Tricks of the Trade: Motivating Sales Agents to Con Older Adults.
Gerontologist
; 56(2): 335-44, 2016 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24829307
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Financial fraud is estimated to cost consumers approximately $50 billion annually. To examine how new hires are trained to engage in fraud, this study analyzed a sales training transcript from Alliance for Mature Americans (Alliance). In 1996, Alliance was charged with using deception and misrepresentation to sell more than $200 million worth of living trusts and annuities to 10,000 older adults in California. DESIGN AND METHODS:
Transcribed recordings from a 2-day Alliance sales training seminar were analyzed using NVivo10, coded inductively, and examined to identify emergent themes.RESULTS:
Predominant themes were as follows (a) indoctrination using incentives and neutralization techniques and (b) training on persuasion tactics targeted at older adults. Findings suggest that sales training focuses on establishing the company's legitimacy, normalizing unethical sales practices, and refining trainees' knowledge about how to influence older consumers. IMPLICATIONS Predatory and fraudulent businesses peddling ill-suited products threaten the economic security of older Americans. Improved insights into sales manipulation strategies can guide the development of protective policies including educational approaches to help older adults detect scams and resist purchasing fraudulent products.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Tomada de Decisões Gerenciais
/
Grupos Focais
/
Comércio
/
Motivação
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article