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Direct Selling Education Foundation Leads National Discussion on “Building Trust in the Marketplace”

(WASHINGTON D.C. – September 15, 2023) – The nonprofit Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) recently sponsored the “Building Trust in the Marketplace” conference at Emory University. The hybrid virtual and in-person event brought together leading academics, state and federal regulatory officials, consumer protection advocates and some industry representatives with expertise in key elements of building and sustaining marketplace trust.

The event was hosted by DSEF Fellow Dr. Sandy Jap, Professor of Marketing, Emory University and Dr. Kent Grayson, Associate Professor of Marketing, Northwestern University; participants explored issues related to ensuring a healthy marketplace with a particular focus on the direct selling retail channel, which has annual sales of $40 billion in the U.S. and over $183 billion worldwide. Conference sessions included a variety of views from university professors who study the channel, consumer protection advocates who have questioned some industry practices, regulators proposing new business regulations and experienced channel participants.

“This academic conference welcomed all points of view and involved some of the most esteemed academic minds in the country, “said Dr. Jap. “This kind of dialogue is vital to the development of good business practices and effective public policy.”

Direct Selling Association President Joseph Mariano added, “We are committed to a robust and fair exploration of the way direct sellers seek and build trust in the marketplace and to learning how we can build on our successes in creating trust with our customers and independent salespeople.”

Conference sessions explored important issues including:

  • Guardrails responsible companies must implement to ensure that consumers and salesforce are protected in voluntary business arrangements and customer interactions.
  • Pursuing effective and independent industry self-regulation as a complement to the appropriate role of federal and state regulatory bodies in protecting consumers.
  • Federal and state law enforcement views regarding their role in ensuring effective consumer protection.

DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins added, “The participation of leading experts who study trust and its impacts in various disciplines including marketing, ethics, consumer behavior and entrepreneurship will also serve as a catalyst for further research and public discussion to drive improvements in performance and industry best practices.” Huggins concluded, “The Foundation will continue to engage with our academic partners along with other key leaders and advocates to advance these critical discussions.”

ABOUT DIRECT SELLING EDUCATION FOUNDATION

For more than 50 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with more than 200 professors in a variety of disciplines—such as entrepreneurship, marketing, ethics, consumer studies, business and economics—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2022, direct selling generated more than $40.5 billion in retail sales in the United States. More than six million entrepreneurs in the U.S. are selling products or services through the direct selling channel, providing a personalized buying experience for more than 40 million active customers. Visit DSEF.org for more information.

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Dr. Caroline Glackin Named 2023 DSEF Educator of the Year

Dr. Caroline Glackin Named 2023 DSEF Educator of the Year

Dr. Caroline Glackin, Fayetteville State University Recognized for Extraordinary Achievement in Advancing Understanding of the Direct Selling Business Model

Washington, DC—June 2023— Dr. Caroline Glackin, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment at Fayetteville State University became the most recent recipient of the prestigious the DSEF Educator of the Year Award.

The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) honored Dr. Glackin on June 15 at the Direct Selling Association’s 2023 Engage conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Created in 2017, the DSEF Educator of the Year award is awarded to DSEF Fellows who demonstrate outstanding scholarship, leadership, personal involvement, teaching and research.

“The DSEF team is thrilled to recognize Dr. Glackin for her commitment to advancing understanding of the direct selling business model,” said Gary Huggins, DSEF Executive Director. “Caroline’s prolific authorship, publishing and investigative work on the channel includes award-winning case studies in widely used textbooks and research published in quality, reputable and peer-reviewed academic journals.”

Caroline has made resounding contributions to DSEF’s educational mission, shaping student learning on diverse topics that include minority and women’s entrepreneurship, salesforce effectuation, entrepreneurial leadership, and business innovation by partnering with direct selling company founders on case studies and by hosting executive guest speakers in the classroom. As a researcher, she employs cutting-edge analytical methods to provide academics and practitioners with actionable insights.

“Engagement with DSEF and DSA member executives has been an incredible experience,” says Caroline. “I’ve found leaders in this channel to be welcoming, inquisitive, and willing to reflect on their successes and challenges in an open and honest way. There is an attitude of getting to ‘yes’ and an interest in continuous improvement that is contagious.”

