“... It appears to have actually gotten much harder for vehicle salespeople," Dr. Walden says. "And I think there are several factors behind this: One is, of course, we have had a fairly soft car market over the last couple of years. To move cars, dealers have had to give big discounts and, of course, that eats into the prices, eats into the commissions the salespersons get.

“Also there’s more competition out there," adds Dr. Walden, a professor of agricultural and resource economics. "We have many more dealerships today than we had even a decade ago. So more competition generally means lower prices.

“But I think the biggest factor is the knowledge that … car buyers now can acquire primarily by using a computer. You can go online for many sources. You can get the costs. You can get the prices of competitors. You can also find the base prices of the car.

"So this is literally putting the buyer in the drivers’ seat," he concludes, "and, therefore, it’s harder for those salespeople."