The impact of sales contests on customer listening: an empirical study in a telesales context

Companies often use sales contests to achieve short-term objectives to motivate salespeople and to boost sales. However, sales contests also may encourage salespeople to adopt less relational behaviors and limit their ability to manage customer relationships, as manifested in their customer listening practices. Therefore, this study, based on a natural field experiment, examines the effects of a sales contest on customer listening. In so doing, four dimensions of customer listening (passive, active, adaptive, and assertive listening), associated with a process of listening (Hearing, Processing, and Responding), were identified. The study helps clarify the effect of a sales contest on these four dimensions of customer listening by telesales agents. The results reveal that this sales contest exerts negative effects only on the active and passive customer listening, not on the adaptive and assertive customer listening. The study sheds light on how sales contests influence important behaviors such as customer listening, as well as on the nature of customer listening itself.     

短视频顾客灵感的触发机制及其对顾客融入的影响

短视频顾客灵感(SVCI)是顾客灵感概念在短视频情境下的具象化, 是顾客由营销类短视频中获得的从接受营销引导的想法到转变为对消费相关目标的内在追求的激活状态。短视频顾客灵感的前因包括视频因素、主播因素和个人特质因素; 短视频顾客灵感中的观念式启发和行动式启发两个维度的交叉可以产生短视频顾客灵感状态矩阵, 矩阵中四种灵感状态在一定的条件下可以转化; 短视频顾客灵感通过直接贡献(顾客购买)和间接贡献(顾客推荐、顾客影响力和顾客知识)两条途径对顾客融入产生正向影响; 商品类型和消费者-主播关系强度在短视频顾客灵感对顾客融入的作用中起到调节作用; 短视频顾客灵感有助于揭示短视频营销中顾客灵感的触发机制及其对顾客融入的影响, 可以帮助消费类短视频主播和短视频平台产生更高效的营销内容和策略, 同时可以帮助消费者提升短视频购物的消费体验。     

亲组织不道德行为的负面效应及其作用机制

近年来, 员工为了企业利益而做出的违背社会价值、道德习俗、行为规范和法律等的亲组织不道德行为(Unethical pro-organizational behavior, UPB)导致的各种悲剧不断上演。然而, 现有研究主要聚焦于UPB的影响因素和积极作用方面, 对其潜在的危害性重视不足。鉴于此, 从多层次视角研究UPB的负面效应及其作用机制。首先, 考察UPB对情绪耗竭的影响及道德认同的调节作用和内疚的中介作用。其次, 创造性地提出组织UPB的概念, 并考察其对组织长期绩效的负面效应以及企业声誉的中介效应。最后, 进一步从利益相关者的视角考察企业UPB和员工UPB对顾客主动绩效的影响以及顾客企业认同的中介效应和顾客知觉到的员工组织化身的调节效应。研究成果不仅有助于丰富UPB的相关理论, 而且对遏制这种行为的进一步漫延具有重要启示。     

顾客欺凌行为：概念、测量、形成与作用机制

顾客欺凌行为是指在服务交互过程中, 员工感知到来自顾客“低质量”的人际对待, 表现为顾客言语侵犯、性骚扰等。以往研究较深入地探讨了其相关概念、结构、影响因素和影响后果。顾客欺凌行为受个体主观因素和客观因素影响, 通过资源保存、社会交换、情感事件及组织公平理论对个体和组织产生影响。未来研究应更深入探讨顾客欺凌行为的概念、结构和测量问题, 进一步探索其作用机制, 并基于不同的文化情境进行跨文化的研究。     

Satisfaction,loyalty and word of mouth within the customer base of a utility provider: differences between stayers,switchers and referral switchers

Research on satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth (WOM) behaviour has made considerable progress within recent years, but important aspects remain neglected. In this paper, it is argued that, within the customer base of service providers, certain groups can be identified which differ from each other with regards to these variables. Hypotheses are developed and tested in a sample of 765 clients of a large German energy provider. The results show that recently acquired customers (switchers) differ from long‐term customers (stayers), and that switchers acquired through customer referrals differ from switchers recruited through advertising or direct mail in their satisfaction, loyalty and WOM behaviour. The paper ends with some important implications for management and future research. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd.     