ABOUT DSEF
For nearly 50 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with more than 250 professors in a variety of disciplines—such as entrepreneurship, marketing, ethics, sales, consumer studies, business and economics—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. Direct selling in the United States in 2021 achieved a record high of $42.7 billion annually and through 7.3 million U.S. micro-entrepreneurs selling on a part-time or full-time basis. More than 44 million people actively purchased products and services through the direct selling channel in 2021

News / Newsletter / Uncategorized

DSEF Honors 2020 and 2021 Educator of the Year Inductees

Dr. Dianne Welsh, University of North Carolina Greensboro and
Dr. Anne Coughlan, Northwestern University
Recognized for Outstanding Achievement

     Dr. Anne Coughlan, Northwestern University

Washington, DC—June 2022— The 2020 and 2021 Educator of the Year Award inductees are Dr. Dianne Welsh, Hayes Distinguished Professor and Founding Director, Entrepreneurship Cross-Disciplinary Program, University of North Carolina Greensboro; and Dr. Anne Coughlan, Polk Bros. Chair and Emerita Professor of Marketing, Northwestern University.

The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) honored the recipients at the Direct Selling Association’s Engage 2022 conference in Boca Raton, Florida on June 7, 2022. Created in 2017, the DSEF Educator of the Year award is given to educators who demonstrate outstanding service to the Foundation through leadership, personal involvement, teaching and research.

“Anne and Dianne have been instrumental in elevating DSEF’s mission of education through their own unique and complementary methods,” said Gary Huggins, DSEF Executive Director. “Both have worked tirelessly to advance understanding of the direct selling channel through academic research, published works, teaching content creation and thought leadership that has shaped academic thinking and student learning.”

Dianne has made tremendous contributions to DSEF’s work to partner with university professors throughout the country to achieve our goal of reaching more than 75,000 students per year through DSEF events and direct selling curriculum development. Under Dianne’s leadership, seven UNCG Entrepreneurship Cross-Disciplinary Program (ECDP) professors each developed one week of direct selling lectures and assignments for courses in sales, marketing and entrepreneurship. The modules, distributed by DSEF to our 250+ Fellows, were designed to be incorporated easily into business classes across the nation.

“I am humbled and honored to win the DSEF Educator of the Year Award,” says Dianne. “Through the support of the DSEF Foundation, we can reach students who are looking for opportunities in their lives no matter their background. I have personally seen the difference in students when they understand direct selling. I can speak to their questions personally because of the knowledge I’ve gained through your generosity of including educators at your meetings and supporting our research and educational outreach.”

As an innovative thinker, Anne has co-authored award-winning research on the lifecycle of direct selling distributors and a paper assessing the validity of economics-based analytic models of direct selling in academic literature. She is sole author and ideator of a ground-breaking paper on consumer harm in voluntary business arrangements and a book chapter on direct selling compensation plans examining business and legal issues.

“Two goals have guided my career efforts:  exercising freedom as an academic entrepreneur, and focusing on projects I hoped would have impact,” says Anne. “My work in the direct selling area – where these words have special resonance – has enabled me to pursue both of these strategic goals, so it is a special delight for me to receive the 2021 DSEF Educator of the Year Award.  I hope to continue making contributions to this field for some time to come.  Thank you very much!”

ABOUT DSEF
For nearly 50 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with more than 250 professors in a variety of disciplines—such as entrepreneurship, marketing, ethics, sales, consumer studies, business and economics—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2020, retail sales from direct selling achieved a record high of $40 billion annually and through 7.7 million U.S. micro-entrepreneurs selling on a part-time or full-time basis. More than 41.6 million people actively purchased products and services through the direct selling channel in 2020.

News

Direct Selling Education Foundation Awards 2021 Doctoral Sales Grant

Allison Crick, University of South Florida, Named Grant Recipient

WASHINGTON, DC—June 15, 2021—The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is pleased to announce its 2021 Sales Doctoral Student Grant Program recipient. Allison Crick, a student at the University of South Florida (USF), was awarded a grant that will help Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited doctoral granting institutions build, recruit and retain the next generation of aspiring sales-focused faculty and scholars. Allison is working with Dr. Andy Artis, Dr. Doug Hughes and Dr. Nathan Hartmann at USF’s School of Marketing and Innovation.

“On behalf of all of us at DSEF, I’d like to congratulate Allison Crick,” said Kimberly Harris Bliton, DSEF Senior Director, Academic Initiatives. “Four years ago, DSEF Fellow Dr. Jaramillo and I were discussing how we might encourage more PhD students to pursue an academic career in sales to meet current and future needs. The DSEF Doctoral Sales Grant Program was born from that conversation. We’re pleased to offer the grant for a third year.”

Dr. Fernando Jaramillo, (Professor and Associate Dean for Students and Programs, University of Texas at Arlington) and Dr. Greg W. Marshall, (Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College) administer the grant program, along with Bliton and DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins.

