Impact Of Salespersons’ Skills-Set On Customer Behavior: Mediating Role Of Salespersons’ Relational Behavior In Pharmaceutical Industry
Abstract
Sales force perform essential role in generating revenue and income for the companies. The principal responsibilities of salespersons are the selling of product or services in order to generate profits for the company. The current research examines the impact of salespersons’ skills-set on customers’ behaviors in terms of repeat purchase and word-of-mouth. Vis-à-vis, explore the mediating role of salespersons’ relational behavior. The study based on customer behavior Cognitive theory of Zeithaml and Crosby theory of Relational Behavior. The sample is consisted of top 10 companies were selected based on market share, highly talent sales force, and reward system. Total of 617 questionnaires were distributed on the basis of simple random sampling technique among salespersons of these selected companies in which 450 questionnaires were selected for further examination. For the study data were collected based on certified questionnaire adapted from the studies of Zeithaml, Saxe, Weitz, Spiro and Guo. The results revealed significant positive impact of skills-set on customer behaviors (repeat purchase, word-of-mouth). Similarly, the moderation and mediation effects were found to be positively significant. Partial mediation was found among adaptive selling, repeat purchase and word-of-mouth. These findings have implications for improving interactions in buyer-seller relationships and salespersons selection and training.
References
Ahearne, M., & Rapp, A. (2010). The role of technology at the interface between salespeople and consumers. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 30(2), 111-120.
Ahuja, R. D., Anne Michels, T., Mazzei Walker, M., & Weissbuch, M. (2007). Teen perceptions of disclosure in buzz marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24(3), 151-159.
Anaza, N. A., Nowlin, E. L., & Wu, G. J. (2016). Staying engaged on the job: the role of emotional labor, job resources, and customer orientation. European Journal of Marketing, 50(7/8), 1470-1492.
Anderson, E. W., & Sullivan, M. W. (1993). The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms. Marketing science, 12(2), 125-143.
Ang, S. H., Leong, S. M., & Kotler, P. (2000). The Asian apocalypse: crisis marketing for consumers and businesses. Long Range Planning, 33(1), 97-119.
Anderson, E. W., & Sullivan, M. W. (1993). The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms. Marketing science, 12(2), 125-143.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2001b). An empirical analysis of the antecedents of electronic commerce service continuance. Decision support systems, 32(2), 201-214.
Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods. Oxford university press.
Cheema, A., & Kaikati, A. M. (2010). The effect of need for uniqueness on word of mouth. Journal of Marketing research, 47(3), 553-563.
Chen, Y., Tang, G., Jin, J., Li, J., & Paillé, P. (2015). Linking market orientation and environmental performance: The influence of environmental strategy, employee’s environmental involvement, and environmental product quality. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(2), 479-500.
Delmas, M. A., & Pekovic, S. (2015). Resource efficiency strategies and market conditions. Long Range Planning, 48(2), 80-94.
Ford, D., Gadda, L.E., Hakansson, H. and Snehota, I. (2003), Managing Business Relationship, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
Franke, G. R., & Park, J. E. (2006). Salesperson adaptive selling behavior and customer orientation: a meta-analysis. Journal of marketing Research, 43(4), 693-702.
Flatters, P., & Willmott, M. (2009). Understanding the Post-Recession Consumer: Harvard Business Review, 7(8), 106-122.
Gong, T., & Choi, J. N. (2016). Effects of task complexity on creative customer behavior. European Journal of Marketing, 50(5/6), 1003-1023.
Gruber, M. (2004). Marketing in new ventures: theory and empirical evidence. Schmalenbach business review, 56(2), 164-199.
Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Pieper, T. M., & Ringle, C. M. (2012). The use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in strategic management research: a review of past practices and recommendations for future applications. Long range planning, 45(5-6), 320-340.
Huhtala, J. P., Sihvonen, A., Frösén, J., Jaakkola, M., & Tikkanen, H. (2014). Market orientation, innovation capability and business performance: Insights from the global financial crisis. Baltic Journal of Management, 9(2), 134-152.
Haytko, D. L., & Baker, J. (2004). It’s all at the mall: exploring adolescent girls’ experiences. Journal of Retailing, 80(1), 67-83.
Hur, W. M., Moon, T. W., & Jung, Y. S. (2015). Customer response to employee emotional labor: the structural relationship between emotional labor, job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Services Marketing, 29(1), 71-80.
