positivist approaches
would bring to the study. Especially using multiple meth-
ods would enable to bring in much richer insights. Future
research can also replicate the study in other industries to
generate additional insights. Further, apart from information
sharing as mediating variables, future studies can explore
several mediating and moderating variables to better explain
the impact of flow on the ethical selling behaviors.
Flow is considered to be a surrogate measure for happi-
ness. The other constructs like well-being, flourishing can be
also explored to see if they have a similar impact on ethical
selling. Insights from these studies would help to general-
ize if happiness has any impact on the individuals’ ethical
behavior.
Ethical Compliance Declaration
We, the authors of the paper ‘Flow and Information Shar-
ing as Predictors of Ethical Selling Behavior,’ declare the
following:
a. The manuscript has not been simultaneously submitted
to any other journal for consideration.
b. The manuscript has not been published in any journal.
However, the paper was presented at a conference in its
initial stages of development. The conference proceed-
ings include only the abstract, not the full paper.
c. This manuscript is not the result of the split of a large
study. It is in entirety a single study.
d. No data have been fabricated or manipulated (including
the images) to support our conclusions.
e. No data, text, or theories of others are presented as our
own.
f. To the best of our knowledge, we have acknowledged the
work of others wherever used.
g. Our institutes have no issues in publishing this paper in
JBE.
h. Both the authors contributed equally. Each of the co-
authors has worked significantly on the paper, and the
authors are collectively responsible and accountable for
the results.
i. We have not received any sponsorship or grant for con-
ducting the study, and hence there is no conflict of inter-
est.
j. This manuscript does not contain any studies with ani-
mals performed by the co-authors.
k. Only upon the agreement of the respondents of the sur-
vey did they reply to the survey questionnaire.
l. We strictly refrained from quoting any names or other
identities of the respondents in the study. In addition,
such information was not useful for drawing conclu-
sions.
Acknowledgements  We sincerely thank the three reviewers for their
constructive comments. This study was conducted independently and
had no financial support from any agency. However, we would like to
thank Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, for allowing us time
and infrastructure to pursue this project.
Compliance with Ethical Standards 
Conflict of interest  Both of us declare that we do not have any conflict
of interest between us.
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