“Now more than ever, funding for innovative new research on best practices for direct selling is of the utmost importance,” said Marshall. “The DSEF Sales Grant program recognizes and rewards the best of the best of next generation sales scholars whose work can positively impact direct selling practices well into the future.”

The grant recipients were selected from a pool of applicants who submitted proposals relevant to the direct selling channel, DSEF and Direct Selling Association (DSA) member companies. Over a four-year period, the recipients will receive $4,000 to develop and execute a research project focusing on a topic of relevance for DSEF and DSA member companies.

DSEF 2019 Doctoral Sales Grant recipients Carissa Harris, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Jen Riley, Kansas State University, will continue to receive grant disbursements through 2022. DSEF 2020 recipients Molly Ahearne from the University of Georgia and Scott Hachey from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa will receive disbursements through 2023.

ABOUT DSEF

For more than 40 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation partners with nearly 250 professors in a variety of disciplines—including sales, marketing, management, economics, ethics and entrepreneurship—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2020, U.S. retail sales from direct selling totaled more than $40 billion, with 7.7 million independent salespeople building full-time or part-time businesses in the United States.

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News / Newsletter

Direct Selling Education Foundation Awards 2020 Doctoral Sales Grants

WASHINGTON, DC—May 15, 2019—The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is pleased to announce its 2020 Sales Doctoral Student Grant Program recipients. Molly Ahearne from the University of Georgia and Scott Hachey from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa were each awarded grants that will help Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited doctoral granting institutions build, recruit and retain the next generation of aspiring sales-focused faculty and scholars. Molly is working with Dr. John Hulland and Scott is working with Dr. Nathan Hartmann.

“All of us at DSEF congratulate Molly and Scott,” DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins said. “We recognize the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on sales programs across the country and the disruption on education broadly. We are pleased to award doctoral sales grants for a second year running.”

Dr. Fernando Jaramillo, (Chair, Marketing Department, Professor and Associate Dean for Students and Programs, University of Texas at Arlington) and Dr. Greg W. Marshall, (Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College) administered the grant program, along with Huggins and DSEF Senior Director of Academic Initiatives, Kimberly Harris Bliton.

“Now more than ever, funding for innovative new research on best practices for direct selling is of the utmost importance,” said Marshall. “The DSEF Sales Grant program recognizes and rewards the best of the best of next generation sales scholars whose work can positively impact direct selling practices well into the future.”

The grant recipients were selected from a pool of applicants who submitted proposals relevant to the direct selling channel, DSEF and Direct Selling Association (DSA) member companies. Over a four-year period, the recipients will receive $4,000 to develop and execute a research project focusing on a topic of relevance for DSEF and DSA member companies.

DSEF’s 2019 Doctoral Sales Grant recipients Carissa Harris, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Jen Riley, Kennesaw State University, will receive grant disbursements from 2020 through 2022.

ABOUT DSEF

For more than 40 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with 240 professors in a variety of disciplines—including sales, marketing, management, economics, ethics and entrepreneurship—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2018, retail sales from direct selling were more than $34 billion annually and currently there are 6.2 million direct sellers building full-time or part-time businesses in the United States.

 

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News

DSEF Awards Best Papers at USASBE Annual Conference

DSEF Awards Best Papers at USASBE Annual Conference

DSEF, in partnership with the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), held a Best Paper competition at the USASBE Annual Conference, January 3-7.

DSEF funds research and case studies to advance understanding of the direct selling channel. Eight out of the 12 authors of these winning papers are DSEF Fellows.

Social Entrepreneurship & the Direct Sales Channel: Trades of Hope
Dr. Christine Mollenkopf-Pigsley

Predictive Models of Independent Salesforce Performance: The Case of Direct Selling Micro-Entrepreneurs
Dr. Caroline Glackin and Dr. Murat Adivar

Direct Selling as a Path to Business Ownership: Molly’s Mary Kay Journey
Dr. Sara Cochran

Empowering Minorities and Women Direct Sellers through Integrated Digital Marketing Strategies: An Intersectionality Perspective
Dr. Doreen Chung, Dr. Kyuree Kim, Dr. Angie Lee, Dr. Jessica Hurst, Dr. Linda Niehm, Dr. Ann Marie Fiore, Dr. Malvika Rajagopal and Dr. Rebecca Tang

DSEF Fellows received prominent recognition and visibility throughout the meeting. All of the winning papers were selected for presentation at the conference. Congratulations to all!