Homburg, C., & Stock, R. M. (2005). Exploring the conditions under which salesperson work satisfaction can lead to customer satisfaction. Psychology & Marketing, 22(5), 393-420.
Jaramillo, F., Carrillat, F. A., & Locander, W. B. (2005). A meta-analytic comparison of managerial ratings and self-evaluations. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 25(4), 315-328.
Jones, E., Busch, P., & Dacin, P. (2003). Firm market orientation and salesperson customer orientation: Interpersonal and intrapersonal influences on customer service and retention in business-to-business buyer–seller relationships. Journal of business research, 56(4), 323-340.
Keillor, B. D., Stephen Parker, R., & Pettijohn, C. E. (2000). Relationship-oriented characteristics and individual salesperson performance. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 15(1), 7-22.
Lusch, R., & Webster, F. (2010). Marketing’s Responsibility for the Value of the Enterprise. Marketing Science Institute Working Paper Series, 10(111), 1-48.
Palmatier, R. W., Jarvis, C. B., Bechkoff, J. R., & Kardes, F. R. (2009). The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing. Journal of marketing, 73(5), 1-18.
Palmatier, R. W., Scheer, L. K., & Steenkamp, J. B. E. (2007). Customer loyalty to whom? Managing the benefits and risks of salesperson-owned loyalty. Journal of marketing research, 44(2), 185-199.
Park, J. E., & Deitz, G. D. (2006). The effect of working relationship quality on salesperson performance and job satisfaction: Adaptive selling behavior in Korean automobile sales representatives. Journal of Business Research, 59(2), 204-213.
Park, J. E., & Holloway, B. B. (2003). Adaptive selling behavior revisited: An empirical examination of learning orientation, sales performance, and job satisfaction. Journal of personal selling & sales management, 23(3), 239-251.
Pekovic, S., & Rolland, S. (2016). Customer orientation and firm’s business performance: A moderated mediation model of environmental customer innovation and contextual factors. European Journal of Marketing, 50(12), 2162-2191.
Pehrsson, A. (2014). Firms' customer responsiveness and performance: the moderating roles of dyadic competition and firm's age. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 29(1), 34-44.
Román, S., & Iacobucci, D. (2010). Antecedents and consequences of adaptive selling confidence and behavior: a dyadic analysis of salespeople and their customers. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38(3), 363-382.
Salojärvi, H., Ritala, P., Sainio, L. M., & Saarenketo, S. (2015). Synergistic effect of technology and customer relationship orientations: consequences for market performance. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(5), 511-520.
Spiro, R. L., & Weitz, B. A. (1990). Adaptive selling: Conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity. Journal of marketing Research, 27(1), 61-69.
Schiffman, L., & Kanuk, L. (2007). Consumer behavior, 9E. Aufl., New Jersey.
Tsiros, M., Ross Jr, W. T., & Mittal, V. (2009). How commitment influences the termination of B2B exchange relationships. Journal of Service Research, 11(3), 263-276.
Tuli, F. (2010). The basis of distinction between qualitative and quantitative research in social science: Reflection on ontological, epistemological and methodological perspectives. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Sciences, 6(1).
Villanueva, J., Yoo, S., & Hanssens, D. M. (2008). The impact of marketing-induced versus word-of-mouth customer acquisition on customer equity growth. Journal of marketing Research, 45(1), 48-59.
Walter, A., Mueller, T. A., & Helfert, G. (2000, September). The impact of satisfaction, trust, and relationship value on commitment: Theoretical considerations and empirical results. In IMP Conference Proceedings (pp. 07-09). United Kingdom: Bath.
Wathne, K. H., Biong, H., & Heide, J. B. (2001). Choice of supplier in embedded markets: relationship and marketing program effects. Journal of Marketing, 65(2), 54-66.
Weitz, B. A., Sujan, H., & Sujan, M. (1986). Knowledge, motivation, and adaptive behavior: A framework for improving selling effectiveness. Journal of marketing, 50(4), 174-191.
Yoo, J. J., & Arnold, T. J. (2014). Customer orientation, engagement, and developing positive emotional labor. The Service Industries Journal, 34(16), 1272-1288.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Arslan Rafi, Tahir Saeed
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