Connect within to connect outside: effect of salespeople's political skill on relationship performance

Scholars have recently explored the effects of salespeople's intraorganizational relationships on salespeople's job-related outcomes. Grounded in social influence theory, we explore the effects of salespeople's intraorganizational skills on salesperson relationship performance. We empirically tested the proposed relationships using the data from a non-Western sales force working with an organization in an emerging economy. The results indicate that salespeople's political skill positively contributes to salespeople's identification with the organization and to creative performance, while strikingly, we also find that salesperson task adaptivity weakens these effects. Moreover, salespeople's identification and creative performance are positively related to customer satisfaction. These findings demonstrate that salespeople's intraorganizational relationships play a key role in enhancing customer satisfaction. In light of these results, we explore implications for marketers and academics and conclude by suggesting directions for further research.     

Salesperson ambidexterity and customer satisfaction: examining the role of customer demandingness,adaptive selling,and role conflict

This research investigates the effects of sales-service ambidexterity on salesperson role perceptions, behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Using a business-to-business, salesperson-customer sample, we build and test a model which highlights both the positive and negative consequences of this simultaneous goal pursuit. Specifically, while sales-service ambidexterity positively impacts adaptive selling behaviors, it also increases perceptions of role conflict among salespeople. Customer demandingness moderates these relationships. Taken together, the results provide insights for firms on how to manage their sales force to optimize both sales and service outcomes based on characteristics of their salespeople and customers.     

Web2.0环境中顾客参与的实现型快乐感形成机制

随着以用户间交互为特征的Web 2.0理念的深入发展,顾客期望借助互联网参与到价值的生产与创造过程中,以期通过自我潜能发挥和自我价值展示寻求获得一种有别于享乐型快乐感的实现型快乐感.以往顾客参与研究大多关注其经济利益、如何管理、影响因素、获得的实际利益,而对于顾客参与过程中的心理机制和参与后的心理收获研究不多.本研究以互联网为背景,从顾客视角出发,科学采用实验、实证等多种方法,并尝试采用生理仪器(如多导仪、脑电核磁共振仪等)采集顾客行为和生理的客观数据,利用自我决定理论对顾客参与过程的心理反应和参与后的心理收获进行系统探讨,构建顾客参与过程的心理动态模型.     

Selling behaviours and sales performance: the moderating and mediating effects of interpersonal mentalizing

A random sample of independent insurance agents was surveyed to explore the relationships among learned behaviours, such as, adaptive selling and customer orientation and personal dispositions, such as, interpersonal mentalizing in predicting sales performance. The primary focus of this research was to reexamine salespeople's theory of mind in a broader theoretical base of human abilities. The results confirmed that the dimensions of interpersonal mentalizing, such as, taking a bird's-eye view, shaping the interaction by creating a positive ambience, detecting nonverbal cues and rapport building have different roles for the effectiveness of selling behaviours. While taking a bird's-eye view was a moderator, creating a positive ambience was a mediator of the relationship between selling behaviours and performance. Furthermore, salespeople's ability to build rapport improved sales performance only when they were able to detect nonverbal cues from customers. Taken together, these findings shed light on the complementary role of autonomous abilities of salespeople in improving the productivity of their learned selling behaviours. Several managerial implications were derived from the findings.     

Effect of salespeople's acquisition–retention trade-off on performance

This research examines the impact of the acquisition–retention resource allocation at the individual salesperson level – that is, the proportion of their time dedicated to acquisition versus retention activities – on their sales performance. We extend prior research that investigates the acquisition–retention trade-off below (i.e., customer value approach) or above (i.e., firm portfolio approach) the salesperson's perspective by also incorporating many ‘within-firm’ factors that are critical to capturing the contingent nature of the allocation decision. The results suggest that firms can double their sales gains by implementing a trade-off strategy that customizes the acquisition allocation at the salesperson level. Using matched triadic data gathered from 227 salespersons, 106 supervisors and the seller's database, the authors find an inverted U-shaped linkage between the proportion of time allocated to acquisition activities and sales performance. Moderation analyses show that salespeople's optimal acquisition allocation depends on their knowledge breadth and job commitment, their supervisor's experience and job commitment and the quantity and quality of the prospects in their relationship portfolio.