News / Uncategorized

The Future of Commerce: How Direct Selling Fits

The Future of Commerce: How Direct Selling Fits

At the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting in June, newly-inducted Circle of Honor award recipients, Drs. Greg Marshall, Linda Ferrell, and Vicky Crittenden, shared the main stage for a dialogue on how direct selling can shape the future of the marketplace.

“The panel discussion was a meaningful way to provide insights in the way business is changing and the way work is changing,” Linda says. “It also addressed some generational challenges that are being faced within the workplace.”

Vicky told the audience that customer satisfaction is key. “We have to keep customers engaged to deepen the relationship with the company since engaged customers are our advocates in the marketplace,” she say. “Part and parcel in that engagement is personalization. When each and every current customer feels a personal connection to our company, our costs will decline and our profits will be boosted.”

Moderating the panel of experts was DSEF Chair and President & CEO of Team National, Angela Loehr Chrysler. “It was a pleasure to moderate an interesting discussion on the future of direct selling,” Angela says. “The panelists shared insightful information from their research about the viability of direct sales today and in the future.”

News

How to Engage with Third Parties

How to Engage with Third Parties

Today’s consumers do not want to be sold to: they want to be engaged, educated and even entertained.

In a workshop on how third-party voices can enhance trust and transparency among consumers, Dr. Greg Marshall joined Todd Eliason, Publisher and Editor in Chief, Direct Selling News; John Kloosterman, Manager, Amway Brand, Amway; and Mark Stastny, Chief Marketing Officer, Scentsy; to discuss how companies can maximize the range of third-party voices to demonstrate that they are credible, respected, popular and worthy of consumers’ business.

“The panel session at the DSA Annual Meeting on ‘How to Engage with Third Parties’ afforded a very unique opportunity for attendees to hear different approaches to making the most of external-to-industry endorsers,” Greg says. “For my part, I shared specific strategies on how direct sellers can benefit from the credibility of members of the academic community who are doing research on the field, and especially from those of us who are DSEF Fellows. The DSEF Fellows program boasts over 200 academics from across business fields such as entrepreneurship, ethics, management, marketing, sales and others and aims to foster productive partnerships between the academic community and DSA member firms.”

News

Academic Insights You Can Use to Grow Your Business

Academic Insights You Can Use to Grow Your Business

At the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting in June, DSEF Fellows Drs. Victoria Crittenden (Babson College), Caroline Glackin (Fayettesville University), and Sandy Jap (Emory University) presented their latest direct selling insights during a panel discussion led by former DSEF Board Member, Kerry Tassopoulos, Of Counsel—Government Affairs, Sunwest Communication.

“DSA Members learned about the leading edge of research into direct selling and how it can be applied to their businesses,” says Caroline, who shared findings from her research on Hispanic acculturation. “They were given plenty of food for thought. For me, the immediate positive response from key channel leaders, and their offers to collaborate were fantastic and will allow a deeper and more robust understanding of my topic.”

During the panel discussion, Vicky described how her research on women and entrepreneurship helps mainstream direct selling by demonstrating the power of the channel and its ability to empower women personally and professionally. She also highlighted her upcoming monograph, Go-to-Market Strategies for Women, which includes two chapters on direct selling.

Sandy discussed new research on the effectiveness—or lack of effectiveness—of home parties, digital parties, online sales, websites and other channels. She described how top sellers create personas on blogs and social media and, in that space, are not “selling” at all, but creating curiosity to drive people to ask more about the companies they represent.

News

Using Design Thinking in Decision Making

Using Design Thinking in Decision Making

Dr. Stefanie Boyer, Professor of Marketing at Bryant University, and an expert in design thinking, led a group of CEOs in an exercise to bring creativity to strategic thinking for the problem-solvers of the direct selling industry at the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting in June.

“What I found most encouraging was the openness of the CEOs to learn and try something new,” Stefanie says. “This gave me so much hope and confidence to know that everyone in that room is going in the right direction.”

The event brought together dozens of industry leaders engaging with one another in a judgment-free brainstorming session designed to promote innovative and flexible thinking in a rapidly-evolving business environment.

“We worked on breaking through ‘controls’ in thinking to co-create interesting ideas to real business challenges of today,” says Connie Tang, President and CEO, Princess House. “Plus, it was fun getting to know one another on a different level.”

Three DSEF Fellows served as table facilitators during the session: Drs. Eric Liguori, Rowan University; Adam Mills, Loyola University, New Orleans; and Mark Groza, Northern Illinois University.