University of Worcester Worcester Research and Publications
 
  USER PANEL:
  ABOUT THE COLLECTION:
  CONTACT DETAILS:

No Joke: Understanding Public Sentiment Toward Selling and Salespeople Through Cartoon Analysis

Wiid, Ria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8454-7833, Grant, P.S., Mills, A.J. and Pitt, L.F. (2016) No Joke: Understanding Public Sentiment Toward Selling and Salespeople Through Cartoon Analysis. Marketing Theory, 16 (2). pp. 171-193. ISSN Print 1470-5931 Online 1741-301X

[img] Other (No joke: Understanding public sentiment toward selling and salespeople through cartoon analysis)
Wiid Grant Mills Pitt Marketing Theory (002).pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (1MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Unflattering representations of salesmanship in mass media exist in abundance. In order to gauge the depiction of selling in mass media, this article explores the nature and public perceptions of salesmanship using editorial cartoons. A theory of cartooning suggests that editorial cartoons reflect public sentiment toward events and issues and therefore provide a useful way of measuring and tracking such sentiment over time. The criteria of narrative, location, binary struggle, normative transference, and metaphor were used as a framework to analyze 286 cartoons over a 30-year period from 1983 to 2013. The results suggest that while representations of the characteristics and behaviors of salespeople shifted very little across time periods, changes in public perceptions of seller–buyer conflict, the role of the customer, and selling techniques were
observed, thus indicating that cartoons are sensitive enough to measure the portrayal of selling.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information:

Staff and students at the University of Worcester can access the full-text via the UW online library search. External users should check availability with their local library or Interlibrary Requests Service.

Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: cartoon analysis, salesforce, sales manager, salesmanship, selling, stereotypes
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: College of Business, Psychology and Sport > Worcester Business School
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Ria Wiid
Date Deposited: 02 Aug 2016 08:25
Last Modified: 17 Jun 2020 17:12
URI: https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/4712

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
 
     
Worcester Research and Publications is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.